MINGXI, FUJIAN — NEW CITY-QUARTER

The commission was assigned to us during the recession period where we expanded internationally primarily for the purpose of survival. The target audience of this particular project was the Chinese businessman moving back home to a small town 300 km from the South China Sea. During the design process our studio had an extraordinary opportunity. Our tasks included choosing the almost intact location on the boundaries of the town, determining the road and settlement structure, shaping the little creek into a lake, and creating the outlines of the buildings. This freedom of creation multiplied our designing momentum, and with that our responsibility. Our task also included coordinating with the local authorities and presenting our plans. We selected a beautiful valley for the design site, where the highest peak on the north would be occupied by an economical church and a look-out on the south near the highway. We designed individual and shared residential plots, with terraced, chain and detached houses on the slopes facing east and west. Unfortunately, because of local negotiations and high-level presentations the continuation of the investment is in doubt.

We created two lakes on different levels out of the creek running in the valley. On its banks we arranged commercial and public buildings, with a visitor center and tourism units near the road access area. Adjusting to the needs of our investors we emphasized the North European architectural character on the one side and the South European character on the other side of the valley. In spite of the high level of local coordination and presentation the investment seems to have fallen through due to financial reasons.