The Kimma Youth Community in Nanjing is a residential community targeting the young users in Nanjing, China. This three-tower apartment complex has an open campus, which is rare (often gated and walled) in China. This offers great opportunity for landscape architect to re-imagine collected housing community environment in China.

Iconic Circles

“Circle” is used as the central landscape strategy for this residential complex. It involves creating different circles of youth that brought young people together with a spatial language of “circle”. The language forms highly iconic identity for the community.

Community Circles

Many interactive programs that usually take place indoors are brought to outdoor spaces, greatly exceeding lifestyle expectations of the young residents. The landscape of the community includes various themed “circles”– Athletic Circle, Reading Circle, Share Circle, Interactive Circle, Open Circle and Party Circle– which are linked by a multi-functional path that runs through the whole community. The young generation discovers different “circles” based on their personal interest.

Open Circles

Proudly, the interesting and inclusive design attracts people from adjacent neighbourhoods, who come and use the open campus as a public space. Not only young people, but also children, parents and even grandparents from other communities make great use of this residential campus.

The Circles gain different dynamics and new interpretation due to co-existence of diverse user groups, which confirm and extend our thoughts on collected housing community landscape in China. In urban housing projects, we need a more open, inclusive and flexible community environment.