Shidai Tower, Harbin China : Architecture Information

Shidai Tower, Harbin, China 2009-11 AS.Architecture-Studio Architecture Competition winner AS.Architecture-Studio has recently won this international competition. The competition was jointly organised by the local government and Harbin Construction and Investment Group. Works will start in 2010. The site is located in the old city centre, near the junction of a major urban axis and Song Hua River. It is also close from historical buildings and touristic sites. The tower is sculpted in a matrix (70-metre wide and 150-m high). Whilst its exterior walls strictly comply with urban building lines, large volumes are dug in the inside area of this rectangle. Wide openings onto the city and the river are thus created. They resemble huge ice sculptures, like those exhibited each year on the opposite river bank, on the occasion of the famous Harbin ice festival. The Shidai tower is meant to become a new landmark for the city. Shidai Tower image / information from AS.Architecture-Studio Client : Harbin City Construction and Investment Group Architect : AS.Architecture-Studio Surface : 134 000m² Competition : 2009, winner Completion : Set for 2011 Programme : Shidai Tower in Harbin is a 150-metre high multifunctional building including municipal services, offices, a 4-star hotel and luxury housing. AS.Architecture-Studio’s team (M.Robain, R.Tisnado, JF.Bonne, A.Bretagnolle, RH. Arnaud, LM.Fischer, M.Lehmann, R.Ayache, MC.Piot, G.Joly, M.Efron,A.Sabeh El Leil) has mainly achieved in China : Wison Chemical headquartes in Shanghai, the OREAL manufacturing plant in Suzhou and the Technological Park in Shanghai. The current main projects of AS.Architecture-Studio Shanghai and Beijing, where about fifty people work, are the following: the Science and Technique Park in Chongqing (won in 2006, works in progress), the 2010 World Exbihition Congress Centre (works in progress), the Tobacco manufacturing plant (won in 2008; works in progress), the Jinqiao research centre in Shanghai (works in progress), Dayi villas in Guangzhou (works in progress) and luxury housing in Baita district in Hangzhou (works in progress).