DE-ENVELOP

The crossroad and pedestrian pass of Zhongguancun is a typical epitome of a unique urban scenery in Beijing. The roads of mega scale, respectively the 80m-wide Zhongguancun Avenue and the 100m-wide 4th Ring Road sunken below, have segmented surrounding blocks both visually and physically. Due to the construction and broadening of the roads, the current buildings, or 'surfaces' along these mega roads are those that were originally inside the segmented courtyard blocks or those that are constructed later to 'cover' the inside blocks and compensate for the lost of urban functions, and are of neither a proper scale or form that match the drastic change of cityscape. Unexpected 'layers' has been created around blocks, enclosing the remaning urban spaces and lives in the 'introvert', 'closed' courtyards along with the mega office and mall buildings that divide the urban space into fragmented pieces. Public lives are hence obstructed.

The design proposal illustrates the future crossroad as a 'peak' and focus of urban development in density, publicness and diversity. Still, whether a public form could lead to a traditionally public life in current Beijing remains to be questioned and addressed, for the impact of non-spatial factors, especially the emerging of multiple instant social medias, are becoming more prevalent in such an ever-changing era.