Setting the stage for a contemporary shopping experience

The design of CityOn Xi’an plays on abstractions of the city’s majestic physical setting—inspired city planning, sturdy walls and hierarchical order—expressed in a lively 21st Century vocabulary.

As the centerpiece for Xi’an Saigao City Plaza, a mixed-use project that includes residential, office, hotel, and services apartments, the multi-story CityOn shopping center has quickly become the preferred retail destination in Xi’an for customers and retailers. Located in the northern suburbs of the central Chinese city of Xi’an, renown Chinese cultural center, the interior retail design draws in the rich historic and physical context. The plan is organized around discrete Horizontal Districts:

• Formal District inspired by the historic Xi’an city grid
• Flowing District inspired by the rivers of the city
• Segmented District inspired by the man-made city walls and by the natural mountain ranges
• Entertainment District, inspired by the movement found in traditional Chinese performance and dance.

The Districts are connected vertically, floor-to-floor, at three corner Nodes, which provide verticality and continuity. Taken together, the districts and nodes create the spaces where people engage, stroll and shop.

Balancing architecture and tenant expression, the interior design incorporates natural light, a neutral material palette, and elegant amenities to create a contemporary shopping experience. With an efficient layout and strategic placement of vertical transportation, sight lines to the retailers are maximized throughout. In addition to 300 inline shops, a six-level department store serves as the primary anchor for the shopping center. A supermarket and food court complement the retail offerings, while a nine-screen cinema with IMAX and a collection of restaurants anchor the top level of the center.