With a gross floor area of 3,875,000 square feet, the project had already gone through 36 master plans by the time the district government enlisted SOHO in early 2006. In the end, the original grid of hutong and their names were retained. Still, the government wanted the entire area remade quickly—by October, 2007—a deadline SOHO pushed back to approximately 2010. Nearly a half-mile long, the main thoroughfare has already been converted to a pedestrian shopping mall, centered by trolleys and fronted by remade buildings that are closely styled on those seen in a 1950 photograph of the street. Architects enlisted by SOHO include Ben Wood, who designed Shanghai’s open-air mall Xintiandi, and Yung-Ho Chang, of MIT.
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.