Digital City Briefs - Beijing

Indigo Beijing: A Modern and Energetic Commercial Center

2012-08-01T20:33:00.001-04:00

Indigo is a color that communicates depth and vibrancy. In Chinese, it means pleasure and refinement. Indigo Beijing represents a retail complex that is modern and energetic. It is located in the Chaoyang District of Beijing and provides 87,000 square-meters of retail consisting of a supermarket, a cinema, an array of restaurants, a food plaza and spaces for exhibition and performances. It is designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

“With a high-quality retail podium and hotel accommodations within the same complex, ONE INDIGO serves as a comprehensive destination that provides tenants with more than just office space.”

靛蓝是一种颜色，传达深度和活力。在中国，这意味着欢乐和细化。靛蓝北京代表是现代、充满活力的零售商场。它位于北京市朝阳区，并提供 87,000 平方米的零售组成的一家超市、电影院、食肆、美食广场、展览及表演的空间的数组。它旨在实现 LEED 的白金认证。"内相同的高质量的零售平台及酒店住宿的复杂，一个靛蓝作为租户提供不仅仅是办公空间的综合目标。"

Reference: Indigo, Beijing

Photo Credit: Benoy.com

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Beijing's National Aquatics Center

EC Mall’s Design Evokes Nature and Technology

2012-08-01T20:15:00.000-04:00

A 53,000 square-meters retail mall opened in 2009 in the largest high-tech business district in Beijing. The retail center faces the International Financial Center and provides pedestrian links to this renowned commercial development. The mall has seven levels, and it connects directly to the new mass transit rail line.

“The inspiration for the exterior and interior was developed from the notion of the birth of nature and the concept of new rocks and solid materials, metaphorically evolving to create new life and new technology in which the roots of the design are sown.”

在北京市最大的高科技商务区 2009 年开设的 53,000 平方米零售商场。零售中心面临国际金融中心，并提供行人链接到这个著名的商业发展。商场有七个级别，它直接连接到新的地下铁路线。"外部和内部的灵感被发达国家从诞生的性质及新岩和固体材料，比喻演变以创建新的生活和新技术设计的根源播下的概念的概念"。

Reference: ECMall - Beijing Shopping Center, e-architect.co.uk, November 11, 2009
Photo Credit: Benoy.com

Other Recent Posts:

Virtual Tourism – Beijing

Curbing Runaway Property Prices

Beijing’s $40 billion Urban Transformation

Beijing's National Aquatics Center

The National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing

Virtual Tourism – Beijing

2012-07-17T20:50:00.002-04:00

Digital technologies have radically changed tourism. A tourist today has many options to experience different settings in space and time.

Digital assisted tourism refers to the use of apps for mobile devices such as iPhone and iPod to enhance the travel experience. Such apps can provide personal guidance on issues of interest, and fill in the missing information about a place’s history and legends.

Virtual tourism goes one step further. It recreates the experience of travelling in a digital form. It can also recreate historical settings which no longer exist.

“Virtual tours can be especially useful for universities and in the real-estate industry, looking to attract prospective students and tenants/buyers, respectively, eliminating for the consumer the cost of travel to numerous individual locations.”

数字技术，从根本上改变了旅游。一名游客今日有许多选项，体验不同的设置，在空间和时间。数字辅助的旅游是指应用程序用于移动设备（如 iPhone 和 iPod，增强的旅游体验。此类应用程序可以提供个人辅导问题感兴趣，并填写有关地方的历史和传说的丢失信息。虚拟旅游进一步走一步。它将重新创建数字的形式在旅行的经验。它也可以重新创建历史设置已不再存在。"虚拟之旅可以特别有用，大学和在房地产行业，希望吸引潜在学生和租户和买家，分别为消费者消除无数的个别地点旅行的费用。"

Reference: Three-dimensional virtual tourism, Wikipedia

Other Recent Posts:

Curbing Runaway Property Prices

Beijing’s $40 billion Urban Transformation

Beijing's National Aquatics Center

The National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing

Resources:

Online Job Bank

Online Directory of Products and Services

Upcoming Events

Noteworthy Educational Programs

Noteworthy Publications

Curbing Runaway Property Prices

2012-06-27T17:47:00.001-04:00

China cut interest rates on June 8, to spur struggling economy. However, it is also instituting measures to stop runaway property prices. China has placed a ban on buying second homes, hiked minimum down payments and introduced property taxes in certain cities. The results are encouraging in some cities, but six cities have recorded increases in home prices despite these measures.

