The Self-Sufficient City concept, created by Barcelona, Spain-based Guallart Architects, has been selected as the winner of the residential and communities category in an international design contest for China’s Xiong’an New City, a new green city planned for a site 80 miles north of Beijing.
The project, created during the COVID-19 lockdown period, is intended to create a new standard of living with an eye toward survival in a post-pandemic world, and to serve as a model for similar communities across the globe.
"We cannot continue designing cities and buildings as if nothing had happened," says Vicente Guallart, founder of Guallart Architects. "Our proposal stems from the need to provide solutions to the various crises that are taking place on our planet at the same time, in order to create a new urban life based in the circular bioeconomy that will empower cities and communities.”
The residential sector’s layout combines European urban block structures with modern Chinese towers and farming infrastructure to create a “new urban environment,” one that allows residents to live, work, and produce the resources necessary for survival in one location. “We developed this project during confinement, when the entire team worked from home,” says Honorata Grzesikowska, director of the Guallart Architects office. “We decided to include all those aspects that could make our lives better, so that a new standard could be defined.”
The mixed-use community is set to feature homes for residents of all ages, as well as offices, a swimming pool, shops, an administrative center, and a fire station, among other facilities. All of the living spaces will feature a large terrace facing south for thermal regulation purposes, and would be equipped for telework with 5G network connections. A series of manufacturing stations on the ground floor will allow residents to use 3D printers to make objects for daily use.
The four tower blocks will be constructed using mass timber and incorporate passive design solutions to promote resource conservation. All of the buildings will be topped with greenhouses and solar arrays, which can produce food and energy for the community.
