Professor of Architecture’s Firm Wins China Competition

April 14, 2008

SITE New York, founded by Penn State architecture professor James Wines, recently received the First Award for its entry in the New World Plaza Competition in Beijing, China. Chosen from an international competition of 471 entries, SITE’s winning design for a new commercial and housing development in the center of the city interprets this public space as an urban forest.

Intended as a metaphor for a growing culture and proposal for environmental improvement in a rapidly burgeoning city, Wines’ firm based its approach on a similarity in the shape of the site to expanding tree branches and river tributaries. The Chinese team of Beijing and Canada-based architects conceived the combination of green zones, site-specific identity and multi-use people spaces as the prototype for mediation between the city’s small residential neighborhoods and its mega-sized commercial zones.

Wines has been an advocate of environmental thinking since opening SITE in 1970. He is currently president and creative director of this architectural studio. For more information on James Wines and SITE, go to www.siteenvirodesign.com.

Contact: Flora Marynak, 863-0621, fwm1@psu.edu