Design race for IFF site moves into 2rd round

A second review meeting of the International Competition for Architectural Design of the International Finance Forum Permanent Conference Site was held in Guangzhou’s Nansha district on Sept 23, giving rise to three recommendations and three alternatives.

The jury evaluate the design works at the competition. [Photo/gznsnews.com.cn]

The International Finance Forum (IFF) is an independent international organization headquartered in China, and a standing exchange and research initiation hailed as the “F20 in global finance”. It arrived in Nansha district in June of 2017.

The project, with an investment of 3.5 billion yuan ($491.79 million), will cover 242,000 square kilometers.

Based on the permanent conference site, the IFF will foster the country’s first financial island with the support of the Guangzhou municipal government and the Administrative Committee of the Nansha Development Zone.

A total of 54 design units entered the competition. They included Zaha Hadid Architects, Coop Himmelblau, AXS Satow Inc and the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design. Eighteen qualified for primary selection and nine of those were chosen for the second-round review.

International vision, Chinese culture and five-river-intersection regional traits are three keys phrases in the competition, and submissions are also required to embrace the development conceptions of innovation, harmony, green environment, opening-up and sharing.

A glance at the competition. [Photo/gznsnews.com.cn]

The jury expressed their appreciation of the nine design sketches. They spoke highly of those which integrate traditional Chinese cultural elements with local regional features and show a futuristic sense at the same time.

“The project land, with water on three sides, has splendid image display potential due to the open space; seeing and being seen are both important here,” said Wang Jianguo, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Ken Wai, design director of Aedas Ltd, a renowned international architectural design company, added that “The conference site should simultaneously fulfill an exhibition function, which calls for flexibility of functional design.”