This article first appeared in the 201003
issue of BD+C.
A/E giant Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has drawn up an urban model of Beijing's Dawangjing district, showcasing how energy and water conservation, as well as transit systems could be used to help the district become the gateway to Beijing. The SOM plan calls for cultural venues and high-rise buildings passively heated and cooled to reduce the need for water-consuming cooling towers. Public parks would anchor the surrounding cluster of office and residential towers.
