Nanjing World Trade Center will play a leading role in establishing and anchoring the core of Hexi, the new CBD of Nanjing, China. The initial master plan and its towers, designed by others, were challenged by straddling two parcels with a common street dividing them. MIX was retained to create more natural connectivity between the project's two parcels, towers, the adjacent sunken plaza, and to the larger Hexi context beyond. The resulting horizontal expression and spatial choreography of the podium encourages a lateral pedestrian flow optimizing its retail vitality.