Nanning is honored as the ‘green city’ of China by tourists at home and abroad because of its rich vegetation and evergreen trees in all seasons. It’s a garden city full of subtropical scenery with green trees and blooming flowers in the street. Nanning is also a city nourished by water – in ancient times, people chose water as the geographical conditions for building homes. They lived beside the river, made a living by the river and established the city with river. The water system in the city is developed and the Yong River is the main stream. There are over 230 rivers of different sizes whose overall length is 4500 km. In downtown, there are 18 inland water and more than ten lakes.
▽南宁是绿城，也是水城/ Nanning is a green city and a water city
Wuxiang Tower locates in the Wuxiang Lake Park which is in the core area of Nanning Wuxiang New District and it’s the tallest landmark in the park. The park is a site that Nanning bid for the third Guangxi Garden Expo. The symbol of the Wuxiang Tower reflects in the idea that people and nature co-exist harmoniously and the form of low-carbon sightseeing to advocate a healthy and environmental lifestyle. It can not only promote cultural communication but also stimulate cultural creation, showing the open temperament and colorful life of Nanning.
▽五象塔标志性的体现/ The symbolic significance of Wuxiang Tower
The function of the tower includes cultural presentation, sightseeing and leisure recreation. To make the cultural presentation and the park link more closely, the cultural presentation was placed at the bottom of the building, the semi-outdoor sightseeing floor was placed at 60m and the VIP sightseeing was set on the top of the building. At the same time, the building uses the height difference of the site to form an independent sightseeing hall. As a cultural leisure terrace, the cultural presentation top floor combines recreation and culture, and a spiral ramp connects the cultural leisure platform with the 60-meter sightseeing platform. This ramp is an extension of the cultural leisure platform, providing a different sightseeing experience and advocating people to use low-carbon way to visit. Meanwhile, an outdoor stair connects the 60-meter platform with the ground, creating a continuous public path.
Tourists who come for sightseeing can reach the cultural leisure platform and 60-meter sightseeing platform by taking the elevator or walking. VIP can take the separate elevator to reach the cultural leisure platform, the 60-meter sightseeing platform and the top sightseeing floor. Tourists come for the cultural exhibition can go into the cultural exhibition hall from the higher ground floor and take the elevator or outdoor stairs to reach the exhibition rooms of different heights.
The inspiration of the façade design came from the waterfall, whose water curtain is crystal clear and full of spirituality. The water curtain consists of several vertical bars, through which people can see inside the building faintly. The tower with the theme of water on the façade responds to the Wuxiang Lake besides. When the light goes through the vertical bars, the inner space is like a bamboo forest saturated in the sunshine.
▽人视图/ Perspective
▽立面设计灵感来源于瀑布/ The inspiration of the facade design came from the waterfall
▽内部空间犹如阳光沐浴的竹林/ The inner space is like a bamboo forest saturated in sunshine
The standard floor of the tower is small so if the core tube is in the center, the depth will be only 10 meters. By moving the center core and combining the oval core tube, the inside depth can be 16 meters. The bigger space towards Wuxiang Lake becomes a place for small activities, stimulating cultural creation and making it more active. Vertical bars form a flower-shaped edge in the building and several gaps without vertical bars ensure a broad view.
▽偏筒分析/ Moving the center core to expand the depth towards Wuxiang Lake
▽60米观光平台平面图/ Plan of 60-meter-high sightseeing floor
The building is a frame-single-tube structure. The whole tower has 12 equally distributed columns and 9 inclining columns supporting the circular VIP floor except for the core tube. On the outside of the building, scattered vertical bars and 12 structural columns form an interesting space effect.
The ramp connecting cultural leisure platform and the 60-meter sightseeing platform explains the idea of low-carbon sightseeing, advocating a healthy and environmental lifestyle. It also takes advantage of Nanning’s climate to provide a semi-outdoor tourist space for the citizens. Circular VIP floor on the top improve its ventilation and lighting conditions, and visitors on the 60-meter sightseeing floor can experience the charm of Nanning’s rainy season while the reclaiming rain is used to water plants.
Night scene design responds to the idea of the water curtain – the façade forms a dynamic water curtain through several vertical LED lights. At night, when the lights come on, the sparkling tower is like a milky way falling down and gathering in the lake, integrating the tower with the lake.
▽夜景/ Night view
▽总平面图/ Site plan
▽观光大厅平面图/ Plan of the sightseeing hall
▽文化展示大厅平面图/ Plan of the cultural presentation hall
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