Magma Flow Public Space / 100 Architects

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Text description provided by the architects.Magma Flow is a stimulating urban activation of a pedestrian street from a newly built commercial and residential area in the port city ofNingbo, the second-most populous city in Zhejiang Province, China.To continue with the narrative on the rest of the space, a huge stain of erupted magma razes the ground level with color and playful functions for kids and adults alike, generating a very eye-catching multifunctional plaza right at the pedestrian junction. The flow of magma creates an intense & vivid circuit of events and spaces arising by its side.Thus, what before were just simple stairs to access the second floor, is now a volcano of public activity by inserting several amphitheaters at different levels, providing the stairs with platforms for hanging out and resting; shading structures mimicking the violent eruptive process, while providing shadow to the new resting areas; and even some slides resembling the erupted lava going down the hill.Altogether, the proposal creates an incandescent public space that acts as an urban attractor and entertainment hotspot within the new commercial and residential development.One of the most characteristic features of this place is the presence of grand stairs that serve as pedestrian access to the open second floor of the commercial street. In order to activate this pedestrian junction and turn it into an eventful and eye-catching public space, colonizing the stairs extending and detaching the proposal from the horizontal plane of the floor was early identified as a key action to gain visibility, and from which the rest of the proposal could be articulated.Among the functions that we can find on the magma plaza, there are several seatings and resting areas located under shadowing canopies, as well as mahjong & tic-tac-toe tables and a lounge area for adults. For the joy & entertainment of kids, we equipped the space with a swing pergola, seesaws, slides, hills and bumps, tunnels, punching bags & challenging obstacles along the circuit.