2022-2023 Moganshan Town · Fuxi River Seven Bridges Conceptual Design International Competition

Prologue

In the context of decades,

Moganshan is a land with abundant B&B hotels.

In the context of hundred years,

Moganshan is a cultural consumption enclave of Shanghai.

In the context of thousand years,

Moganshan is a natural mountain body of Taihu Lake basin in Jiangnan.

In the context of the future,

Moganshan is a trendy and vigorous land with cultural revival.

Theme Background

The Shanghai Style culture is revealed both in Moganshan and Shanghai. Fans of such international, diversified and fashionable lifestyle come in flocks. One hundred years ago, Moganshan attracted foreigners from Shanghai to build houses and auxiliary facilities. One hundred years later, “to construct a building in Moganshan” is a dream and a practice of pioneering architects. Moganshan is a symbol that interprets the evolution and change of the times. Fuxi Water Street is the special practice area of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, and starts Moganshan’s regional development for the next two decades. In the future, as more and more elites at the top of different fields join in by “adding group” to co-create and guide, Moganshan will become a trendy and vigorous land with cultural revival, presenting the correct method of opening Moganshan.

Project Introduction

Fuxi River Seven Bridges Conceptual Design International Competition is one of the important starting projects of Moganshan Fuxi Water Street Commercial Complex. This competition, co-organized by Deqing County Cultural Tourism Development Group Co., Ltd. and Young Bird Plan, aims to call for the participation of talented designers, passionate amateurs and design firms domestically and worldwide. The forward-looking, innovative and diverse conceptual designs will be collected from architecture, landscape, bridge and art fields. Through creating seven footbridges for Fuxi Water Steet, it starts the correct method of opening Moganshan, and publicizes the Shanghai Style image of an international town, vigorous and diversified. The landscape nodes are integrated with pedestrian friendly and inclusive spaces, seeing lush mountains and lucid waters. And distributed work and fashionable lifestyle coexist as well, making it a human habitat.

Project Background

Jiangnan, with various water courses intertwined, is a prosperous region due to caoyun (grain transportation system served in imperial times in China). Compared with other regions in China, cities’ globalization is more obvious and permeable in Jiangnan, resulting in their distinct character – openness and diversification. The Shanghai Style is a special culture of the evolution of openness and diversification, the unique temperament of Shanghai, the international metropolis, and a part of Moganshan’s modern town genes. It is abstractly the hub that connects Shanghai and Moganshan, affecting people’s psychological feelings and spatial perception. And a large amount of fans loving the Shanghai Style culture are attracted to live and work here.

Moganshan, a town most closely associated with Shanghai, has not been an ordinary town in history. It has a history of a hundred years in terms of international vocations and fashionable lifestyle. Today, in the background of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta as well as Shanghai Metropolitan Area, such connection and inheritance is of epoch-making significance.

The definition of Moganshan Summer Retreat Area started at the end of the 19th Century. In 1894, Frijia, an American Baptist priest who worked in Shanghai, discovered Moganshan’s beautiful scenery that made it a good place for summer retreat. In 1896, Evans and Baiding, the American missionaries, entered the mountain and built a thatched hut as summer retreat and became the first settlers of Moganshan. In 1898, Moganshan Summer Retreat Club was established and took charge of mountain affairs. In the following years, churches, tennis courts, bakeries, libraries, post offices and telegraph offices were built accordingly. During the Republic of China period, domestic bureaucrats, politicians, rich businessmen and compradors moved from Nanjing and Shanghai to Moganshan for a short stay. They built buildings, pavilions and gardens and then carried their families. After liberation, Moganshan received tens of thousands of tourists from home and abroad. Many leading comrades and celebrities of the Communist Party and the country visited the mountain, inspecting, recovering, spending the summer and attending meetings.

Site Description

Mogan Mountain is located in the northwest of Deqing County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China, 82 kilometers from Hangzhou City, 200 kilometers from Shanghai Municipality and 246 kilometers from Nanjing City. It is a part of Tianmu Mountain, and is composed of magmatic rocks, surrounded by continuous and undulating mountains. It belongs to the mixed forest belt of evergreen, deciduous, coniferous and broad-leaved trees, with rich varieties. With “Three Top” of bamboo, cloud and spring as well as “Four Best” of green, cool, clear and quiet, Mogan Mountain, known as “cool and refreshing world”, is one of the four major summer resorts in China which, except for Mogan Mountain, include Lushan Mountain, Jigong Mountain and Beidai River. Mogan Mountain’s greenery is very charming, with the vegetation coverage rate of more than 92%, making it the first class attraction in China.

