1000 Trees Shanghai: Inside the City’s Extraordinary Landmark
Some buildings are designed to dominate a skyline and other buildings are designed to become a part of the landscape. For 1000 Trees Shanghai, it belongs to the latter.
Rising beside the Suzhou Creek, in Shanghai’s Putuo District, this remarkable mixed-use development looks less like a conventional commercial complex and more like mountains that are covered in vegetation.
Designed by Heatherwick Studio, 1000 Trees transforms the structural columns.
Using planters, beautiful trees and greenery throughout. Creating an unusual meeting point between nature, art and urban life.
Today, this is one of Shanghai’s most recognisable landmarks.
What is 1000 Trees Shanghai?
Officially known as Tian An 1000 Trees.
The development is a large, mixed-use destination that incorporates retail, hospitality and public spaces.
The project occupies a former industrial site on a bend in Suzhou Creek, close to Shanghai’s celebrated M50 art district.
Heatherwick Studios completed the design back in 2021. Working with the architects, they didn’t make the building uniform, instead, they created series of smaller elements.
Using terraces, outdoors spaces and creating vertical gardens – along with the inclusion of ambient lighting for the night.
According to the official site of Heatherwick Studio, the building has used approximately 1000 structural columns.
Placing planters above, with support for trees and vegetation.
Resulting in an artificial landscape that appears to rise from the city like a forest-covered mountain.
Why is it called 1000 Trees?
The name comes directly from the project and its defining architectural idea.
Embracing the structural columns, they have become a visual frame, defining the building.
Planters now sit on top of the columns, allowing the trees to rise through and create a wonderful atmosphere of green mountain landscape.
Different types of plants, trees, shrubs and flowering plants have been used to change the appearance of the building, throughout the seasons.
The Architecture of 1000 Trees
When you first see 1000 Trees Shanghai, it looks almost surreal.
Stepped terraces, exposed columns and vegetation create a building that sits between a futuristic city and a natural landscape.
Beneath its striking appearance, there is a carefully organised structural system.
Developing the building around a nine-metre structural grid with the grid being rotated in placed to respond to views towards the river and surrounding streets.
A building that shows you how engineering, architecture and landscape can all work together. Rather than existing and working through separate layers.
Shaped By Nature
The most photographed feature of 1000 Trees is the greenery.
Trees appear at different heights and levels across the terraces, creating the impression of vegetation climbing a mountainside.
Planting has also been integrated throughout the building architecture in a strategic way. Locally sourced evergreen, fruit and flowering trees alongside shrubs and hanging plants.
For visitors, this creates a unique and unusual experience.
Move through the commercial environment while constantly encountering trees, terraces and open spaces with views surrounding the neighbourhood.
Art Meets Architecture
The location of 1000 Trees Shanghai also adds an important dimension to the building, overall.
Sitting beside M50, one of Shanghai’s best-known contemporary art districts.
Instead of treating the cultural context as something separate, the project has fully incorporated it into its identity.
Using international-artists who contributed to large-scale works and murals being seen within the buildings elevator shafts.
By using and incorporating artwork, this creates a wonderful visual relationship and combines the creative energy of the neighbouring art district.
A key reason as to why this is an incredibly photographic destination.
This isn’t only about seeing a unique building. It’s the opportunity to experience all aspects of Shanghai.
Architecture.
Street Art.
Retail.
Public Space and extending to the beautiful riverside environment.
1000 Trees and Suzhou Creek
The relationship between 1000 Trees and Suzhou Creek is part of the character.
1000 Trees incorporates the pedestrian routes, public spaces and connects with the surroundings, the urban landscape and the beautiful riverside park.
Interestingly, depending on where you stand, the whole experience changes.
From a distance, the trees create a dramatic green mountain.
Closer, the terraces, columns and artwork become apparent.
This is architecture working in a mysterious way to reveal itself gradually.
From Industrial to Landmark
Looking at the history of the site and the area, it truly is wonderful to see how a place can completely change and transform.
Formerly being known as a historic Fufeng Flour Mill and an old packaging warehouse, instead of erasing this, the development has incorporated this into the new development.
What Can Visitors Experience?
The development combines several different experiences within one destination making it a fantastic place to experience and visit.
Shops.
Restaurants.
Cafes.
Hospitality Spaces.
Public Areas.
Cultural Venues.
For travellers, the location is one of the biggest advantaged as you can spend time also exploring M50 and the Suzhou Creek Waterfront.
You don’t need to shop to appreciate the building, you can explore and admire the architecture.
There’s plenty to see and experience, just by walking around.
When Is The Best Time To Visit?
The best part about 1000 Trees Shanghai is the fact that the appearance changes throughout the year.
- Autumn. Introduces warmer foliage and colours. Think cosy season.
- Winter. Here, you’ll appreciate more of the building as the building is revealed due to the cold weather.
- Spring. Fresh growth and flowering plants, you’ll be able to see beautiful colours and plants all around.
- Summer. Highlighting the density of the greenery, a beautiful time to enjoy your walk and surroundings.
A Landmark Worth Seeing Beyond The Photograph
Photographs of 1000 Trees tend to focus on the dramatic exterior and it’s easy to understand why.
The forest-like beauty is unlike almost anything else in Shanghai however the building becomes much more interesting when being experienced at street level.
Walk around it and the giant mountain-like form becomes a collection of smaller spaces.
Look upwards and the trees appear to emerge from the structure. You can follow along the terraces and see the beautiful landscape and out onto the city.
1000 Trees Shanghai isn’t just a building covered in trees. It’s an attempt to rethink what a building can be.
Shanghai continues to reinvent.
1000 Trees Shanghai – Quick Glance
Lets take a Quick Look at all the details from 1000 Trees Shanghai.
Name: Tian An 1000 Trees.
Location: 600 Moganshan Roads, Putuo District, Shanghai.
Architect: Heatherwick Studio.
Completed: 2021.
Setting: Suzhou Creek. Near the M50 art district.
Highlights: Architecture. Landscaped Terraces. Public Spaces. Art. Retail. Dining.
All in a beautiful riverside setting.
Images. Courtesy of Heatherwick Studios with credit to Qingyan Zhu.
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