Heatherwick Studio?s “1000 Trees” project is well underway in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai. The project, a mixed-use development in a residential area surrounded by high-rise tower blocks alongside the Suzhou River, was conceived of after a developer approached the studio following the success of their “UK Pavilion,” which was created for the 2010 Shanghai Expo. The complex occupies 15 acres of land next to Shanghai?s arts district, M50, and is really intended to be more of a new topographical element than a building. This will manifest itself in the long, narrow site via the construction of a terraced landscape, which will take up over 300,000 square meters of space. Here, the building?s concrete structure will be expressed in the form of approximately 1000 columns that not only have tree-like shapes but are also designed to have trees and plants emerging from their funnel-shaped crowns.
The project, entitled “Moganshan,” was unveiled in 2015, and drone footage of the construction reveals that its progress is now well and truly underway. Although the development is far from being finished, the video shows that there are already trees planted on top of the columns, lending a green air to the otherwise industrial building site. According to the architects, the site is formed from two ?tree-covered mountains,” both of which consist of terraced columns that rise to different heights and create an undulating landform that will un...