With three projects under construction and three more scheduled to start by the end of the year, officials in Guangzhou, China, are spending nearly $1 billion to prepare the north axis of the city’s center for the 16th Asian Games, which begin on Nov. 12, 2010. Although near-term activity is focused on improving the north axis, which covers 5.9 sq kilometers, the city has even more ambitious long-term plans, valued at $6.5 billion worth of construction, for the adjacent 16.1-sq-kilometer area, called the south axis.
“This place is wild” with activity, says Jeffrey Heller, president of Heller Manus Architects. The San Francisco-based architect is the lead planner for both city districts. It won a competition for the south axis master plan in September, with the San Francisco office of landscape architect SWA Group, AECOM Transportation, Oakland, Calif., and Shanghai Concept Engineering Consulting, the team’s Chinese associate. The team for the north axis master plan, with architectural interventions, which Heller Manus landed five years ago, also includes Seattle-based architect Callison and Simon & Associates, a San Francisco-based sustainability consultant.