Castle in the Sky

Chongqing Vanke Sky City is located in Guanyinqiao, Jiangbei District, the commercial, office, financial, cultural and transport center of Jiangbei. Beyond the core, the urban fabric thins; two kilometers out lies older residential land. The project occupies a public green space beside a children's park, seeking to give the city a new face on this expensive land. The design takes urban renewal as its premise, using artistic perception to convey longing for life and evoke emotional resonance at the edge of Guanyinqiao. Cloud becomes the symbol of inclusion, freedom andmutability, a state inherent to this land. The entrance floats, extending horizontally and cantilevering 2,700 mm from the ground, with a mirrored stainless-steel reflective base that dissolves its support, and 1,450-by-2,700-mm ultra-clear glass held by ultra-thin flat steel for a minimalist, floating image. The core terrain is inspired by a sea of clouds, with undulating forms that penetrate space and erase boundaries. Plants and sculptures merge into the rolling topography. The design dissolves unfavorable external conditions and lets nature seep in, like sunlight filtered through clouds. A 4,900-by-900-mm art-textured fused glass was chosen for its transparency and the iridescent shadows it casts. The Cloud Art series of sculptures records the floating, soft, hazy and free attitude: Cloud Ladder suspends a stainless-steel island with frosted acrylic steps and branch accents; Cloud Sea integrates white stainless clouds into rolling grassy terrain; Cloud City is a thin-steel silhouette of city skyline with cloud steps. Silver trumpet trees, whose layered branches drift like cloud, reinforce the cloud temperament. The 3,800-square-meter demonstration aims to convey freedom, mutability and inclusiveness, bridging the existing urban edge with new values and an artistic way of life.