“Beijing has been encouraging banks to lend to first-time home buyers while at the same time seeking to clamp down on speculative demand.”

中国 6 月 8 日，以刺激苦苦挣扎的经济下调利率。然而，它也采取措施，停止失控的房价。中国已放置购买第二套房子的禁令、上调最低首付款和介绍了某些城市的房产税。在一些城市，结果令人鼓舞，但六个城市有这些措施尽管房价升幅。"中国政府一直鼓励银行借给首次置业人士同时寻求遏制投机性需求。"

Reference: New home prices in most Chinese cities fell in May, Taipei Times, June 19, 2012

Photo Credit: Donaldytong under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

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Beijing’s $40 billion Urban Transformation

Beijing's National Aquatics Center

The National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing

Beijing’s US $40 Billion Urban Transformation

2012-06-11T21:19:00.001-04:00

The National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing

In describing Beijing’s transformation for the 2008 Olympics, the author states that, “As tradable symbols of value, designer buildings have become essential tools of city marketing.” She asserts that the cities around the world are competing to build the tallest, most daring, and most technologically advanced buildings, in order to capture global preeminence. Most of the land for the Olympic buildings was acquired at very low price, because the government was able to confiscate land in the name of public interest. According to one estimate, as many as 300,000 people were evicted and their homes demolished to make way for Olympic facilities and infrastructure projects in Beijing.
“This global-scale architecture, meant to be seen from a helicopter, and experienced on large television screens, is symptomatic of the media-based economy of the new entrepreneurial city, and is entirely at the service of the spectacle.”

“Few Beijingers, however, are aware that many of the Olympic facilities which are being built on the ashes of their old neighborhoods will not be accessible to the general public, but will be turned into luxury resorts for China’s new rich. The preparations for the Olympics will thus have contributed to the creation of new space of exclusion in the Beijing landscape, using public money to finance the construction of private reserves for the wealthy.”

在介绍北京 2008 年奥运会的转型，作者指出，"作为可交易的值的符号、设计师建筑已经成为城市营销的必不可少的工具。"她声称，世界各地的城市竞相建设最高、最大胆的尝试和技术上最先进的建筑，以捕获全球卓越。以极低的价格，收购了奥运建筑的土地大部分，因为政府能够没收土地以公众利益的名义。据估计，多达 30 万人被赶，在北京为奥运场馆建设和基础设施项目让路拆毁了他们的家园。"这种全球规模结构，要给人看从一架直升机，并经历了大型电视屏幕，是基于媒体的经济的新的创业城市的症状和完全处于服务的壮观的场面"。"但是，几个北京人，都知道很多的奥运设施 … …

Reference: ANNE-MARIE BROUDEHOUX, SPECTACULAR BEIJING: THE CONSPICUOUS CONSTRUCTION OF AN OLYMPIC METROPOLIS, JOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, Volume 29, Number 4, pages 383–399.
Photo Credit: Vera & Jean-Christophe under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Urban Spectacles and Global Appeal

Mega Housing Projects and Residential Towers

Hudson Yards

Beijing's National Aquatics Center

2012-06-11T20:41:00.000-04:00

The National Aquatics Center is also known as the Water Cube. It is a wonder of sustainable architecture. The center was completed just in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics. After the Olympics the building was renovated as an indoor water park, which opened in 2010.

“Comprising a steel space frame, it is the largest ETFE clad structure in the world with over 100,000 m² of ETFE pillows that are only 0.2 mm (1/125 of an inch) in total thickness.[9] The ETFE cladding allows more light and heat penetration than traditional glass, resulting in a 30% decrease in energy costs.”

国家游泳中心又称为水多维数据集。它是可持续建筑的一个奇迹。中心已完成只是时间为 2008 年夏季奥运会。奥运建设翻新作为室内水上公园之后，于 2010 年开业。"包括空间钢框架，它是超过 100,000 平米的 ETFE 枕头，只有 0.2 毫米（1/125 英寸）与世界最大的 ETFE 复合结构中总厚度。[9] ETFE 熔允许更多的光和热渗透，比传统的玻璃，导致能源费用减少了 30%。

Reference: Wikipedia
Here is a brief video in English:

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The National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing

2012-06-11T20:29:00.003-04:00

The National Center for the Performing Arts is also known as an opera house or the Bird’s Egg. It is located to the west of the Tiananmen Square, and is near the Forbidden City. 70% of tickets are sold to the ordinary citizens at low prices, while 10% of the tickets are sold to higher market segments. 60% of the annual operational cost is subsidized by the government.

