Concord City
Two towers, all residential, linked at the top and bottom, the Shanghai Concord takes a novel formal conceit — something between a flattened loop and a stretched-out window — and puts it in the service of contemporary urban living. Staggered back and away from each other, the twin high-rises are separated by a wide aperture that gives all the apartments maximum access to light and air, which residents can enjoy from the ribbon-like balconies that run around each tower and give both their regular, terraced rhythm.
No less stunning are the views, stretching as far as the Huangpu River, that can be seen from the observation deck located in the building’s bridge-like crown — a structure almost as exciting to look at as it is to look out from: gazing upward, passersby on the street will see the narrow strip connecting the two towers high above, a seemingly perilous span suspended in the sky. Only from a bit further back will the building’s real visual gamesmanship be evident, as the twisting legs of the two towers and their horizontal connections come together to form an unusual geometric figure, a skewed picture frame for a real-life portrait of sky and city.
