Suzhou: The Latest Architecture and News

+ 28

+ 40

The architectural practice OPEN has revealed the design for the Shanfeng Academy, a project currently under construction that topped out at the end of April, marking the completion of its highest point. The new campus center, located in a new district of Suzhou city, will host a K-12 international school while also aiming to act as a cultural hub for the local community.

Surrounded by canals, the city of Suzhou is known for its historical gardens with temples, bridges, pavilions, and rock sculptures. These, along with traditional Chinese architecture sites, offer a counterpoint to the city’s active social life and fast-paced business sector. The challenge for OPEN architects was to create a large-scale urban project whilst being sympathetic to the heritage of the city.

+ 13

+ 16

+ 18

+ 41

+ 41

+ 24

+ 18

+ 20

+ 31

+ 31

The Suzhou Bay Cultural Center is part of a series of emblematic projects initiated by the city's Wujiang Lakefront Masterplan. Located on the shores of Lake Tai, the deserted plain was discovered by Christian de Portzamparc in 2013, while rethinking the future city. It was then built so quickly, that the architect never ceased to be amazed after every visit. Alive, it is like a real Manhattan of towers organized through a grid of streets and avenues, bordering a central pedestrian axis that heads towards the lake. It was clear that the meeting of this pedestrian axis and the great lake would generate an exceptional place, and it was on this site, on each side, that the cultural center was to be implanted in the architecture competition.

+ 10

+ 16

+ 26