Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport is located in the South New Town District of Nanjing and originally was a training field for battalion in Ming Dynasty. In 1929, the government of Republic of China built an airport and made it a national air force base. Although the Dajiaochang Airport which has witnessed the transformation of modern China was officially closed in 2015, its story is expected to be continued. The master planning of Nanjing South New Town District proposed an idea of an airfield runway park, open to the public to showcase the past, the present and the future of Nanjing, inviting an inclusive participation from citizens.
The urban public space—no longer bound by the over-simplified functionalist notions of connectivity—can create a field of experience which is multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary. Based on the Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport Runway Park in the South New Town which is of both historic and modern significance, the first "Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport Renewal Plan - RUNWAY PARK International Design Competition for Young Designers" focuses on the cultural, functional and representative features of public space. This competition is a global call open to young designers, artists, teachers and students (people from all of those groups are required below 40-year-old) majoring in urban planning, architecture design, landscape design, and art design, seeking creative renewal proposals for urban public space which could offer a new perspective, new stage and new focal point to enrich daily life and stimulate a discussion about the core value of public space - a totally immersed and shared experience.
The design scope is north to the Airport Road, west to the Jiagang 2nd Road, south to the Airport 2nd Road, and east to the end of the runway. The total area is about 100 hectares, and the area of the public space apart from the buildings is about 45 hectares, including the public space formed by the runway of Dajiaochang Airport, green spaces and setback land along the runway.
The runway is 2.65 kilometers long, and the distance between the buildings on both sides is about 100 meters. The runway is 60 meters wide; the green belt is 5 meters wide on the south side and 15 meter on the north side; building setback distance on the south side 5 meters wide and 15 meters on the north side. A Shen Ji Ying (ancient Chinese troops equipped with fire arms) Park is to be established on the north side of the runway and a green land park on the south side.
Nanjing is the capital city of Jiangsu province and the only mega city in the Yangtze River Delta Area and East China, located in the important convergence zone of “The Belt and Road" and Yangtze River Economic Region. Nanjing South New Town, located in the southeast of the main city of Nanjing, consists of the relocated Dajiaochang Airport District and the South High-speed Railway Station District, covering 164 square kilometer with a planned population around 1.6 million.
The original name of Nanjing Dajiaochang (南京大校场) is Dajiaochang (大教场) , indicating its former use as a training field for the army in the Ming Dynasty in Chinese. In 1929, the Republic of China built an airport here and made it a national air force base. In 1956, the civil airport was moved from the Imperial Palace of Ming Dynasty to the Dajiaochang Airport. The airport started the military-civilian joint phase until Nanjing's civil aviation moved to Lukou Airport in 1997. On 30th July, 2015, Liuhe Air Force Nanjing Airport was completed and put into operation, and the Dajiaochang Airport was officially closed.
The runway of Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport is 2,600-meter long and 60-meter wide and it was listed in the Second Batch of Historic Buildings Conservation Directory of Nanjing City. The planning for Nanjing South New Town clearly indicated that the RUNWAY PARK should be identified as a crucial corridor for the whole area, and used as a carrier to integrate the industrial development, cultural agglomeration, urban sightseeing, health and leisure, and ecological landscape, connecting the cultural public building belt on the north side and official building belt on the south side.
1. Design Principle
(1)The design must be original;
(2)The design should be both creative and interesting, combined with the history, culture and natural environment of Nanjing South New Town.
(3)The proposal should remark the material, construction form and technique (or crafts), as well as the suggestions for its operation and usage in future.
(4) The proposal should fully consider different needs of diverse group of people and provide urban space to suit activities of Nanjing citizens and tourists
2. Design Categories
Categories of the design vary from landscape furniture, urban installation, lightening device design (on the runway or the public space on the both sides) to urban signage system, participants could design a single work or a series of work based on the runway park as the site. The work in a series should be the one guided by a theme, while irrelevant and repeated pieces are not encouraged.
The runway of Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport is 2,600-meter long and 60-meter wide and it was listed in the Second Batch of Historic Buildings Conservation Directory of Nanjing City. The planning for Nanjing South New Town clearly indicated that the RUNWAY PARK should be identified as a crucial corridor for the whole area, and used as a carrier to integrate the industrial development, cultural agglomeration, urban sightseeing, health and leisure, and ecological landscape, connecting the cultural public building belt on the north side and official building belt on the south side.
Sponsors:
Nanjing Urban Planning Bureau
Nanjing South New Town Development and Construction Management Committee
Organizer:
CBC (China Building Centre)
Technical Supporters:
Urban Planning & Design Institute of Southeast University
China Culture and Technology Innovation Service Alliance
Mainland China:+86 010-56077246;
LIU Jing +86 18600687662；liujing@chinabuildingcentre.com
BI Linqian +86 18511537509；bilinqian@chinabuildingcentre.com
China Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and abroad:
Phoebe +86 18511537506；maomingzi@chinabuildingcentre.com
Julie +86 15501269022; tangjingxian@chinabuildingcentre.com
Competition Email：runwaypark_renewal@163.com
Competition Website：http://runwaypark_renewal.chinabuildingcentre.com