Moganshan Town is an important node into Mogan Mountain and the only destination for visitors to reach Mogan Mountain. It is adjacent to Wukang Town in the southeast, Fatou Town in the southwest, Anji County in the northwest and Wuxing District in the northeast. With an administrative area of 190.25 square kilometers and a registered residence population of 31,300, it has jurisdiction over 2 communities and 17 administrative villages.

Moganshan Town is a part of the natural interlaced regions from Shanghai to Mogan Mountain Scenic Area, connecting the city and the rural as well as the man-made and the nature. In the background of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, it has been included into the space coordinating planning scope of Shanghai Metropolitan Area. A vigorous and diversified Moganshan Town Alliance will be formed, making a standard example of a world-class waterfront civilization human habitat.

Fuxi River, originated from Sword Pond, Mogan Mountain, flows through Moganshan Town from west to east, and comes down in torrents, to the water course surrounding Deqing County. Fuxi River (Mogangshan Town Section) is 1,600 meters long and will be upgraded and integrated with different landscape spaces and abundant visual corridors along the meandering creek. On two sides of Fuxi River will be positioned various spaces with varying area, meeting demands of diversified business including small-scale stalls and start-up pop-up stores, as well as large-scale anchor stores, multi-brand stores, creative offices and public art spaces. They will inject vitality into waterfront spaces, attracting visitors and residents to come. By complementing the infrastructure of Moganshan Town and surrounding regions as well as ensuring the supply of spaces, it will be the incubator of highlighted business.

Jury Panel

Shikyo Fu: General Planner of Vanke General Consultant of Moganshan Regional Development

Yichun Liu: Co-founder and Principal Architect of Atelier Deshaus; Guest Professor of College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University; RIBA Chartered Member; Editorial board of the journal The Architect and Architectural Journal

Zhun Zhang: TJAD senior engineer; AND Office co-founder

Yifeng Lin: Founder | YIYU design; RLA | USA; MLA | GSD Harvard University; Honorary Assistance Pro | HKU

Weijie Wang: ConCom STUDIO Partner, Principal architect; Design Instructor of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University

Wanli Mo: Assistant professor, Tongji University College of Architecture and Urban Planning; Emerging curator, Editor, Architecture China

Yening Wei: Founder of Shanghai Dakai Company

Guoliang Yang: Deqing Cultural Tourism Group General Manager

Isa Ye: Founder of YoungBird; Founder of designverse

Design Requirements

To design seven footbridges above Fuxi River (Moganshan Town Section), enhance the slow traffic system of waterfront spaces of Fuxi River, improve the quality of daily travel and public spaces, integrate modernity and adapt to changes in the future, create landscape nodes with pedestrian, sightseeing, travel, view appreciation and connection functions, seeing lush mountains and lucid waters, and to present the Shanghai Style culture and international fashionable lifestyle of Moganshan Town. The architectural style should reveal the local characteristics and the feature of the times. Design should comply with relative design rules in China. It should pay attention to the combination of architecture and structure functions, and consider the reasonability of construction budget as well as the landing result and the sustainability in the future.

Participants could select one or more of the seven footbridges for their design in this competition.

Design Goals

1. Correct method of opening Moganshan:

The goal of this competition is to design seven footbridges for Fuxi Water Street, enhancing the slow traffic system of waterfront spaces of Fuxi River (Moganshan Town Section); meanwhile, to present Moganshan Town’s Shanghai Style image – international, vigorous and diversified; and distributed work and fashionable lifestyle coexist in this human habitat.

2. Aim to create slow traffic landscape nodes:

The competition aims to improve daily travel and the quality of public spaces, integrate modernity and adapt to changes in the future, connect waterfront spaces of Fuxi Water Street within town area, create landscape nodes for Fuxi Water Street with pedestrian, sightseeing, travel, view appreciation and connection functions, seeing lush mountains and lucid waters.

3. Comply with the overall planning of Fuxi Water Street:

On the basis of the site condition, participants shall fully consider the overall planning of Fuxi Water Street Commercial Complex, and submit conceptual designs that comply with the planning. (For detailed materials, please see “Site overview” in the Competition Documents.)

