Architecture firm led by Italian Stefano Boeri has won the competition to build the largest and most innovative rehabilitation center for people with cognitive disabilities or reduced mobility in the Longhua district of the city of Shenzhen, China. Proposal by Stefano Boeri Architetti was selected by a jury, whose members included Peter Cook and Sou Fujimoto.

Located in the south-east of China, the development will be sited next to an urban park and directly connected to the city’s light mobility system.

Planned to be built in the next three years, the project has  terraces covered with greenery with aromatic herbs and healing plants, including work spaces and spaces for educational, recreational, artistic and sports activities, as well as a museum and accommodation:
 
“a set of green terraces and overlapping spaces in a sustainable system combining nature, architecture and biodiversity and including internal gardens dedicated to rehabilitation”.
Stefano Boeri Architetti designed the heart of the building as an open public courtyard acts as a connector for the functional areas. Taking advantage of the therapeutic capacities of vegetation and nature, on the roof garden it will houses indigenous plant species.

Renewable energy production systems are integrated into the building and it takes advantage of natural ventilation and collected rainwater.

Entirely dedicated to people with disabilities, aged from 16 to 60, the rehabilitation center is a pilot project for China with a pioneering concept of social inclusion and cohesion for its patients.

Combining aspects that have so far not been investigated like the integration of green spaces in continuity with all the different functions and at every level, and the desire to open up the structure towards the city creating a welcoming and permeable building, the proposal was in fact chosen because of its ground-breaking attitude towards the problematic.
 
"Our project opens up a new perspective on the architecture of large rehabilitation centres. This is firstly because it perceives the concept of motor and/or cognitive disability not as an example of fragility suffered by a minority of people but as a condition that is common to us all, even if only during one phase of our life. Secondly, it offers an idea of total accessibility to spaces and rehabilitation services and thirdly because in recognizing the extraordinary therapeutic quality of greenery and nature, it offers an astonishing amount of accessible green and open spaces dedicated to all different styles of rehabilitation."
Stefano Boeri, SBA founder.

"The project combines aspects for a rehabilitation centre in China that have so far not been investigated. These include architecture that is innovative and reassuring, the integration of green spaces in continuity with all the different functions and at every level, the desire to open up the structure towards the city and a welcoming and permeable building, not a fence or barrier. There is a need for a break with the past and the desire, shared with the local authorities themselves, is that of creating a new model. In order to do this, we will also make use of Italian excellence."
Pietro Chiodi, Architecture Design Director of Stefano Boeri Architetti China.
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Architects
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Stefano Boeri Architetti China. Partners.- Stefano Boeri, Yibo Xu. Project Director.- Pietro Chiodi.
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Project team
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Competition Phase. Concept design.- Luojia Xu, Sebastiano Cattiodoro. Schematic design.- Juan Liu, Luojia Xu, Sebastiano Cattiodoro, Mohamed Yasser Elsarif, Jinye Du.
Design&Development Phase. Design Team.- Juan Liu, Luojia Xu, Sebastiano Cattiodoro, Mohamed Yasser Elsarif, Jinye Du, Yinxin Bao,Yitao Huang.
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Collaborators
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Structure Consultant.- Lei Gu
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Client
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Engineering Design Management Center of Bureau of Public Works of Shenzhen Municipality.
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Stefano Boeri Architetti (previously, Boeri Studio) is an architecture practice based in Milan, Shanghai and Tirana, led by Stefano Boeri, and dedicated to research and design in architecture and urban planning since 1993. Together with Stefano Boeri, the studio’s Partners are Francesca Cesa Bianchi (from 2019), Marco Giorgio (from 2019) and Pietro Chiodi (from 2023). The firm’s Directors are Hana Hosi Narvaez Bautista, Livia Sharmir (Research Department) and Corrado Longa (Urban Planning Department).

Together with master plans and urban planning in various cities, the studio is currently working on numerous architectural projects, including the Tower of Cedars (Lausanne), Balcon sur Paris (Paris), Wonderwoods (Utrecht, under construction) and the redevelopment of the San Cristoforo district in Milan with the Bosconavigli project. The studio’s recent professional developments include projects such as the set design of Euripides’ ‘The Trojan Women’ at the Greek Theatre in Syracuse (2018); the new entrance to the Domus Aurea in Rome (2021); the staging of the exhibition ‘Chi è di Scena! Cento anni di spettacoli a Ostia Antica (1922-2022)’ at the Ostia Antica Archaeological Park (2022); the Masterplan for the South Coast of Salerno – with the territorial redevelopment of the area of the archaeological site of Paestum – and the requalification and valorisation of the Amphitheatre and the Roman baths in Durazzo – testify to Stefano Boeri Architetti’s growing care and attention towards the international archaeological heritage and its cultural, tourist and environmental enhacement.

The studio has received numerous international awards: the Bosco Verticale, the new symbol of Milan and of biodiversity in architecture, was named best building in the world by the CTBUH (Chicago) and received the award for best skyscraper by the DAM in Frankfurt. In addition, the firm received the official award of Professional Leadership in Biodiversity in Architecture from the US Green Building Council (2020).

Stefano Boeri, born in Milan in 1956, is a Milan-based architect and, since June 2011, the Councillor for Culture, Design, and Fashion for the Municipality of Milan. From 2004 to 2007, he was editor-in-chief of the international magazine Domus, and from 2007 to 2011, of Abitare. He is a professor of Urban Design at the Politecnico di Milano and has been a visiting professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design, MIT, the Berlage Institute, and the Architectural Association, among others. Since 2007, he has directed the international architecture festival Festarch. He recently curated “Calling São Paulo,” a project on informal settlements promoted by the São Paulo Housing Secretariat.

He is a professor of Urban Planning at the Politecnico di Milano and directs the Future City Lab at Tongji University in Shanghai, a postdoctoral research program focused on the transformation of global metropolises from the perspective of biodiversity and urban forestry. He has been a visiting professor at institutions such as Harvard GSD, EPFL, the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, and the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio. He is president of the Scientific Committee of Forestami, the urban forestry project for the Milan metropolitan area, and has presided over the Triennale Milano since 2018.

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Published on: August 17, 2020
Cite:
metalocus, ANA DIOSDADO
"Stefano Boeri to design the largest rehabilitation center in Shenzhen" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/stefano-boeri-design-largest-rehabilitation-center-shenzhen> ISSN 1139-6415
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