Soft Square / ZXD Architects

Architects: ZXD Architects
Area: 1,463 square meters
Year: 2024
Photography: Zhang Chao
Lead Architects: Zhu Xiaodi
Architects Team: Ma Tiangang, Xiao Ruyi
Structural Engineering: Beijing Institute of Architectural Design Co., Ltd. / Bai Guangbo, Duan Shichang, Gao Zhijun, Wang Yi, Cui Jianhua, Zhu Zhongyi
Lighting Design: Purilighting (PURI) / Hu Fang, Ma Zanbao
Client: Bureau of Public Works of Pingshan District, Shenzhen
City: Changshou Village, Jiangling Community, Pingshan District, Shenzhen
Country: China

The “Soft Square” in Changshou Village, Shenzhen, designed by Zhu Xiaodi and ZXD Architects, reinterprets the potential of rural public space within the framework of China’s ongoing revitalization initiatives. Conceived as a woven rope net suspended across the village pond, the installation provides a new kind of communal ground, allowing people to walk, sit, and recline above the water. At once playful and contemplative, it reestablishes the pond as a social focus, bridging the needs of residents and the influx of visitors drawn by the nearby Drama Commune. Engineering precision underpins the design: seven circular concrete supports embedded in the pond shorten spans and carry structural loads, while steel extensions balance lateral tension at the edges. The grid spacing of 120 millimeters accommodates people of all ages safely, with a secondary mesh below to catch fallen objects. Beyond its technical resolution, the project’s significance lies in its ability to blur social boundaries, encouraging shared experience and a renewed sense of belonging. Completed in July 2024, the “Soft Square” demonstrates how architectural imagination can transform overlooked rural infrastructure into a space of cultural dialogue and community resonance.

The moment I find the “object” that embodies my understanding of the project, everything becomes effortless. At that point, I feel a sense of complete freedom, as if everything is a carefully prepared coincidence. The design work becomes so relaxed and joyful, with all the spatial concepts and corresponding materials naturally converging.
Interview with Zhu Xiaodi of ZXD Architects

The “Soft Square” is a striking response to the question of how rural public life can be reimagined in the face of cultural reinvestment and tourism. Located in Changshou Village, Pingshan District, the installation forms part of a broader strategy accompanying the establishment of the Longma Studio Drama Commune, a major performing arts initiative that positions the village as a site of regular theatrical creation and performance. While this cultural development brings vitality, it also introduces new pressures on a settlement long defined by narrow streets, dispersed Hakka dwellings, and scarce communal space.

At the heart of the project lies the village pond, a feature deeply embedded in the traditions of southern Chinese villages as both a practical and symbolic resource. Over time, urbanization had eroded its role, turning it into a fenced-off fishpond that no longer functioned as a shared space. Zhu Xiaodi’s proposal reframed the pond not as a relic to restore but as a foundation for new interactions. By spanning it with a taut rope mesh that merges seamlessly with surrounding paths, he transformed the compromised water body into a vibrant square that extends the ground plane without erasing its ecological role.

The experience of moving across this woven surface is unlike that of any conventional plaza. The rope’s material strength ensures safety, yet its responsive grid makes balance precarious, transmitting the motion of every step across its surface. This quality fosters a form of collective awareness: one person’s presence is felt immediately by others, transforming the act of crossing into a shared negotiation. The installation turns perception into participation, encouraging villagers and visitors alike to inhabit the same surface with heightened sensitivity.

The design is underpinned by careful structural interventions. Concrete piers within the pond reduce spans and distribute forces, while steel supports mitigate the horizontal loads at the edges. The 120-millimeter spacing between ropes achieves a balance between safety and comfort, making the net accessible to children and adults. A secondary mesh beneath prevents objects from dropping into the pond, and discreet entrances allow for maintenance access. Crucially, the pond itself remains a functioning part of the village water system, preserving continuity between old and new.

Yet the project’s impact extends beyond technical ingenuity. On this elevated surface, villagers and urban visitors gather without distinction, freed from the markers of identity that ordinarily structure social space. Children play, neighbors converse, and visitors linger to watch the fish below or the moonrise reflected on the water. In these moments, the “Soft Square” becomes not just an architectural device but a stage for belonging.

By introducing a flexible platform where interaction is both physical and symbolic, the installation demonstrates that public space in rural contexts need not be fixed or monumental. Instead, it can be experimental, porous, and adaptive, capable of accommodating both daily life and extraordinary events. In Changshou Village, the “Soft Square” affirms that even modest interventions, when rooted in cultural insight and structural clarity, can carry profound social and spatial consequences.