“The Centre, an ellipsoid dome of titanium and glass surrounded by an artificial lake, seats 5,452 people in three halls and is almost 12,000 m² in size. It was designed by French architect Paul Andreu. Construction started in December 2001 and the inaugural concert was held in December 2007.”

国家表演艺术中心也称为歌剧院或鸟的蛋。它位于天安门广场，西和紫禁城附近就是。虽然 10%的门票销往更高的细分市场 70%的门票销售到价格低廉的普通公民。每年的运营成本的 60%是由政府资助的。"中心，椭球穹顶钛和玻璃的人工湖，在三个大厅席位 5,452 人包围，是几乎 12,000 平米大小。它是由法国建筑师保罗 · 安德鲁设计的。2001 年 12 月开工建设，在 2007 年 12 月举行首场演出。

Reference: Wikipedia

Galleria Lia Rumma

Musee Stadel's Green Transformation

Tradition and Modernity Merge at the Russian Orthodox Center

Twin Towers With a Sky Loop

2012-05-23T20:27:00.000-04:00

The construction has been completed at a 54-storey building for China Central Television (CCTV). This $ 1.08 Billion undertaking is the first of approximately 300 projects to be completed in Beijing’s Central Business District. The project consists of two leaning towers which rise from a common platform, and meet at the top by a 75 meter long cantilever. The building will provide a central location for all processes related to TV production. The exterior shows a web of diagonal structural members which become dense in areas of greater stress, and move farther apart in areas of less stress. They provide a visual representation of structural stresses in the building.

双塔天空环：建设已完成在 54 层楼的中国中央电视台 (CCTV)。这 10.8 亿美元的事业是大约 300 项目第一次在北京的中央商务区完成。该项目由两座斜塔，时起从一个通用的平台，满足在顶部的 75 米长悬臂组成。建设将提供所有相关电视生产流程的中心位置。外部显示 web 的对角的结构构件，成为密集地区的更大的压力和移动压力较少的领域中的远。它们提供在大楼的结构应力的可视化表示形式。

Reference: Hope, Gerhard, Gravity-defying Beijing building finally complete, Constructionweekonline.com, May 23, 2012
Photo Credit: Scottmeltzer under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

Magical Lighting and Urbanity: Tower 185

The Grandeur and Skyscrapers of Hong Kong

Proposed Palladium Tower

Urban Development Taxonomy

2012-04-30T08:19:00.001-04:00

How does a city develop into a global destination? Is a city more than a collection of great buildings? Is a city more than a collection of great people? What makes a city great? What are the forces that drive urban development?

There are many sites that provide tourism related information about cities. While we want to understand what makes a city great, we are also interested in the messy gray area, where decisions are made about the future of a city. What drives such decision-making? Is that purely a speculative gamble or are there hidden forces at work? What roles do design professionals play in such decision-making? What role does leadership play? Where does such leadership come from? What role does local government play?

We will focus on four broad categories of urban interventions:

Tourism development:

Urban interventions intended to spur or support tourism.

Hotels, convention centers, museums, art galleries, public arts festivals, fashion shows, business shows, public expositions, public events. Ecotourism, sustainable tourism, heritage tourism, leisure, recreation, urban tourism, parks, sports stadiums, arenas, public plazas,

Smart infrastructure:

Urban interventions intended to spur or support smart urbanization technologies.

Smart grid, smart design, smart transit, smart buildings, renewable energy, sustainable architecture, green building, smart architecture, smart meters, smart traffic signaling, mass transit, smart city, smart infrastructure, augmented reality, urban data networks, collaborative networks, digital city.

Economic development:

Urban interventions intended to spur or support economic development.

Business incubators, start-ups, universities, research centers, innovation labs, demonstration projects, affordable housing, transit hubs, rezoning, urban renewal, environmental remediation, brown fields, urban design, new construction, renovation, mass transit systems, manufacturing, warehousing, freight delivery, transportation, logistics, urban upgrading, finance, law, regulations, institutions, leadership.

Branding and global identity:

Urban interventions intended to create a unique brand.

Global influence, city image, uniqueness, branding, identity, signature buildings, global events, public expositions, leadership, historic preservation, tourist attractions, urban design, celebrations.

Miscellaneous Key words:

General information, summary, statistics, comparative study, geography, emergency preparedness, disaster mitigation, low income housing, urbanization, slum upgrading, geography, climate, culture, people, demographics, history.

Photo Credit: CobbleCC under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

China's Urbanization

2012-04-28T13:17:00.003-04:00

Here is a video on China's urbanization:

Rapid Urbanization

London's Growth

Mumabi: The Megacity