i. The Field: Mirror of the sky Tanglang Mountain Country Park is located at the junction of the three districts of Nanshan, Longhua, and Futian in Shenzhen. It is an important node of Shenzhen's "Mountain and Sea Link" landscape plan. It’s not only the highest point of the coordinates in the geographical sense, but also the "node" in the mirror image relationship between the mountains, the city, and the sky on the geographic profile. It plays an important role in connecting the magnificent nature and the city. Compared with the area requirements of the viewing platform in the design brief, the mountain is more enormous; the site is large, and the building is small in the face of a natural environment with an overwhelming mass, our design "sees the big from the small", The linear spatial sequence is used to enhance the overall landscape quality of Tanglang Mountain and the participation of tourists. ii. The Grid: Topology of Nature Human intervention in nature should be based on the understanding and research of existing nature. Observing the landscape of Tanglang Mountain, its main peak is steep. The existing hiking trails cannot meet the needs of accessibility for all visitors to reach the top of the mountain. It is necessary to redesign a smoothing climbing ramp. At the same time, considering the relatively loose, fragmented, and lack of characteristics of the existing viewing platform and surrounding structures, a clear design language is used to connect the entire tour experience-from the viewing "point" turn into an interactive network between man and nature. Among the tools for humankind sensing nature, Triangle Topology helps people to understand the external world more accurately and to understand themselves by measuring the environment. As significant as the entire universe, as small as a city or a mountain, the traditional triangulation method uses infinite subdivision and the simplest geometry to simulate nature most effectively. The introduction of a triangular grid system in the Tanglang Mountain project can: 1) Re-organize the contour relationship of the mountain through the topological relationship and find the accessibility ramp closest to the mountain; 2) Optimize the design language, using "triangle" as the motif runs through the design; 3) Enrich A series of iconic viewing nodes in the path. iii. The Touch: Leave No Trace Leave No Trace, or LNT for short is an idea for outdoor activity that started in the U.S. It aims to remind people to pay attention to protecting and maintaining the local ecological environment in nature. We hope that the design of Tanglang Mountain can touch and trace nature most lightly. We put forward the concept of "Leave No Trace" in the Tanglang Mountain project. It does not mean that the natural should grow completely disordered, but the beauty of nature could be evoked through our light-touch design. By linking the path between the two viewing platforms, find the best place to touch the mountain in the grid, and seek the least structural cost, the least believing that intervention will lead people into the real nature. Its core philosophy includes respect for the environment and the most natural "minimum impact". iv. The Mirror: Field of Panorama The viewing platform is the focal point of the entire Tanglang Mountain landscape improvement. The immersive experience that gradually rises from the mountain path sends visitors to a panoramic field that maps the city and nature together. The mountains, seas, and the changes in the city have a panoramic view. The mirror pavilion reflects nature. Born out of the natural form of the mountain, the three ridges delineate different viewing directions for the urban stands, contrasting with the development of Shenzhen's urban areas, the different scenery of the bay, and the mountains. The spirally rising and continuously zooming viewing platform is a "mirror" mountain, and it is also a continuously expanding viewing angle. As a continuation of the tour route, the Mirror Pavilion is no longer a terminal-style isolated experience, but a response to the entire triangular grid system. The Mirror Pavilion is also a city image. Its spiral upward viewing platform implies the relationship between man and nature. The process of continuous renewal of relationships-the buildings built in the natural landscape represent a certain poetic exploration and provide a new perspective for humans to look at nature.
Based in New York City, Studio Link-Arc, LLC is an international team of architects and designers. Our name, Link-Arc, refers to the practice’s collaborative nature as well as the company’s mission, which is to work across disciplines to create strategy and design in the fields of urban planning, architecture, spatial art and landscape. We accomplish this by linking knowledge, resources, and intelligence, from multiple perspectives and diverse backgrounds.
Our body of work includes innovative projects at all scales. We see the relationship between architecture and context as an opportunity to create new context, new nature and a new understanding of the world. Through research, we uncover the essential truths unique to each project, and use those truths to create concepts and to shape form. We endeavor to create refined works of architecture. We create spaces that promote contemplation and imagination and provide quiet satisfaction through the simple act of occupation.