The project for an ecological and technological island is located on the Yangtze River to the Northeast of Nanjing in Jiangsu province and is part of the development strategy of the Yangtze Delta and Jiangsu province. The objectives of this strategy are to define a new image for the city of Nanjing, open up its economy, develop eco-technological industries and modern services, make innovative use of existing mechanisms and implement a strategy of local development “across the Yangtze River”.
One of the aims established by the city was to preserve as much agricultural activity and green space on the site as possible. This encouraged us to draw up a project in which the urbanisation is “contained” by the landscape. Hence – the positioning of the more urbanised areas on the edges of the island enables a green corridor to cross the island from North to South. Thus, the concept behind the project becomes one of “internal islands” opening onto a “green river”, which preserves the view of the new districts on the West bank of the river from the existing city. The strategy of “containment” reveals a green spine based on the existing agricultural grid of the island. However, in order to create the necessary sense of dynamic and movement, this grid has been strained, twisted, compressed and stretched.
Hence, this “contained” urbanisation opens towards the outside. This establishes a dialogue between the island and the city which obliges us to work with the skyline as much as with the urban plan and the public spaces connected to the riverbank.
Our solution is to create a street layout which is compatible with both urban and landscape concepts – for reasons of both logical distribution and economics. The idea is to create a North/South axis serving and connecting the island´s different districts, coupled with a secondary distribution network which is based on existing routes and dykes and connects the edges of the island with the centre while facilitating East/West movement across the island.
