A conceptual model for a future city by Dutch architects MVRDV, featuring terraced buildings that look like mountains, is on show at the Beijing Center for the Arts.

Called China Hills, the project aims to combine the city with agriculture and energy production.

The installation remains in place until 28 February.

Photographs copyright Beijing Center for the Arts.

The following information is from MVRDV:

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MVRDV exhibits “China Hills:

A vision of future cities”

Saturday 28th of November the Beijing Centre for the Arts will open the exhibition “Green Projects II, Three Dimensional City: Future China” featuring work of Paolo Soleri and MVRDV.

The centre piece is an installation by MVRDV, “China Hills”: a scale model of a future Chinese city which offers alternatives to the current urbanization in China.

On a hypothetical site of 1×1x0.5 km the plan offers space to accommodate up to 100,000 inhabitants and a well balanced mix of urban program and nature, agriculture and energy production; all in the shape of a Chinese mountain landscape: realizable with today’s technologies. The exhibition is open until February 28th 2010. On 28th November a Forum takes place.

Exhibition installation “China Hills: A Dream for Future Cities”

2008 marks the historic global move from a majority of rural population to a majority of urban population. In the last twenty years, the incredible economic growth of China has lead to enormous urbanizations. Though impressive in size, most of these urban developments are rather monotonous and relying on external resources.

As the urban population grows, the needed program will require more space than suitable land is available. In the exhibition MVRDV visualizes the possibilities this offers. The city on a site of 1×1x0.5 km is terraced to offer sufficient space naturally lit for the needed plantation and energy production. This leads to attractive livable areas in high-rises. ‘Stepped’ terraced towers with a rich variety of characters appear. The interiors of these ‘hills’ are destined for retail, industry, leisure and technology.

By inserting these new ‘hills’ in and around the current cities, a sincere Chinese mountain range appears. Blending individuality with collective responsibilities, connecting architecture with urbanism and turning urbanism into landscape architecture.

Beijing Center for the Arts, together with project developer Beijing Vantone Three Dimensional City Investment Co. Ltd, presents the exhibition “BCA Green Project II” – “Three Dimensional City: Future China”. With collective efforts from world’s leading architects and artists, national and international experts and scholars on urban planning, city ecology and environment, decision makers from government and enterprises, “Three Dimensional City” is poised to envision an ideal living environment and future urban ecology.

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The project addresses the depletion of land and energy resources. As an enlightening project from which future urban planning programs can draw inspiration and as an exhilarating of social reformation.

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Posted by Rose Etherington