Andy Song
On my trip to China, I stopped by Shanghai for a few days to visit some friends. Among the places we visited was the Panlong Tiandi district, designed by large-scale development company Shui On Land. The recipient of a few contemporary urban design awards, the district maintains the appearance of the 700 year old water town it once was, but now serves as a vibrant hub of activity and community.
In this blog, I'll only focus on the town centre of Panlong Tiandi, because I wasn't able to visit the other areas (shown in the map to the left). However, I'm told the other areas completely bring the district to life. Furthermore, my analysis won't be as in-depth as previous blogs, because my research sources were limited as I can't access Chinese websites from Canada.
Key Concept: Historic Preservation
Urban sprawl generates more and more skyscrapers, high-rise condos and other urban infrastructure at the cost of its historical assets (e.g. water towns like Panlong). This has become a striking area of concern for architects and urban designers, especially in a rapidly developing metropolis like Shanghai.
A guiding mission of the Panlong Tiandi project was preserving the historical significance of the site while developing the famous neighbourhood and tourist attraction. I'm not saying every project has to be like Panlong Tiandi, but in the areas of big cities with more culturally and historically significant architecture, it would be nice to have something like this here and there.
How Panlong Tiandi achieves this mission is through keeping the fabric (walls, floor and roof) of the 700 year old architecture intact, while modernizing the interiors for stores, restaurants and housing. While some units look more modern than others (I'm guessing because the units were in different condition, some might have been beyond repair), the general atmosphere doesn't differ too far from the original water town.
Atmosphere & Overarching Design
As can be seen in the images to the right, Panlong Tiandi intentionally kept integral parts of the water town (e.g. ancient stone bridges, canal structures, etc.) to further maintain the atmosphere. I'm assuming the developers had to rebuild or fortify some of these structures, because they look too perfect to be 700 years old.
I also noticed that even the decorations and greenery matched the atmosphere. The willow trees are symbolic of ancient China, and the fountain design uses soothing greenery and textured stone, both of which are reflected heavily in the fountain's surroundings. All in all, I think the design was done really well, creating a calm and comforting atmosphere for visitors.
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