Flowing Style of Beijing Galaxy SOHO Complex Earns Nomination For Design of the Year Award

Galaxy SOHO mixed-use building complex in Beijing, China. Photo courtesy of Iwan Baan.

Having a unique flowing design with a curving unified feel, the newly completed Beijing Galaxy SOHO mixed-use complex has just been nominated for the London Design Museum’s 2013 Design of the Year Award.

Galaxy SOHO building complex. Photo by Iwan Baan.

This will be the museum’s sixth annual Design of the Year Award exhibition, which will run from March 20, 2013 to July 7, 2013, with the museum saying the exhibition will “compile the most original and exciting designs, prototypes, and designers in the world today.”

The category winners and overall winner will be announced to the public on April 17, 2013. The design awards span seven categories: architecture, digital, fashion, furniture, graphics, transport, and product.

The SOHO Galaxy complex – designed by Zaha Hadid Architects – has been nominated in the award’s architecture category.

What’s unique about the SOHO Galaxy’s design is its natural flowing structure. The complex is a melding of four building spaces that blend together and then pull apart, connecting with bridges and plateaus, “creating a world of fluidity within,” said Zaha Hadid Architects.

Schematically, the 330,000 square meter – office, retail, and entertainment – complex has 18 floors (15 floors above ground and 3 floors below).

Galaxy SOHO mixed-use building complex in Beijing, China. Photo courtesy of Iwan Baan.

The structure provides retail spaces around the central canyon, with courtyards on the four lower levels. The three lower levels also have retail and entertainment facilities. Office spaces occupy the fourth level to the top, with the highest levels dedicated to bars, restaurants, and cafes giving great views of the city.

Zaha Hadid Architects said that “devoid of corners or abrupt transitions,” the design is “a re-inventing of the classical Chinese courtyard, which generates an immersive enveloping experience at the heart of Beijing.”

Also among the distinctive aspects of the design is its organic flow that incorporates and maximizes natural elements like the path of the sun, “allowing natural light to penetrate deep into the site and surrounding neighborhoods,” said the architectural design firm.

Founder of Zaha Hadid Architects, Zaha Hadid’s interests lie in integrating architecture, landscape, and geology. She was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004

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