4. Technical and landing requirements:

After meeting all requirements stated above, reasonably use advanced technologies and materials. The landing result should be ensured.

Competition Documents

1. Site aerial shooting
2. Existing condition of the site
3. Site topography CAD & SU
4. Site overview
5. Regional background
6. Images of work submission reference
7. Mogan Mountain publicity videos

8.Seven Bridges Site Locations, Current Conditions & Surrounding Construction Renderings

Evaluation Criteria

According to the Competition concept and design goals, the following principles are set for the basic evaluation:

1. Principle of grasping the correct method of opening Moganshan: to express the meaning of Fuxi River for Moganshan Town. The design should present Moganshan Town’s Shanghai Style image – international, vigorous and diversified, revealing a human habitat where distributed work and fashionable lifestyle coexist.
2. Principle of complying with the overall planning of Fuxi Water Street: in the background of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta as well as the special coordination planning of ShanghaiMetropolitan Area, to revive the waterfront landscape features of Fuxi River (Moganshan Town Section). And thus, Fuxi Water Street will be the special practice area, starting Moganshan’s regional development for the next two decades.
3. Principle of feasibility and cost control: to set a service life and make it adequate for the pedestrian use. It should meet the requirements of flood discharge and navigation for future tours under the bridge. Two ends of the bridge should be accessible for pedestrians to pass through, avoiding any jams of this slow traffic path. Meanwhile, it should be good for future inspection and maintenance. On the basis of the principal stated above, the cost control is adopted as one of the evaluation criteria.
4. Principle of innovation: to combine the structure innovation with the design idea, and balance the relationship of structure, function and shape. The bridge design proposed should be in advanced level and infuse aesthetics. After the consideration of all the principles stated above, the design should comply with relative design rules in China.
5. Principle of scientific technology and environmental protection: It should actively use the advanced research results domestically and worldwide such as new structure, new materials, new process, new equipment and new technology, etc. and empower solving problems and meeting challenges in the bridge design in reality. After the consideration of all the principles stated above, the principle of environmental protection will be deemed as one of the evaluation criteria.

Submission Materials

All participants shall submit entries according to the requirements as stated below:

1. A scheme shall be presented in at least five A2 sheets (limit to 10 sheets), vertical way and in readable format (with a 8mm page margin) and include following parts:

-Descriptive text on concept within 1200 words, economic and technical indicators;

-Registration No. shall be put in the upper right corner of the sheets, in Arial 20pt font;

-The drawings should be with caption in bilingual (English and Chinese) or English

, and include site plan, master plan with function analysis, circulation organization relation drawing, function details and evolution diagram, other diagrams, plan, elevation, section, perspective drawing, scene details, details, etc.

Through diagrams and text, the scheme shall be narrated in details and be sure of its clarity and readability.

2. Sheets in JPG format (no larger than 10MB for each) can be submitted;
3. The scheme title shall be named as simple as possible; the scheme shall be saved in the “registration No. – scheme title – sheet No.1/No.2/No.3/No.4/No.5” format;
4. A scheme shall be submitted in bilingual (English and Chinese) or English;
5. Submit all drawings and text online;
6. It is best to submit drawings according to the order of general plan – diagrams – partial – structure details. It can be adjusted under certain circumstance；
7. The cover must be submitted online which is the key visual of your design work; it must be uploaded in the size of 1045×654 pixels, 72 dpi, less than 2MB.
8. All drawings and descriptive text shall not disclose the Entrant’s identity information (such as name, school/firm name, etc.). Any violation herein means disqualification of the Entrant.

For ensuring the landing implementation of the awarded works of the Competition to the largest extent, Top 7 of the Competition shall complete the drawings according to the following standards, and the Competition Organization Committee will evaluate Top 7’s ability of participating in the landing implementation. The standard drawings are listed as stated below:

1. According to the elevation of the existing landscape scheme (construction drawings), further determine the elevation information and the gradient of footbridge(s), ensure the connectivity of two sides of footbridge(s) and the landing of the actual construction stage: to provide the partial site plan with elevation information (scale 1:200);
2. Optimization of plan, elevation and section of footbridge(s): to provide the drawings of plan, elevation and section that reflect materials, dimensions and the effect control (scale 1:50);
3. Optimization of detailed design: to provide the detailed nodes drawing that reflects both the effect control (the design shall consider the floodlight effect of footbridge(s)) and the intersecting relationship of the structure (scale 1:10).

