Mountains and Rivers of Yichang

At a recent SKYLINE event held in Downtown Los Angeles local based architects from amphibianArc presented their installation of ever so original structure named Cocoon, which is an actual part extracted from one of the two public buildings designed for the masterplan of a new district in Yichang, China.

Important riverport city of Yichang is located in the western part of Hubei Province, on the both banks of the Yangtze River. It is in its midstream, just below the Xiling Gorge, the easternmost of the Three Gorges on the Yangtze, where the narrow valley divides this area into two parts.

Overlooking the Yangtze River, the site experiences the most unique natural environment of Chinese “Shan Shui” (Chinese: “mountains and water» – refers to a style of Chinese painting that involves or depicts scenery or natural landscapes using a brush and ink rather than more conventional paints.) With mountains and water at the core of Yichang’s landscape identity, the planning concept reincorporates this natural environment into an urban environment through the architectural typology and urban morphology. The design creates a balance between land and water, introducing multi-functional water features amongst the orthogonal high and low-rise office buildings to produce a more dynamic space and environment for public use.

The site of the new development has a unique favorable environment for living and working in terms of Chinese “Shan Shui”. The programs within the 1,430,000 square meters of the new district include a museum, planning exhibition center, and auxiliary programs such as administrative spaces and offices. Towards the northern end of the site, the highest peak is the public service center that includes four highrise and four love-rise buildings evenly divided by the conference hall at the center. Organized around a central courtyard, the executive offices are arranged, placed closer to the earth to provider easier access to the public, while the administrative spaces are located in the upper levels of the tower.

The public buildings are a conceptualization of the “mountains”. The Public Service Center is to be built on a hillside and is the highest “mountain” of the “mountain range”. It includes four high rise buildings and four low rise courtyard buildings placed two to each side of the central Conference Hall. The programs are thoughtfully planned with administrative space located in the high rise buildings and executive offices placed around the courtyards. By opening up the offices, the design seeks to break the negative stereotype of an aloof government and to help create a down-to-earth image.

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Materials provided by amphibianArc