song garden sunrise view. Image © Chen Su

宋园日出景。形象(陈苏)

 General Plan

架构师提供的文本描述。西安南门广场位于西安中轴线中央，北起张家铺广场，南至电视塔，穿过钟楼。这把斧头把汉、唐、明、清以及当代的众多文物串连在一起。它也是西安文化、旅游、商贸、交通的核心区域和重要节点。近年来，随着社会的进步和经济的发展，南门广场地区逐渐暴露出一系列问题：交通组织混乱、广场环境质量差、广场外可达性差、周边建筑风格混乱等。

Text description provided by the architects. Xi'an South Gate Plaza is located in the middle of the medial axis of Xi'an, which starts from Zhangjiapu Square in the north and ends at the TV tower in the south, crossing The Bell Tower. This axes strings together numerous cultural relics of Han, Tang, Ming, Qing dynasties and contemporary age. It is also the core area and important node of Xi'an culture, tourism, commerce and transportation. In recent years, with the social progress and economic development, the South Gate Plaza area has gradually exposed a series of problems: the disorder of traffic organization, the inferior quality of square environment, the weak accessibility from outside the plaza, the chaos styles of surrounding landmarks build in different ages.

该项目旨在补充和完善南门景区服务设施，整合南门广场景观系统，利用绿色限制空间，合理组织该地区的地面和地下流线，包括车辆、行人和轨道交通。同时，这一愿景是在保护现有文物资源、提高区域环境质量、重塑古建筑历史风貌的前提下提出的。

The project is designed in order to supplement and improve the South Gate scenic service facilities, integrate the South Gate Plaza landscape system, use green to confine space, reasonably organize the ground and underground streamlines including vehicle, pedestrian and rail transit across this region. Meanwhile, this vision is under the premise of protecting existing cultural relics resources, enhancing the regional environmental quality and remodeling the historical style of the ancient building.

 miao garden sunken street. Image © Chen Su

苗园沉船街。形象(陈苏)

南门设计外广场在有限开发利用的原则下，利用Okimichi、吊桥和绿色的空间转换和限制，捕捉到西安南门的标志性姿态。地下空间主要由停车场和旅游服务设施组成，既解决了区域停车空间不足的问题，又避开了地铁站、城市护城河和城市快速通道。此外，兴建一条横跨广场的东西地下行人通道，连接宋园入口广场、南门中央广场及苗园入口广场，成功地将行人流量与车辆交通分隔开来，达到华丽的立体互操作性。

Using the space transition and restriction of Okimichi, drawbridge and green within the principle of limited developing and utilization, the outer plaza of South Gate design captures the iconic gesture of Xi’an South Gate. The underground space is mainly composed by parking lot and tourism service installations which can solve the problem of lack of regional parking spaces and avoid the subway station, city moat and urban rapid channel at the same time. Besides, building a east-west underground pedestrian channel across the plaza connects the Song Garden entrance plaza, the South Gate central plaza and Miao Garden entrance square, successfully separate the pedestrians flow and vehicle traffic to achieve a gorgeous three-dimensional interoperability.

 huan cheng park. Image © Chen Su

环城公园。形象(陈苏)

对影响环城南路东侧和西侧、原宋园和苗园景观的一些临时建筑进行翻修和拆除。地下停车场作为南门交通节点转移系统和配套的商业设施。在南门广场附近，我们设置了一系列街道文化广场，作为南门景观的重要补充。

We renovate and remove some temporary buildings which affect the views on the east and west sides of the Huancheng South Road, the former Song Garden and Miao Garden. Underground parking lot served as the South Gate traffic node transfer system and supporting commercial facilities. In the vicinity of the South Gate Plaza, we set series of street culture squares, functioned as an important supplement to the South Gate landscape.

 miao garden. Image © Chen Su

苗族花园。形象(陈苏)

