When large corporations offer employees and their families housing close to their workplaces, they have to take into account the social needs that arise from the resulting coexistence. This project by the Dutch firm MVRDV, winner of a competition organized by Shanghai’s City Hall, constantly works around two strategies which are vital in keeping the coexistence well balanced. On the one hand, the four public buildings included in the design bring close together a variety of programs: art center, library, sports pavilion, and an auditorium. On the other, two opposed worlds are combined to offer a complete experience: the calm of nature and the energy of public life.