In a constant research on new approaches to urban design and livable public communities, Moshe Safdie of Safdie Architects, P&T Group International, Chongqing Architectural Design Institute, CL3 Architects, WAA Williams, and Asselin Ackaoui & Associates have created “The Crystal,” a 250m high and 300m long sky bridge that connects the Raffles City Chongqing towers.
Set in one of the world’s fastest growing and densest cities, Raffles City Chongqing is a vibrant development located at the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers, consisting of eight towers above a retail podium and public park, which offer a mix of residential, office, leisure, hospitality, and retail programs.
The Crystal sky bridge has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Aspiring beyond a series of towers that joins only at or below ground level, the Crystal serves as a linchpin of connectivity, adding a level of public space and drawing people into the highest levels of the project.
Considered a “horizontal skyscraper,” the Crystal houses over 15,000 square meters of amenities including a public observatory and garden, numerous dining options, bar and event space, a residential clubhouse, a 50m-long infinity pool, and a hotel lobby.
As an example of the interconnected nature of the structure, the hotel lobby, set within the larger link bridge, flows directly between the F&B experiences set within the Crystal, and the restaurant set within the adjacent tall tower. Spanning across four southern towers, the Crystal is one continuous structure with two cantilevered perpendicular link bridges.
Supported by friction pendulum bearings that sit on top of the four towers it can move as if on ball bearings while the towers sway in various directions. Because Chongqing’s climate can fluctuate drastically, the structure is enclosed by a glass and steel concertina—a serrated profile with an elliptical cross-section—that ensures year-round enjoyment of the indoor gardens. Weighing 12,000 tons, the enclosed curtainwall is comprised of roughly 3,000 glass panels and close to 5,000 aluminum panels.
Through the considered placement of metal panels on the west-facing surfaces and glass on the east-facing surfaces, guests and visitors are afforded natural light in the morning and shade from the sun in the afternoon. The world’s highest sky bridge at the time of completion—the Crystal—offers much of the same connectivity found at ground level, but with new meaning, and new opportunity. The Crystal proposes a solution to the exponential growth and often disconnected nature of urban centers around the world, presenting an animated, three-dimensional, connected building network.
The Crystal project is Safdie Architects’ fourth collaboration with CapitaLand Investment, one of Asia’s largest real estate developers.
Project: The Crystal at Raffles City Architects: Safdie Architects, LLC Executive Architects: P&T Group International Ltd. Design Institute: CQADI (Chongqing Architectural Design Institute Co., Ltd.) Interior Architects: CL3 Architects Ltd. Interior Designers: The Buchan Group Landscape Architects: WAA Williams, Asselin Ackaoui & Associates Inc. Signage and Wayfinding: Pentagram and Entro Client: CapitaLand Investment (CLI) Photographers: Safdie Architects, LLC and CapitaLand Investment
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