Wayfinding for the NANTOU Ancient City

• Finalist 2021 

This is a project with an unusual scale. All spaces are narrow and crowded, as one has traveled to a small town in ancient China 200 years ago. Hidden in modern city, Nantou Ancient Town has 9 main streets and nearly 100 lanes with 100 years of history. It will be revitalized into a center of design, culture and business. While providing people
great desires for exploration, this mystery city needs a thoroughly designed wayfinding system to help tourists to enjoy their travel and not get lost.

Agency

UpDesign Co., Ltd

Practice Area

• Wayfinding 

Client

China Vanke Co., Ltd.

Industry

• Urban + Civic 

Fortunately, the main historical buildings, streets and lanes of the ancient town have been well preserved. Based on these 9 main streets, the team has designed an information system with newly planned zones of various functions. Tourists can get multiple inter-connected directions within a radius of 10 meters and locate their position and destination. The newly planned functional z ones with exclusive symbols and colors in the wayfinding system helps tourists to choose their desired destinations quickly and to enjoy the pleasure while exploring different paths at the same time.

All revitalization of old cities face issues of undergoing renovation while the city is still functioning. The ancient town is no exception, but with more challenges such as large equipment and vehicles not being able to travel on narrow streets. This problem limit the shape, size, quantity and amount of information on signage boards. Thanks to various assistance from the client, the design team chose ancient Chinese architectural elements as the basis to integrate with existing building surroundings to establish associate guidelines with less amount of information and to solve a series of design problems while providing tourists with barrier-free and continuous experiences.

The wayfinding system of the ancient town is more than the presentation of information, but also shows the spirit of Chinese aesthetics. Every signage incorporates China vertical writing convention and traditional costumes. The historical evolution of the ancient town, as well as the geographical and cultural information contrast between ancient and modern times becomes a part of the exploration experience.

The revitalized Nantou Ancient Town opened in August 2020 on the 40th anniversary of the founding of Shenzhen City. The number of tourists increased by 500% from average of 3,000 a day in 2019 (peak season) to 15,000 people a day, creates good social value and impression that a modern and vibrant city should have.