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In 2016, Kokaistudios was invited to participate in a competition for an underground shopping mall in Suhe Creek Green land. Instead, the design opted to present a brand-new public space in the city: a riverside green land with cultural and leisure facilities, incorporating a subterranean commercial area. Property developer CRLand preferred Kokaistudios’ vision for an ‘urban valley,’ the floor of which is a subterranean commercial space that merges into its green land surroundings through a series of stepped slopes.
The project’s starting point was rethinking commercial spaces to better integrate with their surroundings. Its most important and unifying element is the aboveground green land itself. An attractive public space for local residents and visitors alike, it injects welcome greenery and fresh possibilities into this previously overlooked corner of Shanghai. The resulting ‘urban valley’ presents a brand-new public space in the city and sets a new benchmark for Shanghai.
With the collaboration of multiple departments, the project minimizes energy consumption, At the same time, the green site carries more diverse and interesting public activities. It is a public space for fun and relaxation. As transplanted trees grow, they will provide welcome shade for green land goers’ comfort and enjoyment. In a city as dense as Shanghai, and where a majority of residents do not have access to a private garden, green lands are of vital importance for recreation, wellbeing, and protecting the local environment.
Shanghai Suhe MixC World is located in 42,000 sqm of urban green land on Shanghai’s Suzhou Creek. The design opted to present a brand-new public space in the city: a riverside green land with cultural and leisure facilities, incorporating a subterranean commercial area. Taking a holistic approach to the project, Kokaistudio’s vision was that of an URBAN VALLEY. The commercial space is located inside the valley; while its sides take the form of stepped access points. As well as a new 4-floor ‘gateway building,’ the project’s most important and unifying element is the aboveground green land itself. Physical connections between the public green land and commercial space are made visible by six overground openings. Designed to merge with the ground-level green area so as to blur boundaries between above and below, their organic-shape curves incorporate planted steps transitioning down into the space. A pair of artworks by AllRightsReserved and Inges Idee further link above and below, striking a playful tone. The pebble-shaped openings incorporate entrances to the underground commercial space, and are located either side of the bisecting road. Partially planted and with occasional seating areas along their route, as well as coffeeshops, they recall the gentle slopes of a valley or stepped tea fields.
The concept of "shared vitality and win-win value" between green land and commercial is based on the full collaboration among designers and various administrative departments of the government, the developer, commercial operators and engineers. In particular, the determination of the scale and shape of the “valley” requires rational calculation and dynamic balance of different elements, so as to maximize comprehensive quality of urban public space and landscape environment.
Kokaistudios is an award winning architecture and interior design firm founded in 2000 in Venice by Italian architects Filippo Gabbiani & Andrea Destefanis. Headquartered in Shanghai since 2002 we have grown into multi-cultural firm of 60 people working on a global scale with projects in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. Kokaistudios partners with our clients to collaboratively develop innovative & ground breaking projects in diverse fields of design. Primarily focused on developing cultural, corporate, commercial, hospitality & retail projects we have also worked extensively on urban regeneration projects involving the requalification of heritage locations. Kokaistudios aims to develop projects that add positively to the built environment and social fabric of the cities and countries in which they are located.
