Blue Ribbon in Shanghai by 100architects

The Blue Ribbon is a creative public space intervention designed to foster interactions among kids and adults in a virtually enclosed space.

Architect: 100architects
Client: Life Hub @ Daning, (Chongbang Group)
Location: Daning Road, Jin’An District, Shanghai, China
Year: 2018
Built area: 350m2
Design team: Marcial Jesus, Javier Gonzalez, Anshuman Roy
Production: Hong Yang Advertising
Photography: Amey Kandalgaonkar

From the architect: Life Hub @ Daning, a 250,000 sqm mixed use development with 110,000 sqm shopping mall, is one of the hottest commercial areas in Shanghai, due to its condition of open-air retail street.

The installation was intended to generate a meeting point for families within a safe and enclosed area. A space for fun and interaction of kids and adults. Therefore, the circle was selected as the universal symbolic shape of unity, inclusion, wholeness and perfection. It implies the idea of cyclic movement as a perpetual motion.

The basic circular shape was bent creating different functional topographical profiles, granting the look of a Ribbon. Those bends create openings for accessing the central space, seating features, mini-amphitheaters, ramps, slopes, etc.… encouraging the gathering and interaction of people.

The resulting enclosed area is rendered as a playground, filled with basic geometric objects as soft pillows to be colonized by kids. A green flooring surface serves as informational and directional canvas, displaying information at the same time as it enhances the perception of being within the circle.

Taking advantage of the highest bends of the ribbon, yellow functional boxes were plugged-in as platforms for adults to rest and have a break, as chatting capsules with a certain degree of privacy.

The Blue Ribbon not only creates a playful cyclical platform as a challenging path to be traveled by kids by jumping, climbing, sliding and crawling up and down. It also provides with different shapes to host different activities.

During the summer period, the Blue Ribbon became the truly meeting point at Life Hub @ Daning’s open-air retail street, gathering kids and adults alike, and successfully increasing the pedestrian circulation at the pedestrian intersection.

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