Our Favourites: Three BIG Projects in Urban Environment

Skyscrapers in pleats: Shenzhen Energy Mansion by BIG

 96,000 square metres of office and commercial space fill the buildings in the downtown area of Shenzhen. To reduce the loss of green space entailed by the buildings as far as possible, park areas are envisaged on three sections of the roofs. This concern for nature even extends to the interior, where the pattern of the folded, pleated facade is echoed in the arrangement of the planters in the lobby.



Client: Shenzhen Energy Company
Architecture: BIG Bjarke Ingels Group
Location: Jin Tian Lu, FuTian CBD, Futian Qu, 518045 Shenzhen (CN)

Between low and high: BIG's VIA 57 West

With his concept of utopian pragmatism, Danish architect Bjarke Ingels often combines contrasts that do not seem compatible. The first completion of BIG in the US is an unconventional apartment block in New York. Its concept combines the European block structure with Manhattan’s tradition of high rise buildings.
 
Client: The Durst Organization
Architecture: BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
Location: 625 W 57th St, New York (USA)

Urban living room: Méca by BIG
 
BIG has designed an urban living room made of sandblasted concrete-slabs for the Culture Centre Méca. It is situated on the Garonne river, which opens up to the city Bordeaux in a meandering movement.

Client: Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Architecture: BIG
Location: 54 Quai de Paludate, 33800 Bordeaux (FR)