The Guomao intersection constitutes the largest area of public space within the CBD of Beijing. As Beijing races to become one of the great cities of the world, this center of its Central Business District becomes a glaring contradiction to the city’s otherwise futuristic ambitions.
For the Guomao analysis, HARD programs are seen as constructed, or semi-permanent functions of the space such as Bus Terminal, parking lots, green areas, HVAC and other Technical structures, subway entries, fenced off empty space (hardscape) and roads. The SOFT programs are those programs which manifest and cluster in regions at specific times then dissipate with no or insufficient constructed infrastructure or organizational system to maintain order. In many cases such programs have a grossly under-sized infrastructural facilities which during peak traffic hours cannot hold the vast numbers of people, thus quickly overflow creating large groupings of people which start to invade and hinder the flow of other aspects of the intersection.
When taking on an entirely theoretical project, such a Guomao, the critical questions which BAM continues to grapple with is the extent to which the final proposal manifests as a utopian vision. Is the intention to be a fully practical and implementable proposal or is it simply an exercise in unfettered imagination? Are we intending to imagine what the condition could be in 5 years or are we envisioning how it would ideally function in 100 years? We believe that a middle road must be taken.
In response to various existing proposals for Guomao both theoretical and real, BAM believes there is a void. The theoretical proposals tend to not deal with the real condition of the site nor with a consideration for of how the city intends to develop. On the other hand the ‘real’ proposals are simply corporate architecture and planning companies fulfilling requirements as set forth by bureaus and developers, and completely lack any consideration for what would be better for the city. Regardless of whether these Guomao proposals are theoretical or ‘real’ they are entirely envisioned through architecture and exclusively by architects.
BAM’s proposal for Guomao intends to illustrate the true power of not just design thinking, but of LANDSCAPE oriented thinking when applied to desperate urban conditions, and work to debunk China’s architecture-oriented visions of urbanity.
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