antao: Winner of World Design Awards 2024. As the first large-scale one-stop urban complex in Ezhou District of Wuhan, Hubei province, China, The Future City is close to the main center of Optical Valley, which not only fills the commercial vacancy in the central area of Wuhan New City, but also is an urban comprehensive vitality area with commercial function as the core and coordinated development of industry, life and service, enabling the high-quality development of Wuhan New City.

In the Future City commercial complex, the “@ Play (Harmonised with ‘love to play’, with the development of the Internet, @ is no longer just an email symbol, but also has the attributes of social interaction and connection.)” series of interplanetary exploration theme children’s playground – “Kuiper Belt” interstellar space station theme children’s park uses artistic methods to inject more surreal sensory charm into commercial places, stimulate children’s curiosity, let children open the wings of free exploration, harvest happiness and energy.

The project is inspired by the Kuiper Belt, the most mysterious region in our solar system. Located in the outer reaches of the solar system, it is a celestial belt of thousands of asteroids and the place where asteroids and comets are born in the solar system. Just as the Kuiper Belt contains a multitude of tiny celestial bodies (fragments of protoplanetary discs circling the sun), the venue uses the Kuiper Belt as a story line to form a fun, lively and interactive children’s discovery playground. The whole site is themed with starlight + Rubik’s Cube, and consists of different functional areas such as flying machines, climbing machines, ground explorations, small machines, and resting spaces, creating an artistic, romantic, interactive and fun neighbourhood scene and commercial atmosphere.

As New Horizons flies through the Kuiper Belt at breakneck speed, it is affected by the resonance of the celestial orbits, which gradually mosaics the vehicle and scatters mosaic modules along its trajectory, making it a pixelated world that inspires children to explore. As the main instrument of the Pixel World, New Horizons’ exterior texture and ring shape is modelled on the celestial belt. The interior is filled with composite climbing devices that blend with the undulating terrain to inspire children’s imaginations and add more fun and enjoyment to the little explorers’ adventures, creating an immersive journey of interstellar discovery.

At the same time, the interior of the vehicle is also equipped with a wealth of interactive devices. Little explorers can run around and play with musical instruments and flip through the science boards as they explore ‘new worlds’ in outer space aboard New Horizons. On the ground outside the vehicle are trampolines of various planets, each labelled with its distance from the Kuiper Belt, allowing little explorers to experience an immersive, interstellar journey. While the kids run, play and play, adults can join in the fun and keep the kids safe. The venue is equipped with a square modular seating area, which is the best place for adults to rest and become part of the themed world.

From the creation of immersive themed venues, close to the theme of science and technology interaction to the rich forms of aesthetic education, we have delivered an ideal answer to the question of child-friendly practices. We hope that Future City, as a vibrant, stylish, three-dimensional and immersive urban commercial parlour, will bring unprecedented consumption experience and lifestyle to all the people in the region.

Project Details:-
Firm
antao

Architect
antao

Project Name
The Future City

Project Category
Public Landscape Design Built

Team
Zhan Min, Shen Chaolei, Yang Bicong, Lv Xintuan, Huang Bin

Project Location
Wuhan

Country
China

Photography ©Credit
Chenbi Studio

As one of the largest creative platforms in China, ANTAO is committed to providing comprehensive solutions to contemporary human settlement problems with an international perspective and multidisciplinary integration. Nearly 600 architects, landscape architects, interior designers, planners, engineers, installation artists, product designers, environmental ecologists, educators, and environmental psychologists use innovative research and holistic design approaches to promote social innovation and create positive impact.

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