Shanghai, China

Adopting a positive design strategy to integrate buildings with the environment, Shanghai PTArchitects have designed Lighter City • Central Park Urban Life Experience Center, a project located within the planned central park of Tianjin Future Science and Technology City.

Lighter City • Central Park Urban Life Experience Center has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The architectural team pays attention to strengthening the publicness of the venue, while also incorporating cultural themes and humanistic spirit into the buildings.

The architects expressed the imagery of “water, landscape, and stone” via abstract architectural languages, hence creating a picturesque, harmonious, and natural venue.

The design blurs the boundary between interior and exterior and enables people to experience the dialogues between the vertical spaces and emotionally resonate with the architecture and environment.

It seems that the buildings are growing from nature. The simple geometrical building volumes create a “stone cluster” that looks both real and unreal.

In order to harmonize with the natural surroundings, the architects endeavored to create a pure and simple architectural form by adopting minimalist design languages.

The team has designed unique geometrical spaces to highlight the architectural theme, made the most of the natural park environment, and outlined the contours of the architecture via simple sculptural lines.

Project: Lighter City • Central Park Urban Life Experience Center
Architects: Shanghai PTArchitects
Design Team: Zhang Xiang, Zhang Yu, Liu Tingting, Li Hanzhe, Zhang Jingru, Bai Huanruo, Yue Peng, Gao Xue, and Zhu Yingpeng
General Contractor: Xingrun Construction Group Co., Ltd.
Photographers: Wang Ning