Ren, People's building

Written by Sissoko Aya – Business intern at Danny Broe Archiect

The REN building is a proposal that was exhibited at the expo in 2010 in Shanghai China. The theme of this exhibition was "Better city - better life" and it signified Shanghai's new status in the 21st century as the "next great world city". The REN building was first created for a Danish competition by Copenhagen's Bjarke Ingels Groupe (BIG). Unfortunately, the project was rejected because the Swedish jury thought the building wasn't representative enough of the north of Sweden. The project was then presented to the World Expo in China and became a recognisable landmark. Bjarke Ingels groups is an International architectural firm founded in 2005 by Bjarke Ingels in Copenhagen, Denmark. The creations of this group are amazing. Some of REN's project includes: the structure of the TIV (Tivoli retail shop in Copenhagen), the curve lines of the Walter Towers (Prague) and the two buildings merging into one as the Private hospital and hotel (Berlin). The most impressive idea of REN project is having two buildings in one. The first building, emerging from the water. is devoted to the activities of the body and houses a water culture center. The second building, emerging from land, is devoted to spirit and enlightenment and houses the conference center and meeting facilities. The two buildings meet in a 1,000-room hotel and this looks like the Chinese written character for 'People'. Together, the two buildings become a tower and an arch at the same time. The arch defines a square for gatherings and activities and it is exactly on the main axis of the expo site overlooking the HuangPu River.

A modernist slab is cleaved in two, forming the Chinese character for "People". The principle of Yin Yang and the five elements of Feng Shui are embedded int he architecture, creating a link between the ancient wisdom and the contemporary euphoria of Chinese culture.

"The REN building could be the Eiffel Tower of Shanghai"