This City, That Color: Shenzhen Edition

Project Name: Pingshan Sculpture & Creative Park Renovation
Project Area: 30,000 sqm
Service Scope: Urban Regeneration, Cultural Park Renovation, Façade & Interior Redesign
Lead Designer: Chen Xi
Design Firm: Atelier XI
Design Team: Zhu Jing, Huang Jiajie, Weng Cekai, Xu Huanshi, Liang Jiaxin, Shi Yiyuan, Wen Weijian, Huang Sisi, Zhang Zixiang
Design Adviser: Liu Xiaodu
Lighting Design Consultant: Visual Interaction of AURA
Project Photography: Zhang Chao
Paint Contractor: Major (Benjamin Moore China)
Project Address: Pingshan District, Shenzhen, China
Product Used: Benjamin Moore Paints
Color Used:Black Jack 2133-20, Classic Gray OC-23

In Pingshan, Shenzhen’s spirit of transformation comes to life through a thoughtful redesign by Chen Xi of Atelier XI, guided by architect Liu Xiaodu. Rather than rebuilding, the 30,000 m² factory site was subtly reimagined: black steel walkways connect spaces, brick paths recall the site's industrial past, and a red façade evokes a sculpted mountain.

A sunken plaza creates vertical depth for large installations, with Benjamin Moore’s “Black Jack” and “Classic Gray” defining the space in tones of contrast and calm. Awarded the 2022 IDMA Gold for Public Space, the project offers a quiet, poetic model of urban renewal.

Chen Xi

Founded in 2017 by CHEN Xi in New York City, ATELIER XI is an architectural design practice currently based in Shenzhen, China. With our work focusing on public and cultural projects at various scales, we are attentive to the needs of diverse groups and scales. The studio aspires to create spaces that bring unique poetry and profoundness to contemporary urban and rural environments.

We believe that each space, grand or tiny, is a clue to the vastness of our world, and a testimony to the glory of everyday life. By planting these quiet and resilient spaces one at a time, we envision architecture to branch out and blossom with life and narratives.