The Hengyang authorities selected RMJM Shanghai to design the Xiangjiang Gate in the province of Hunan in China. Winner of the design competition, the proposal of the architectural bureau integrates “the history and culture of the place with the new master plan for the new city”.
With the determination to generate a monument for the city of Hengyang, the project, a gate between culture, sustainability and modernity has a mixed-use function that serves also as a tourist information center and a panoramic platform. At exactly 177 meters tall, the building will hold retail and cultural exhibition areas at the podium level, a museum above, a panoramic restaurant, cafe and lounge bar at 140 meters and a viewing platform on the top floor.
The Xiangjiang Gate’s concept is inspired by three important local elements: the river, the wild goose and the fire, all iconic essentials of the Hunan culture, deeply rooted in the history of the city. In fact, the architects state that “the 180 meters tower embodies two wild gooses taking off from the water. One looking at the old city and another looking at the future one. The two bodies perpendicular to the river, form a gate or an entrance to the future master plan. At night, through curtain wall light effects, the two bodies transform into a big flame witnessed from different angles of the city”. In fact, looking from above, the project creates the illusion of a narrow stream of water passing through two plots, paying tribute to the geographical location of the city and its convergent spirit.
Hangyang is a city where old and new, culture and modernity, converge in many aspects. The joint towers’ design brings us back to the essence of humanity: fire. […] Viewed upside down, the building becomes a goose flying through the sky. -- RMJM Shanghai
Regarding the question of sustainability and technology, the design will embrace “the local environment and forms an interaction between technology, climate, building materials, and human behavior”. The façade reflects the lights and colors of every season, mirroring the city’s environment. Hengyang, the region’s second-largest city and fast-evolving tech hub will have a gate that reinterprets the sustainable architectural design, combining a timeless and modern aesthetic with flexible and sustainable.
The relationship between architecture and the environment has always been a complex one. To reach harmony between the two, we, at RMJM, use climate statistics and engineering parameters to study the most appropriate design forms so that we can shape the best and most suitable architectural forms under special environmental conditions -- Jiehe QiuCEO RMJM Shanghai
