The new construction will be the embodiment of the Crystal Island initiative (the competition was dedicated to this goal), and its program is associated with the UNESCO awarding Shenzhen the status of "city of design" in 2008.
According to the idea of Rem Koolhaas and his workshop, the Shenzhen Center of Creativity should appear opposite the town hall building, which will become a kind of "vanishing point" for local intellectual enterprises. It will combine the functions of a cultural center, a transport terminal and a recreation area.
In its above-ground part, the Creativity Center will consist of 20 hectares of parks and gardens, where “Design Villages” will be erected - pavilions united into groups. The entire territory of the center will be encircled by a two-level circular pedestrian bridge raised above the ground, connecting the elements of the ensemble, the surrounding quarters and urban infrastructure.
A system of intersecting diagonal routes will be created underground, which will connect the existing and planned railway and metro stations, bus stops and taxi ranks, shopping centers and cinemas (which were the original program of the "Crystal Island" as conceived by the organizers of the competition), the town hall and the Creativity Center itself … It will include spaces for exhibitions and creative activities in all types of design.
The Shenzhen Eye will be located in the center of both levels. It will look like a hollow sphere, personifying the "Space of Imagination" - an open zone of free creativity, in which the energy of the city and the vision of its future are concentrated.
Thanks to the Shenzhen Center for Creativity, the city's intellectual and cultural enterprises, previously scattered over a large territory, will be linked together by a diverse infrastructure and will be able to develop fruitfully.
Tom Maine, who was on the jury of the competition, noted that the original idea of OMA more accurately embodies the concept of a "city landmark" than the usual concrete skyscraper. Although this project is based on an abstract image, it is also very practical, the architect said.