In the event of the Entrant’s deliberate act of a waiver of participating in the Competition or non-completion of drawings according to the stipulated standards as well as the Entrant’s completed drawings deemed unqualified, after the confirmation of the Jury Panel, Top 7 will be revised by adding the one that successively followed the former Top 7. The seven Entrants whose drawings are deemed to be qualified will be finally confirmed by the Jury Panel to be Top 7 entry works.

Eligibility

1. This competition is open to all design agencies with related design practice domestically and worldwide (qualification of independent legal person or organizations with the ability of bearing civil liability independently). Registration by a consortium is accepted due to the win-win result and the mutual strengths complementing. The member quantity of the consortium shall not exceed 2. Each party of the consortium shall not participate in this competition in its own name, nor does it form another consortium with other design agency.
2. The competition is free of charge and open to all professionals, students and amateurs with a background in design and art, including but not limit to design professionals and design enthusiasts in fields of architecture, landscape, bridge, structure, interiors, art, product, etc.
3. Participants may participate as individuals or in groups. There is no limitation on the number of people for each group.
4. Each participant has to register on our website, and is invited by the group leader to complete its group-joining action; for any questions, please visit our website.
5. The organizer of the competition reserves the right to require Top 15 to alter the bridge location number, and based on the former conceptual design as the prototype, adjust the design according to the renewed bridge site. This article is an essential prerequisite for competing for the Top 7 as well as for the landing of the work in the competition.

Timeline

2022.12.06          Call for entries

2023.03.15          Registration deadline

2023.03.15          Submission deadline

2023.03.22          Release of shortlisted winners

2023.04.03          Release of Top 30 & public voting

2023.04.10-13    Judges online Q&A

2023.04.15         Release of Top 15

2023.05.15         Release of Top 7 & the Jury Panel Special Award

The timeline is for reference only, the specific time is subject to designverse official website.

Awards

Top 7 (7 winners): A prize of RMB 80,000 (pre-tax) + Certificate of Honour

Top 7 entry works will be used as the scheme for reference in the landing of seven bridges crossing Fuxi River, Moganshan Town. The Organizer, Deqing County Cultural Tourism Development Group Co., Ltd., plans to construct and complete the seven bridges in 2023.

Jury Panel Special Award (1 winner): A prize of RMB 20,000 (pre-tax) + Certificate of Honour

The Jury Panel Special Award aims to encourage the future excellent designers with great potential and emphasize design as a presence of comprehensive ability. The Jury Panel will evaluate Top 7 entry works in terms of six dimensions – site interpretation, innovative design, style expression, reasonable structure, components materials and inexpensive maintenance, and after discussion, select the most outstanding team/individual with comprehensive ability, presenting the Jury Panel Special Award.

Top 15 (8 winners): Certificate of Top 15 Honour

Top 30 (15 winners): Certificate of Top 30 Honour

Shortlist: Honourable Shortlist Certificate

Registration

Please register by logging into our official website: www.designverse.com.cn.

For the latest information about this Competition, please follow our official WeChat account: designverse设计宇宙 or our official Weibo account: @YoungBirdPlan;

You can directly contact the Competition team by email: [email protected], or you can enter our official website to submit questions. We remain at your service here for any further questions you may have.

Copyright Disclaimer

In accordance with applicable laws and regulations, by participating in this competition, each Entrant irrevocably agrees to abide by the below statements about the copyrights for all submissions.

■ Statement of Originality

All submissions must be original, and each Entrant shall ensure that his/her entry does not infringe any third party’s rights, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and so on. Otherwise, the Entrant will be disqualified from the competition, and the organizer will withdraw all the sponsorship money and materials and reserve the right to investigate and affix legal liability of infringement. All damages and losses arising therefrom shall be borne by the Entrant; and all the direct and indirect damages (including but not limited to attorney fees, legal fees, costs of preservation, appraisal costs, notarial fees, and so on) suffered by the organizer shall be compensated by the Entrant.

