Golden A' Design Award Winner 2025
The copper-bronze exposed structure of Xiyao Wang's Urban Symbiosis towers functions as a powerful architectural symbol communicating values of transparency, honesty, and organic integration within the built environment. The exoskeletal framework, rendered in earth-toned metallic hues associated with natural weathering processes and artisanal craft traditions, suggests an architecture of revealed truth where structural systems become expressive rather than concealed, evoking archetypal associations with shelter, scaffold, and trellis as fundamental human constructions. The diagonal bracing patterns create triangular geometries traditionally associated with stability, aspiration, and dynamic energy, while the horizontal platforms suggest layered cosmological order and the stratification of vertical community. The integration of verdant plantings throughout the structural matrix activates deep archetypal associations with the axis mundi, the world tree connecting earthly and celestial realms, here manifested as an inhabited vertical garden ascending toward the sky. The chromatic dialogue between warm copper tones and cool blue glass neighbors encodes complementary relationships suggesting balance between technological progress and natural wisdom, between innovation and tradition. The cascading greenery evokes imagery of hanging gardens, paradisiacal abundance, and the reconciliation of nature with artifice that has occupied architectural imagination since antiquity. The terraced platforms suggest ziggurat forms and stepped pyramids, ancient mountain-temple typologies that positioned human habitation within cosmic hierarchies. The reflective glass neighbors might be understood as representing conventional technological urbanism, their mirror surfaces suggesting self-reference and opacity despite apparent transparency, while the central tower's genuine openness and green integration proposes an alternative paradigm of urban dwelling. The base canopy, arching welcomingly over the entrance zone, creates threshold symbolism marking transition between public and private realms while connecting tower and earth through architectural gesture. The overall composition invites interpretation as a vision of symbiotic urbanism where human construction participates in rather than dominates ecological systems.
Urban Symbiosis is a mixed use supertall development above the 7 Train station in New York City, integrating condos, serviced apartments, and offices. Celebrating the great underground, the subway entrance is placed at the center, offering natural light and 24/7 public access. The design optimizes energy loads by combining office and residential programs, reducing grid pressure. Unlike traditional vertical stacking, a horizontal split forms two towers, creating shared public spaces with amenities like restaurants, co-working areas, and gyms for constant interaction.