宋园小区：保留原有的古式建筑，以挫折的形式组织新的建筑，与现有的环境相呼应。陆地景观与保存下来的传统建筑形象地相协调。同时，通过利用夜间照明和高程变化对游泳池进行修复和改造，有效地将地下空间作为绿化空间。地下室一层主要由管理和商业服务空间构成，地下室二层主要是设备空间和地下停车场。同时，地下建筑利用一系列沉陷的庭院和街道建立了丰富的空间网络。

The Song Garden plot: We retain the original antique-style buildings; organize new constructions in the form of setback to echo the existing surroundings. The terrestrial landscape coordinate with the preserved traditional architectural figure ground. Also, by restoration and renovation of pool with night lighting and elevation variation, we set free underground space as greening effectively. Basement one floor is mainly formed by management and commercial service space, basement two is mostly functionedas equipment space and underground parking lots. Meanwhile, underground buildings set up a rich spatial network using series of sunken courtyards and streets.

 bird view. Image © Chen Su

鸟瞰。形象(陈苏)

苗族花园小区：凹陷的中央广场连接整个基地；地面建筑位于遗址的东北角，形如挫折，形成了城市大门的空间界限。景观设计依靠丰富的地形高差，结合水流艺术，实现多层次的绿色系统，从而创造出以人为本、变革性的景观。在该小区中，地下室一以商业服务空间为主，地下室二主要由设备空间和地下停车场组成，辅之以少量的商业服务设施。

The Miao Garden plot: The sunken central square connects the whole base; ground buildings locate in the northeast corner of the site in the shape of setback, forming a space limit for the city gate. Landscape design relies on the rich height difference terrain, combined with the flow of water artistries, to achieve a multi-layered green system and thus create a people-oriented, transformational landscape. In this plot, basement one is primarily functioned with commercial service space, basement two is mostly composed by equipment space and underground parking lots, supplemented by a small number of commercial service facilities.

 restored ancient buildings in song garden. Image © Chen Su

修复宋园中的古建筑。形象(陈苏)

近南城墙两侧，原环城公园管理办公室及其他混乱的临时建筑的拆除，为我们的进一步设计留出了空间。我们在极简主义的原则下设置了一对玻璃幕墙服务设施，坐落在树林中，以满足功能需求而不影响古城墙的整体外观。

 Close to the south city wall on both sides, the demolition of the original Huancheng Park management office and other chaotic temporary buildings make room for our further design. We set pair of glass curtain wall service facilities under the principle of minimalism, nestled in the woods, to meet the functional needs without affecting the overall appearance of ancient city wall.

南门街区：我们把原来的人行隧道从南大街延伸到南门的内广场。通过这一技术，我们试图引导行人进入南门区域，以实现人流和车流的三维分离。沿着通道，我们布置公厕、设备空间、房屋管理室等配套空间。

South Gate block: We extend original pedestrian tunnel from the South Main Street to the inner plaza of the South Gate. Through this technique, we try to guide the pedestrian into the South Gate area in order to achieve a three-dimensional separation of people and vehicle flow. Along the channel, we layout public toilets, equipment spaces, housing management rooms and other supporting space.

 miao garden sunken plaza. Image © Chen Su

苗园沉陷广场。形象(陈苏)

改造后的南门广场，依托城墙，突出了西安深厚的文化内涵，人文与自然和谐的氛围。南门广场作为古都西安的起居室，已成为现代城市全面发展的重要载体。

After the reconstruction, the South Gate Plaza, relying on the city wall, highlights the profound cultural connotation of Xi'an, harmonious atmosphere with humanity and nature. The South Gate Plaza has become an important carrier for the comprehensive development of modern city, as the living room of the ancient capital city--Xi'an.

Architects China Northwest Architecture Design and Research Institute

Location Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

Design Team Zhao Yuanchao, Zhi Pu, Wang Dong, Hui Qiannan

Area 69000.0 m2

Project Year 2014

Photographs Chen Su

Category Historic Preservation