Home Projects Gantry Crane, MAD Architects’ Innovative Cruise Terminal in China
ProjectsArchitecture

Gantry Crane, MAD Architects’ Innovative Cruise Terminal in China

Share
Gantry Crane, MAD Architects’ Innovative Cruise Terminal in China
Share
Gantry Crane

The upcoming cruise terminal paves the way for a more dynamic commercial space. “Gantry Crane,” the winner of the Cuntan International Cruise Center design competition, is a project designed by MAD architects collaborating with the China Academy of Building Research (CASR) by an impression from the giant orange gantry cranes of the freight terminal. These cranes look like surrealist aliens, providing insight into designing a futuristic city. The Ma Yansong led design proposal substitutes the current cargo terminal in the Liangjiang area of Chongqing, China, with an international cruise port containing commercial spaces.  

Learn more about parametric and computational design from pioneers at the CD NEXT conference series:

Gantry Crane

MAD aimed to construct the world’s most outstanding river cruise port and convert the present industrial site into an effective public space. The “Gantry Crane” project caters to a vibrant atmosphere in which people experience the daily cosmopolitan city life in a 65000 sqm city complex. The direct access to the Yangtze River’s activities such as shipping traffic and industrial transport opens up tremendous possibilities for the public place such as tourism, shopping, and entertainment.

Gantry Crane

The “Gantry Crane” project consists of six buildings expanding in 430 meters and is supported by massive orange-colored aluminum columns. The buildings are connected by sky bridges and differ in height, ascending, and descending appearances from afar. Thanks to these varying heights of the buildings and the floor-to-ceiling glass curtain walls, a panoramic view of the river is also possible. 

Gantry Crane
Gantry Crane

Beneath the buildings, a Cruise Ship landscape park and a Cruise Ship Hall are built to expand the Cuntan Central Golden Axis Pier that has a critical role in providing a connection between visitors and the surrounding green spaces. Besides, The Cruise Center Hub, which is located beneath the Cruise Ship Landscape Park, provides skylights to let natural light into the interior spaces and an upper cantilevered structure to avoid direct sunlight.

Gantry Crane
Gantry Crane

This winning design will be practiced under a larger master plan of the municipal government of Chongqing with the name of Cuntan International New Town Master Plan aiming to reconstruct the area.  

The construction of the project is planned to begin in November 2022 and to be done by 2027.

Share
Written by
Sheida Shakeri

Sheida Shakeri is a Ph.D. candidate in the landscape architecture field at Istanbul Technical University. She has a background in interior design and architectural engineering from the University of Tabriz. Her interest in technology and computer-aided design led her to pursue her passion through different publications. Hence, she focused on the topics of data-driven design, robotic fabrication, metaverse, and recently bio-fabrication. Complementary to her academic studies, she has the pleasure of working for the Kozalak Yangin, an award-winning company for the early detection of wildfires. Additionally, she works as an architectural editor at Parametric Architecture, a renowned media company researching art, architecture, and design.

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Related Articles
MIT Self-Assembly Lab creates a 4D Knit Dress using advanced 3D knitting techniques
ProjectsDesignFashion

MIT Self-Assembly Lab creates a 4D Knit Dress using advanced 3D knitting techniques

Ministry of Supply collaborated with MIT Self-Assembly Lab to design a 4D...

Jimi Hendrix greatly influenced the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)
ProjectsArchitecture

Jimi Hendrix greatly influenced the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)

MoPOP (Museum of Pop Culture) was designed by Frank Gehry and initiated...

Shoupé Tower Rises as a Vertical Neighborhood Inspired by Iran’s Rice-Farming Heritage
Architecture

Shoupé Tower Rises as a Vertical Neighborhood Inspired by Iran’s Rice-Farming Heritage

In the northern regions of Gilan and Mazandaran in Iran, rice farming...

William H. Gary III 30th Street Station Redevelopment
Architecture NewsProjects

William H. Gary III 30th Street Station Redevelopment

As the largest effort to reimagine Philadelphia’s historic station since 1991, this...

Subscribe to all newsletters

Join our community to receive the latest insights and updates!

© 2025 ParametricArchitecture. All Rights Reserved. By utilizing this website, you are consenting to our User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Statement. In compliance with the privacy laws of Turkey and the United States, we recognize and respect your rights. Please be aware that we may receive commissions for products bought through our affiliate links. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or transmission of any material from this site is strictly forbidden without prior written permission from ParametricArchitecture.

ad blocker mark

AdBlocker Detected!

Help Us Keep Our Content Free

Your support helps us continue delivering high-quality resources at no cost to you.

We’ve detected that you are using an AdBlocker. We completely understand the need for a clean browsing experience, but ads help us keep this platform running and continue providing you with high-quality content at no cost.

If you enjoy our content, please consider disabling your AdBlocker or adding our site to your whitelist. Your support allows us to create more valuable articles, tutorials, and resources for you.

Thank you for being a part of our community!