Gong’en is a riverside mixed-use complex conceived around a Shui creation myth, bringing offices and a hotel in a super-high-rise tower together with low-rise commercial and cultural spaces. Its name comes from Gong’en, the legendary immortal who shaped the earth and opened it to human life. The theme “Ark on a Cloud Terrace, Eye of the Deity” connects this imagination of earth and sky with a composition of tower, terraced platforms, water and cultural venues.

To the north, the tower rises from a platform within an elliptical body of water. Financial offices, cultural and technology businesses, and hotel accommodation occupy successive vertical zones. To the south, low-rise groups gather commerce, creative work, publishing and leisure around courtyards. Their horizontal reach contrasts with the tower’s height, while the riverside park, artificial lake and roof gardens establish landscape at different levels. The tower gives the complex a recognisable silhouette from afar; the courtyards and waterfront provide places to walk and pause at close quarters.

At the tower’s summit, the “Eye of the Deity” forms an observation deck. An arched opening faces the sky and surrounding landscape, giving the slender shaft a distinctive crown. The theme continues through the low-rise buildings: the ice rink becomes the Water Immortal’s “Eye of Ice and Snow”; the concert hall, the Cloud Lord’s “Eye of Music”; the art museum, the Mountain Deity’s “Eye of Art”; and the library, the Flower Crown’s “Eye of Romance”. Curved surfaces and openings articulate these venues within the terraced composition, giving the poetic imagery of Shui mythology a place in contemporary cultural use.