Building Investment (January-February 2021)

Artist impression.
(Source: sasaki.com)
Artist impression.
(Source: sasaki.com)
DESIGN COMPOSITION
Panlong is one of China’s ancient water towns, many of which
are located in the greater Shanghai metro area and throughout
Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces. Originally built over 700 years
ago, Panlong’s urban form is typical of the region’s ancient
vernacular, with historic buildings straddling both sides of a canal
and bridges providing critical pedestrian links across. Beginning
with a strategy for the adaptive reuse of the historic village core,
the design team outlined a conservation plan that maintained
the ancient urban fabric. Existing alleyways, narrow streets, and
other key features of the public realm were also retained, and
new streets were carefully aligned to respect the integrity of the
old town.
This approach established extraordinary synergies between
historic preservation and real estate development. With a total
floor area of about 530,000 sqm, Panlong Tiandi has planned
three functional spaces – 230,000 sqm public green space
Panlong Park, the 50,000 sqm commercial space Panlong Tiandi
that will take the form of a traditional Jiangnan water town,
and the 250,000 sqm residential space Panlong International
Residence, which will be a model for modern Jiangnan lifestyle.
Convenient access to transit in addition to a dense and
walkable urban form contribute to reduced transportationrelated
carbon emissions, and are one of many strategies
leading to Panlong Tiandi’s objective of setting a new paradigm
for sustainable urban development. Other features of the
development include reuse of building materials that will reduce
the project’s overall embodied carbon and limiting stormwater
runoff with a landscape that prioritizes filtration and groundwater
recharge.
One of the most significant features of Panlong Tiandi is
the generous public landscape surrounding the historic core.
Sasaki’s design challenged the typical approach to Shanghai’s
ubiquitous buffer landscape condition by rethinking it as a central
feature of the development. This bold move repositioned what is
traditionally underutilized space into a public park brimming with
programming and activity interwoven with the rich history of
Panlong.
As a result, the new development is colloquially referred
to as “Xintiandi in the Park” reflecting the importance of the
landscape to Panlong’s renewed identity. There are three main
elements that provided inspiration for the park’s design. The first
is a contemporary reinterpretation of the 10 Scenes of Panlong
as documented in the Panlong Chronicles, which informed spatial
organization and planting selection. The second is the creation
of “Panlong Dao”, which is a journey through the park’s various
landscape typologies via a path constructed from reused roofing
tiles left over from the renovation of the village.
Finally, the canopy walk is a unique element that takes
advantage of the park’s micro terrain to provide an elevated
perspective of the village and the park below as well as up close
observation of the diverse planting from a rare vantage point.
Connecting the park to the historic core, entry points from
the surrounding landscape are strategically aligned to guide
pedestrians towards smaller public spaces within the village.
These smaller pocket parks provide a contrast to the grand
landscape enveloping the old town and offer flexible event and
social spaces, act as helpful orientation points, and provide
breathing room within the compact urban fabric.
(Source: sasaki.com)
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