birds eye view

urban concept urban elements concept of city connection

location: Taiyuan / China
client: Taiyuan High-Speed Rail-
way Investment Co., Ltd.
project number: 3025
project type: International urban plan-
ning competition 1st prize
and subsequent planning
commissiondesign: 2011.3-11
planning area: 6km2 (595 ha)
GFA: 6.58 mio m
FAR: 1.1
start of construction: 2012
scope of services: Urban schematic design
incl. business concept with
commercial positioning
/ landscape conceptual
design
directors: Remo Malnar,
Wolf Loebel, Ran Li
project architect: Alberto Sanchez
design team: Zhang Bairu, Lara Rubio,
Ignacio Alonso, Zhang
Xin
business concept: Tianjin Vision City Devel-
opment and Urban Plan-
ning Design Co., Ltd.
The planning site is located in Taiyuan, the capital city of Shanxi Prov-
ince. The surrounding areas of the newly constructed High-Speed Rail-
way Station are located in the core between the citys high-tech and
economic area and the Wusu logistic area.
Taiyuans South Station is the second biggest transportation hub in Chi-
nas vast Huabei Plain, carrying millions of passengers in the future and
representing one of the biggest development opportunities for the city.
Located between the old city centre and Taiyuans new development
areas, the plot serves as a sub-center within the urban development.
A railway station has always two major aspects: It is central and initial
point of the urban development, and it is the name card of the city for
incoming passengers.
RHINESCHEMEs comprehensive approach was to create an independ-
ent urban district with outstanding appearance, which at the same time
forms a smooth and continuous link between the surrounding urban
patterns.
7 urban elements have been developed and integrated into the overall
urban fabric: A Green Spine along the highway crossing the plot par-
allel to the railway, the Railway Station itself with plazas on both sides,
the central quarter surrounding the station, mixed-used quarters and
housing areas, leisure and sports facilities along the railway line, and
fnally accentuated special urban elements.
Taiyuan South Station Subcenter
Taiyuan / China
RhineScheme GmbH
Am Hirzacker 5 D - 36132 Eiterfeld
phone +49.6672.868470 fax 86 84 69
Representative Offce China
3, Dong Binhe Lu 2-2-401 Beijing 100013
phone +86.10.84221360 fax 84 22 13 82

3 2-2-401 100013
+86.10.84221360 +86.10.84221382
info@rhinescheme.com
www.rhinescheme.com
east-west section throught the railway station
masterplan
ible connections to the various
integrated shopping facilities,
and more closed and covered by
plants from the city side, as a
noise buffer for the elevated high-
way.
The Green Spine will be experi-
enced like a promenade with an
attractive pearl necklace of offce
high-rises, shops, bars, restau-
rants and leisure elements, alto-
gether creating an utmost vivid
environment for pedestrians. It is
attractor and destination for the
whole district.
Station Quarter and Green Spine:
The railway station with its two
plazas serves as main link-
age within the urban fabric. The
stations architecture is strong
enough to overtake this role and
to dominate the central area.
Facing south-west and north-east,
the stations both plazas are di-
rectly affected by their surround-
ing uses. To make them work in a
proper way and become memora-
ble elements of suitable scale is
one of the key propositions of the
urban design.
The Green Spine is the third
landmark - beside station and
plazas - to create a unique urban
appearance.
At the south-western ending of
the main plaza, an exhibition
building forms a counterpart to-
wards the station building. For
visitors it is the initial point of the
Green Spine with its sequence of
high-rise buildings in an organi-
cally designed landscape.
The Green Spine has a rich topo-
graphic shaping. It is open from
the railway station side with vis-
RhineScheme GmbH
Am Hirzacker 5 D - 36132 Eiterfeld
phone +49.6672.868470 fax 86 84 69
Representative Offce China
3, Dong Binhe Lu 2-2-401 Beijing 100013
phone +86.10.84221360 fax 84 22 13 82

3 2-2-401 100013
+86.10.84221360 +86.10.84221382
info@rhinescheme.com
www.rhinescheme.com
perspective station quarter and green spine
traffc analysis
pedestrian traffc analysis
perspective north-west area
Mixed-use quarters and hous-
ing areas:
The basic urban structure is
formed by two different urban
patterns. One is focusing on
an interesting mixture of uses
and its various architectural
equivalents:
Close to the railway station,
mixed-use quarters are a top
address for companies head-
quarters, offces, services,
medical practices and consult-
ants premises, restaurants
and cafs.
Each mixed-use quarter has
a public area with commercial
facilities as focus point and
is directly connected to the
green pedestrian area with lei-
sure and sport facilities along
the railway line.
The fexibility of uses provides
a successful approach for de-
velopers and is precondition of
a lively, busy atmosphere.
The second basic pattern is
formed by housing areas in a
refned mixture of public areas
and green parks, as well as
recreational areas with central
facilities that are serving each
compound.
Traffc:
Due to the high-speed railway
station, the complex traffc hub
on different levels, the city func-
tions and their density as well as
the sheer amount of citizens, the
area is burdened by heavy city
traffc.
Basically there are two strategies
to avoid disturbances for inhab-
itants and environment: a clear
traffc and road hierarchy, as well
as a network of public transport
systems.
More than the number or size of
lanes, their connections are pre-
condition for a smooth traffc fow.
Good traffc planning must opti-
mize the traffc system so that it
fts best to living conditions and at
the same time serves the specifc
use of different traffc modes.
Such a traffc management sys-
tem is focusing the traffc fow to
few main roads, while the remain-
ing road network is only deter-
mined by local traffc.
A circular traffc concept connects
the inner traffc with the traffc
systems of all development areas
with the superior transport net-
work
RhineScheme GmbH
Am Hirzacker 5 D - 36132 Eiterfeld
phone +49.6672.868470 fax 86 84 69
Representative Offce China
3, Dong Binhe Lu 2-2-401 Beijing 100013
phone +86.10.84221360 fax 84 22 13 82

3 2-2-401 100013
+86.10.84221360 +86.10.84221382
info@rhinescheme.com
www.rhinescheme.com
perspective of the green spine commercial area
night birds eye view
perspective of the west plaza
Public spaces
Crucial parameter for urban de-
velopments and their attractive-
ness and acceptance is the quality
of public spaces and pedestrian
areas.
The main plazas on both sides of
the railway station are designed
to show a corporate image of the
city, although their specifc func-
tions are gradually different.
Main goal was to enable a pedes-
trian walkthrough with few dis-
turbances by crossing traffc and
short walking distances.
Public art creates a distinct expe-
rience for residents and visitors of
the new district. Art projects pro-
vide orientation and can be used
as image-creating landmarks.
Podium-scaled or medium-sized
installations will be used for the
urban centers.
Beside the two main plazas, a va-
riety of squares as place for ur-
ban life and public exchange are
located in both commercial and
mixed-use areas around the rail-
way station.
RhineScheme GmbH
Am Hirzacker 5 D - 36132 Eiterfeld
phone +49.6672.868470 fax 86 84 69
Representative Offce China
3, Dong Binhe Lu 2-2-401 Beijing 100013
phone +86.10.84221360 fax 84 22 13 82

3 2-2-401 100013
+86.10.84221360 +86.10.84221382
info@rhinescheme.com
www.rhinescheme.com