Beijing – Urban Development South Axis
The plan for Beijing’s South Central Axis is a project of national interest.
- Type
- Competition won
- Status
- In progress
- Client
- Beijing Municipal Planning Bureau
- Scale
- 26 km²
- Program
- Urban Design, Museum Design, Reconstruction
- Architect
- AND Studio
About
It covers part of the city’s central axis, which runs from the Forbidden City to the new Beijing Daxing International Airport at its end.
The plan looks for a new image of Beijing through the city’s history, form, planning and landscape. It keeps the tradition of placing cultural buildings along the central axis, reshapes the neighbourhoods into more open and inclusive places with a new architectural identity, and extends the pedestrian route of the existing axis.
The plan includes two museums. The Water Museum, 15,000 m², is like a stone skipping across water; inside, it tells the history of water in Chinese culture. The Earth Museum, 20,000 m², rises like layers of ground lifting out of the soil, making a dynamic, airy space that tells the history of the garden in Chinese culture.
It also covers the restructuring of five major buildings, and the conversion of 40,000 m² of an existing building into shops and a cultural centre.