Chaoyang Park Plaza

摘要

From downtown Beijing the mountains surrounding the city are only visible on the clearest, crispest of days. And given the Chinese capital's well-documented battle with air pollution, such opportunities are a genuine rarity. As such, architect Ma Yansong's Chaoyang Park Plaza project - its form heavily inspired by mountains and nature - often lacks its visual reference point and approaching it by foot is an overwhelmingly urban experience.The plaza's standout structure - an imposing, two-tower building shaped by a series of undulating fins - is curved, asymmetrical and encased in dark-tinted glass. Although captivating to behold, the looming black towers take on an opaque, ominous quality by dusk. In contrast, most of the neighbouring buildings are pale, angular and uniform. And while the Ma's practice, MAD Architects, is marketing the mixed-use development as being in Beijing's Central Business District, it actually sits apart from the city's modest collection of skyscrapers.