Restoration and expansion of the CRRC Water Tower in Shijiazhuang (CHINA)

The project of restoration and re-functionalization of the water tower – given its historical and symbolic value – is to be understood as the creation of a focal point, a larger place, created to attract people to an area of ​​walks, exhibitions and events related to the environment, water and art. Originally the tower served as a storage for water and in the future it will become a reference point for an area dedicated to water: it will be born from a lake, which surrounds it. The lake will host some works of art placed on small islands and will be circumscribed by a walk made of two grassy ramps, which will lead people around the lake and towards the tower. Inside the tower, visitors will be immersed in a world of projections, sounds and images studied by contemporary artists; they will walk through the space slowly vertically on a central platform until they reach the upper floors and the viewing platform with the refreshment point.

PROJECT DATA

Locality: Shijiazhuang (CHINA)
Client: CRRC
Assignment: Feasibility Project
Design Date: 2019

With: Junmei Du (De Vita & Schulze Architetti – Beijing)

Cooperation DVS: arch. Leonardo Pestelli, arch. Ambra Paganelli