A VERTICAL pig farm in town, or an orchard in a residential community ¡ª these are just some of the suggestions of Dutch architects for the future of Shanghai.

MVRDV is made up of three architects from the Netherlands: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries. The group has undertaken six projects in China so far, including a new central station in Guangzhou of south China¡¯s Guangdong Province and Longtan Park, a residential community in Liuzhou of southwest China¡¯s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

An exhibition featuring MVRDV and its projects is being held in the Shanghai Gallery of Art. Models of MVRDV projects in China are displayed, 1/50 of the original size. It is the first time the gallery has hosted an architecture show, and although MVRDV has been involved in China for several years, it is the first time the group has presented its collective work to the public.

Rapid urbanization is a defining feature of contemporary China, with high-rise buildings mushrooming in cities throughout the country. MVRDV believes China should have greater freedom of choice when planning these new buildings, rather than simply sticking to traditional building styles.

Considering such issues as sustainable development, MVRDV advocates some overlap between cities and the countryside. ¡°A city can have a place to grow fruits,¡± said Jacob van Rijs. In order to reduce resource wastage in long distance transportation, MVRDV suggests developing agriculture in densely populated cities such as Tokyo, raising miniature pigs and herbs. Agriculture would benefit the environment and save natural resources.

MVRDV has a study project in Rotterdam entitled ¡°Pigcity¡± in which Pigs are kept in high rise buildings in order to save space, reducing the spread of diseases.

One largest project MVRDV has undertaken in China so far is the Fanyu Railway Station. The station is built in a new area away from the old town centre. In order to protect the vulnerable ecological variety of the area, they designed the rails in such a way as to allow the plants to continue growing. A lake is kept as an empty space surrounded by the commercial centre, hotels and highways, creating a haven of yin-yang balance between land and lake.

In urban China, the common practice concerning highrise buildings has been to make the lower floors into a closed commercial space. High towers stand above them as offices or apartments.

MVRDV developed a group of buildings in north China¡¯s Tianjin city, with the lower part of the buildings open, and towers off from them. ¡°We opened the heart of the buildings,¡± Winy Maas said at the exhibition launch. ¡°The towers seem to touch each other and kiss each other in the air.¡±

In Liuzhou, MVRDV were assigned to build a residential community in a valley between mountains.

Observing the eroding mountain, the architects suggested restoring the beautiful mountain scene and the open valley. Instead, they built apartment buildings along the mountain side.

Shanghai now hosts more than 5,000 highrise buildings, but less than 5 per cent of them bear distinguished styles, said Lu Keng, president of a leading real estate developing group in town. Foreign architects played an important role in creating Shanghai¡¯s new city skyline. But he went on to criticize Shanghai¡¯s buildings¡¯ lack of distinctive characteristics.

One unified character of a city¡¯s buildings may lead to standardization, or a lack of diversity and variety, MVRDV architects argued.

On the one hand, critics have said that China¡¯s big cities have become experimental fields for foreign architects, while on the other, local architects blamed real estate developers and urban planners for not providing them with opportunities to experiment at home.

Through August 21

Shanghai Gallery of Art

Three on the Bund

Tel: 6321-5757