■ Statement of Consent

By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to authorize the organizer to publicly display the work in the form of credited or hidden names to everyone for the purpose of holding the competition, and accepts the online selection process. And before uploading a submission, each Entrant must confirm that he/she has read and fully understands all of the clauses, and accepts them. The judging panel reserves the right to make a final decision on entry assessment and award list. According to the principles of fairness, impartiality and openness, the Competition Commission will invite professionals of each field to form the Jury and work on the appraisal of entry. If there is any dispute on entry, please contact and report to the Competition Commission with corresponding proof (such as related files of the plagiarized work). If the plagiarism is verified and confirmed after investigation, it means automatic disqualification either on participating in the Competition or on winning an award.*In any circumstance, the Entrant shall not contact or try to contact any member of the Jury. Any form of violation against this rule means automatic disqualification. The submission of work by the Entrant refers to the Entrant agree the organizer of the Competition to have the sole right of priority on obtaining the intellectual property of the entry work based on purchasing. Before the final release of the Competition’s result, the confidentiality of the entry work shall be protected by the Entrant till Champion of 2022-2023 Moganshan Town · Fuxi River Seven Bridges Conceptual Design International Competition is formally announced. Any form of violation against this rule means automatic disqualification. The detailed Official Rules of this competition will be published on the designverse website. Please read them carefully.

Organizers

Deqing County Cultural Tourism Development Group Co., Ltd.

Deqing County Cultural Tourism Development Group Co., Ltd., established in May 2017, is a large-scale modern state-owned enterprise group in China, approved by Deqing County People’s Government. With the registered capital of RMB 2.5 billion Yuan, the Group mainly engages in eight business sections, including comprehensive development and operation of scenic areas, hotels management, tourism and transportation, cultural communication, big data, commercial operation, tourism real estate and property management. Over the years, the Group, with focus on “making state-owned enterprises stronger and bigger, ensuring the appreciation of state-owned capital’s value”, the general requirement of the County Party Committee and the County Government, seized the opportunity of the development of three tourism platforms – famous mountain, wetland and ancient town, and persevered with tourism, the main business, and projects construction, to successfully make Moganshan International Tourist Resort a national brand in China and create various cultural tourism projects, such as Shangzhu Mountain Fantasy Valley (Beautiful China Idyllic Expo Garden) Scenic Area and Wusi Village Scenic Area, etc. The Group accurately grasped the market trend and made the overall arrangement of the coordination development of eight business sections. Through fully constructing “six projects” – scenic area development, cultural communication, cooperation development, quality and efficiency improvement, listing cultivation and quality hotels, enterprises such as cultural tourism property and MICE were nurtured, and in the short term, the Group has successfully ranked among top of its industry in the county. It aims to create excellent tourism enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta, with great potential of growth, and strives for starting the high quality development of Deqing County Cultural Tourism Development Group on its new journey.

Young Bird Plan

Young Bird Plan is an international competition platform for global design talents. With three key elements, viz. fabrication, mentor’s guidance and interdisciplinary jury, it is fast becoming a leading voice in global design fields like urban design, architecture design, landscape design, interior design, product design, logo design, fashion design, graphic design, UI design and material innovation application design, etc. We provide three dimensional publicity and creative solution through the tailored competitions for clients. For the past nine years since establishment, we have propelled the implementation of design projects and products focusing on urban spaces and life aesthetics. Besides, Young Bird Plan is devoted to pushing the urban development and offering high-quality solutions to product updates. On the other hand, we make every effort to create opportunities for young designers. Young Bird Plan has great influence in the design industry.

In 2019, the website of Young Bird Plan was upgraded and transformed and formally merged into designverse website platform (www.designverse.com.cn). The platform aims to encourage young people to design with originality and in design thinking, and to have positive dialogue with the global design industry and industrial development. In a word, it strives for connecting young bird works and design talents to the most influential design platform and cutting-edge design ecosystem all over the world. Till now, we have cooperated with several governments, development agencies and international brands, e.g., Suichang County of Zhejiang Province, Yongchuan District of Chongqing City, Suzhou New District, China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone, Hexi District of Tianjin City, Jiaxing Municipal People’s Government, JIACHENG GROUP, Vanke Group, China Fortune Properties, Westbund, URS China, Leliving, HKR International Limited, HAY, Sunbrella, DeCastelli, MATSU Group, Xiao Guan Tea, Dongpeng Group, raumplus, SCHÜLLER, Jiaxing Planning & Design Research & Institute Co., Ltd., Tea Natural, XKool Tech, Huafon Group, etc.