Hainan Airlines Group has announced an international eco island competition to design the master plan for creating the eco-tourism hub on a manmade island in Haikou Bay in China’s Hainan province.
Their goal was to “achieve a new urban development based on ecological principles, the best available technologies, and an excellent design, creating in this way a landmark for the new urbanism in China.”
Top ten architecture firms from China, Europe, and the United States participated in the competition. The New York City-based firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) beat nine other firms to win this competition.
This 250-hectare man-made tourism hub is envisioned to contain a theme park, housing, hotels, a yacht harbor, tourist attractions, and a port with capacity for two large cruise ships.
Image courtesy Diller Scofidio + Renfro
DS+R succeeded in incorporating all the requirements while creating an amazing landscape. An International jury selected their design praising their proposal for its ‘singular and clear’ design:
“It would create a beautiful, iconic form rising naturally out the landscape, recalling the volcanic caldera of the area, and shape the island into a continuous structure that would be an extremely efficient compaction of resort, retail, and housing. The project leaves the rest of the island as a place for aquaculture and agriculture, recreation, resort living and cultural facilities. This proposal is one for a truly a human-made island that celebrates all that makes such water-bound places so attractive and beautiful, while contributing to our understanding of deep, intrinsic ecology.”
Image courtesy Diller Scofidio + Renfro
