Designed by Heatherwick Studio together with Foster + Partners, the new finance center takes up the last plot available in the Bund of Shanghai, on the shores of Huangpu River, in a strategic site located between the colonial buildings by the waterfront, the historic center, and the business district. The 420.000 square meter development combines offices, a hotel, a cultural center, retail spaces, and the city plan’s requirement for twin towers all organized around a landscaped public plaza. The two taller volumes – twin towers rising 180 meters – are placed at the end of one of main urban axes, to the south of the complex, while the rest of the buildings are lined up along the waterfront and adapt their height to that of the 19th-century buildings in the old town neighborhood.

Organized like extruded volumes, the finished scheme consists of rustic hand-carved stone building frames – contrasting with the latest office facade technology. Intricate detailing at the base of the buildings pares back as they rise, giving a sense of lightness towards the top, with bronze detailed in-fill panels creating interest up close. The cladding materials chosen give the building a jewel-like appearance.

At the heart of the project is the public plaza and Fosun Foundation cultural center, which is designed to host theater, art exhibitions, and fashion shows. Elevated and cantilevered on two pillars, the center recalls the tradition of raised, open Chinese theaters where actors performed to those inside as well as those standing outside. The kinetic facade creates a link between the inside and out and is composed of 675 individual metal ‘tassels’ arranged on three tracks. When the tracks rotate around the perimeter, the tassels overlap to produce different levels of opacity and varied apertures.

Each tassel is formed by a tube of extruded aluminum, clad with colored stainless steel sleeves, and covered with a layer of titanium nitride that gives a reddish tone. To achieve a texture evocative of the patterns of Chinese weaving, ropes, and knots, the studio worked with local craftsmen and tested a wide variety of prototypes to develop the embossed textures for the sleeves. The textures vary in scale and become more diffuse as the tubes rise, reducing the sense of weight. All this turns the building into a spectacle in itself, both for its material qualities and its dynamic possibilities.