We are talking about the office complex "Gwangualu-SOHO" - the work of the Chinese architect of the new wave Ma Qinyong (bureau MADA s.p.a.m.) and the residential area "Sanlitun-SOHO", designed by Kengo Kuma. Both of these developments in the Central Business District (CBD) of Beijing are projects of China SOHO, a leading Chinese development company, which has the famous Great Wall Commune in its portfolio. These developers continue to invite talented architects to cooperate, avoiding even in purely commercial projects both corporate facelessness and "national" kitsch, which is often found in new areas of Chinese cities.
Gwangualu-SOHO is an office complex of four 60-meter towers, the lower floors of which are occupied by a large shopping center. Ma Qingyun, in collaboration with Danish architect Søren Korsgaard, gave the new building a playfulness and frivolity: the facades of the towers are strewn with large "pea" windows, and the motif of round openings continues in the interior of the complex. Only about 60% of the premises of the building have panoramic glazing, which provides access to sunlight and the opportunity for those working or shopping in "Gwangualu-SOHO" to admire the views of the city.
This approach is further strengthened at street level: pedestrians will not find a clear boundary between the urban space and the shops on the ground floor of the complex.
Another original element of the project is the "lungs" "Gwangualu-SOHO" (expression of Ma Qinyong). These are fully glazed volumes that connect the four towers of the complex with each other; they perform a "connecting" function: they contain lobbies and elevators of buildings.
Next year, Kengo Kuma's Sanlitun-SOHO residential complex will also be commissioned. Despite the scale (although here we are not talking about high-rise buildings, but about buildings of medium height), the Japanese architect was guided in drawing up his general plan by the traditional hutong quarters of old Beijing, which are distinguished by human scale, labyrinths of transitions, and high building density. Like such hutongs, the new massif is divided into four zones according to the parts of the world, and the transitions between them are made winding.
Kuma also used the motif of the Siheyuan house, which consists of a rectangular courtyard surrounded by residential pavilions. In the center of a similar spatial composition in Sanlitun-SOHO, there is a sunkun-type garden densely planted with plants.
To emphasize the proportionality of the buildings of the complex to man, the architect tiled the facades of the buildings with acrylic panels of different colors: they change their color depending on the lighting thanks to the patterns covering them, taken from the carved gratings of traditional Chinese houses.
