TANK SHANGHAI SHANGHAI OPEN ARCHITECTURE^67
a city, always transforming itself. The gardens
grow and change,” says Li.
The master plan for Tank projects the
possibility of ferries’ bringing guests from
downtown along the river to the cultural
compound’s docks so they wouldn’t have to
deal with Shanghai’s notorious traffic.
At the moment, getting to Tank means a
walk of a few blocks from a subway station or
driving to the entrance on Longteng Avenue, a
wide boulevard lined with cranes and heavy
equipment for the rising headquarters of sev
eral Chinese technology companies. On Tank’s
waterside edge, the Pudong financial district’s
shiny new skyscrapers loom in the distance.
Facing the river, an extensive construction
site borders the Tank complex on one side,
while on the other is an airfield for helicop
ters—perhaps one day the vehicle of choice for
the country’s tech tycoons living and working
in West Bund. Like Olmsted’s urban parks,
Tank Shanghai could well become a space for
local residents and serve as a destination for
the larger city. More important, the scheme
successfully continues a trend seen in other
urban areas where gigantic storage containers
of this kind have become outmoded. n
Alexandra A. Seno is an architecture and design
writer living in Hong Kong.
ARCHITECT: OPEN Architecture — Li Hu, Huang Wenjing,
principals in charge; Ye Qing, Luo Ren, Victor Quiros, Zhou
Tingting, Chen Xiuyuan, Li Zhentao, Zhao Yao, Lui Ki, Jia
Han, Zhang Yiwen, Steven Shi, Zhou Xiaochen, Huang
Zhonghan, Laurence Chan, Cynthia Yurou Cui, Yang Qi, Ge
Can, Gao Qi, Stephanie Lee, Jin Boan, Zhang Hao, Wang
Mangyuan, Yan Dihua, Zhang Chang, Tomas Kowalsky,
Jiang Simin
LOCAL DESIGN INSTITUTE: Tongji Architectural
Design Group
CONSULTANTS: Beijing EDSA Orient Planning &
Landscape Architecture (landscape design); Shanghai
Ming Chi Architecture and Engineering (lighting)
CLIENT: Shanghai West Bund Development Group
SIZE: 12 acres (site); 117,000 square feet (tanks)
COST: withheld
COMPLETION DATE: March 2019SOURCES
LIGHTING FIXTURES: Hongri Lighting; Flos
ELEVATORS AND ESCALATORS: Mitsubishi Elevators
EXTERIOR ZINC PANELS: VM Building Solutions
BATHROOM FIXTURES: Kohler
HARDWARE: Armor
EXTERIOR COATING: Zhejiang Tiannu Paints
EPOXY TERRAZZO FLOORING: China SRS Flooringcredits