Eager to move out of Hong Kong's shadow, Shenzhen is redefining its skyline with futuristic buildings—some of which may soon come from the winning entries of the Shenzhen Bay Super City Masterplan Competition. Topping that winner’s list is Cloud Citizen, a proposal for eco-friendly, cloud-shaped skyscrapers designed by Urban Future Organization and CR-Design in collaboration with a small team of experts from the Chalmers Technical University. The mixed-use design includes living modules, public green space, office space, recreational and retail facilities, and various sustainable features such as a rainwater harvesting.

The visionary 2,230-foot-tall mixed-use Cloud Citizen proposal was created in response to the competition brief for a 170-hectare financial city district that would move the Shenzhen Bay Ring area from that of a production-oriented city to a high-tech green hub rivaling Canary Wharf London and the Presnensky District in Moscow. In place of traditional high rises, the architects created a singular interconnected mega structure that boasts a bevy of eco-friendly features, such as rainwater harvesting; production of power from solar, wind, and algae sources; air pollution filtration; carbon sequestration; and habitat for fauna and flora.
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“Cloud Citizen is as much a strategy for how to build future cities capable of giving back more to the environment than they cost, as it is a singular iconographic mega building complex with an identifiable and striking skyline giving character and hope to the vision of a greener future enabled by human enterprise,” write the designers.
Via ArchDaily
Images via Urban Future Organization