Client
in urban design
schedule
Shenzhen Municipality
Project
Masterplan concept
Landscape
architecture
Built up area
175.000 sqm
Location
Shenzhen, China
Date
2020
The architecture aspires to represent a giant manta ray pushed ashore by the sea current and lying on the peninsula. The tail acts as a public bridge connecting
the south and north zones. The sound is portrayed through the Chinese pipe, a traditional four-stringed musical instrument. The strings of the pipe run the length of the manta ray’s dorsal, a graphic expression of
the integration of sound into the sea.
The ascending nature and the musical silhouette seem a fresh yet familiar continuation of Shenzhen’s coastal landscape.
Studio Marco Piva’s design is inspired by the condition of Shenzhen’s architectural elements, the sloping hills and the sinuous shape of the bridge over the sea. Discovering the relationship between sound and
the sea guided the design concept. A sinuously shaped profile is the link between the melodies of the sea and the dynamic writing of notes on a musical score.
The sea is portrayed through the profile of manta rays.