Design brief
As a historic city in Northern Ontario, Canada, Sudbury is surrounded by mountains, of which the most special one is the mine on the west side of the city, defining the basic identity of the Sudbury as a mining city. The railway lines run through the city centre, transporting minerals while creating a triangular area which forms a unique urban texture (one of the angles points to Ramsey Lake, the largest outdoor activity place in the city). When we survey the city, it is not difficult to find a west-east axis across the triangular area, the urban core with grid texture, and the Little Britain mountain group, which establishes an invisible connection between the eastern mountains and the western mines. It is all these structural elements that inspire this urban design.
The figure-ground map shows one of the most serious problems in Sudbury: low density, especially in the urban core where public functions are relatively concentrated. It is undeniable that the city centre is supposed to be the most active part of the city rather than full of passive "open space" with lots of parking and vacancy lands. In Sudbury today, it is even difficult to find urban public spaces that can stimulate the vitality of the city. Regarding the next issue, the spatial separation caused by the railway lines can also be reflected in the figure-ground map. Although it marks the characteristic of Sudbury, it performs more like spatial barriers which bring great inconvenience to the lives of local residents and restrict the development of the city in the future. The current public functions in the urban core are no longer sufficient to meet the growing cultural and commercial needs of citizens. All these come down to the basic features of Urbanity: Density, Accessibility, Diversity, Public space with high-quality. Even when COVID-19 is raging, we firmly believe that the need for urbanity will increase stably. Only by constantly improving the quality of a city can talents be attracted and retained, thus driving the further development of a city.
Although the mining industry and its related industries have been playing the role of leading industry and economic lifeline since early 1900s, it is facing a situation of transforming to green and high-tech directions such as R&D, education, and training, with consideration of the sustainable development of Sudbury in the future. At the same time, as a culturally diversified region, Sudbury has achieved impressive results in cultural industries such as film and music, forming a unique cultural and artistic atmosphere. In the future, a large number of residences, offices for cultural and creative industries, research centres and other related functions will be provided in Sudbury to attract more talents. Sudbury will be transformed from a traditional industrial city into a complex city of research and innovation by combining historical heritage and technological innovation.
In summary, a series of plans and strategies are tailored for the future of Sudbury: Increasing density, Improving connectivity, Creating the monument, Inheriting history and culture, Upgrading industries, Supplementing urban functions and high-quality public spaces, to meet the needs of the growing population in the future. Therefore, combined with the geometric characteristics of Sudbury's urban texture, we proposed the concept of "Sudbury Swirling Star" to improve the urban environment and respect the history with a future spatial form. Meanwhile, the existing urban characteristics will continue in the future in a suitable way, thus establishing a "wormhole" of dialogue between history and the future.
"Sudbury Swirling Star", with a posture of extraterrestrial like a futuristic Noah's Ark, slowly made its landing in the centre of Sudbury, with a capacity of 1,250,000 square meters. It consists of a platform and spaces below and above the platform. The platform is elevated at the height of 10m, while 350,000 square meters additional floor area is provided below, forming a triangular base part with the shape abstracted from the existing railway texture. The functions of the base part include shops, parking lots, and the ground-floor entry hall of the railway station, as well as equipment and storage for the railway. When it comes to the part above the platform, the area close to the urban core continues the current grid texture, combining plaza and public functions (library, museum, theatre, church, and shopping mall) together with the existing public facilities in the city centre to form a new vibrant urban core in a larger area. The rest of the platform is covered by three giant shell structures, which provide an additional building volume of 900,000 square meters. Under the shell, a grid pattern is still used to form blocks of various sizes and to organize public spaces with different public levels, such as city squares and courtyards. In addition to expanding the existing railway station, the stadiums and a conference centre are implanted under the southern and south-eastern shells. The rest parts consist of offices, hotels, shops, apartments and villas, which are distributed according to the public level. Above the platform, the public level gradually decreases from the core area to the residential area, thus completing the transition from the dynamic public area to the quiet and private area.
In case of creating an isolated high-quality urban island, the connection between "Sudbury Swirling Star" and the surroundings are also taken into account. While the classification of roads on the platform is orderly organized, the traffic continuity from ground level to the 10m elevation is smoothly completed, with a consideration of the extension of the urban grid texture and the platform endpoints. In this case, the accessibility of the platform has been promoted and the existing spatial separation of the city has been eased. In the way of boundaries being handled, we expect a positive interface to respond to the existing city. The form of the boundary can be roughly divided into three following types: the commercial interface along the street, the colonnade interface combined with elegant high arched structure, and the walk-friendly landscape terrace connecting the public spaces above and below the platform.
Besides, Sudbury in 2050 is expected to be a city with plenty of new technologies, thus providing residents with a better living environment. In "Sudbury Swirling Star", systems such as energy generation, winter garden system, heating system and water management system are integrated. The three giant shell structures will not only accomplish the collection of solar energy, but also form a microclimate environment under the shelters, combining with the floor heating devices of the public space and the winter gardens on the upper floor of the buildings. This enables Sudbury, the "winter city", to have a comfortable climate and pleasant body feel even in the coldest season. Meanwhile, the winter garden also plays an important role in the rainwater collection system. Through the permeable roof and effective rainwater organization, rainwater can pass through the huge platform layer and be further collected into the groundwater collection system. After filtering, it will be recycled and used as urban domestic water. In addition, the application of smart driving and smart furniture will further improve the quality of life in Sudbury in 2050.
Looking forward to 2050, "Sudbury Swirling Star" will lead Sudbury into a transformative future. By then, the urban economy will continue to grow, the culture will be diverse and prosperous, the urban environment will be more liveable and sustainable, and the people's lives will be more dynamic and creative.
(Competitor's text)
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