“A century ago only 10% of the people of the planet lived in cities, and, according to the United Nations, this number is set to rise to 75% by 2050.” Besides these macro statistics, the surprising similarities of modern cities across the planet earth deems it increasingly necessary to consider the impacts of growth on people and on the environment. The analysis and understanding of the interaction between city, architecture and inhabitants; and how we chose to shape our cities, buildings and public spaces will indeed determine and relate to many other facts that will help determine our approach to future cities.
Many cities have increasingly alienating nature; in their density one finds “space” but no sense of “place”. The urban inhabitants constantly arrive “anywhere”, but not “somewhere”. Under such circumstances, what shall be the true concern of man in general, and what shall be the concern in architecture profession in particular?
We have four squared plots, each plot 200 meters by 200 meters; we have to design mixed-use buildings for 2.000-8.000 people per plot. The building language is different, should be different, towers, high-density, low-density structures, whatever you want. But then, you have to add to the buildings, 30% green, on top of the buildings, on top of the roofs, courtyards, whatever you like; or, you can increase the greenery percentage in one plot, so that you have 50% - 60% green; or you allocate one plot to low density buildings and the other square to high density building, a city inside the city. In the middle of the four plots there should be a subway station; the program of every plot should be different, meaning one plot has more apartment buildings, the other plot has… etc. But it should be mixed-used within each plot as well, one square may be mainly allocated to shopping, one square to apartment, but each plot should still be mixed-up. The theme of the entire area is of a Media Culture Center, and by extensive, it could be considered as an experimental unit with innovative strategies, which hopefully will contribute as the trigger for the future urban prototypes.
To reflect the phenomenon of “pseudo-humanistic care” in the post-media society, we wish to engage the younger architecture professionals as a solutions oriented generation rather than of computer generated generation.
The competition participators shall define their design solutions for around 8.000-32.000 inhabits in Yangliuqing, Tianjin, P. R. China. Those inhabits share a core urban spatial area at a size of 4 x 200m x 200m, with relatively high density. The area’s function shall be focused on Median and Culture.
The solution shall be inspired by the appointed city, Yangliuqing, Tianjin, P.R.China, which is selected specifically for this year’s 2020 UIA-HYP Competition; however, its innovative strategies, primitive and futuristic at the same time, shall also be able to contribute as the trigger for the future urban prototypes, sparking further design thinking.
- Energy Self-Sufficiency/Abundancy (creates more energy than the area consumes)
- Solar and Wind Energies as the Driving Factors for the Energy Design
- Food Self-Sufficiency
- Water Supply Self-Sufficiency
- Green Plot Ratio in the Urban Context shall be ≥ 30%
- Sunlight Sufficiency
(Through ingenious vertical and horizontal placement of the buildings)
- An Area of RARES
（RARES: Recreational, Aesthetic, Regional, Emotional and Sustainable）