CULTUBE:

The project intervention mediates in between of architectonic and urban scale in order to regenerate neighborhood, to serve local residents, and unexpectedly surprise global visitors while leaving or entering the mall and encountering with another parallel world.

The main idea is to convert ordinary underground evacuation passageway of a shopping mall into more extraordinary multifunctional cultural space – something new in the urban context of Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in China. This same passage is connecting several sunken entrance plazas which are converted to botanic gardens where one can find a small hidden paradise inside the whole complex of the mall and high-rise residential towers. Cultube becomes a place where people can meet, relax, and socialize, and continue through the underground obtaining new experiences from cultural and leisure activities. The old tube becomes an articulator between the city and human beings, a place to be present and not only a means to getaway.

Our spatial design project consists of:

Black and white paint, footbridge, luminaries, bamboo display panels, and vegetation.
The fixed elements are – the new floor connecting 3 independent parts of the mall, the black paint that puts in the background the reality inherited from the tube – residual space of facilities and evacuation way retreats to allow the exposition to bloom. The footpath as a singular object that gives the identity and recognizable sign of the space while liberating the tube to respect the evacuation dimensions in case of emergencies while still allowing for hosting various expositions. This proposed set of fixed and mobile components gives an identity to this space and offers flexibility to adapt to any exhibition or event.

Collaboration with Adolfo Rodriguez

Kunming, China