Quarry Garden in Shanghai Botanical Garden, by THUPDI and Tsinghua University, Shanghai, China. When reclaiming a quarry, many landscape architects typically return the site as close to its original context as possible — or at least downplay its industrial past. That is exactly the opposite of what THUPDI and Tsinghua University did when designing the Quarry Garden in Shanghai, China, and the results couldn’t be more dramatic. The stripped landscape offered a unique opportunity for the designers to create an unusual space that gives insight into the practice of mining in China, as well as breathe life back into the site by creating an eco-friendly public space. The design’s sensitivity and acceptance of the former quarry’s historical, cultural, and ecological context are largely the reason why it won the 2012 ASLA Honour Award.
Quarry Garden in Shanghai Botanical Garden
The Quarry Garden is situated within the Chenshan Botanical Garden, the largest botanical garden in Shanghai. The 4.26-hectare space that comprised the quarry was operational from the early 1950s until it was abandoned in the 1980s. The landscape on Chen Moountain was left badly scarred, stripping away the surface vegetation and creating habitat fragmentation. As part of municipal improvements for Shanghai’s 2010 World Expo, the government spent an estimated $319 million on the entire botanical garden project.
Creating the Dramatic Effect Everything about this design was intended to create a dramatic experience for visitors through a space that had little to no human contact for more than 20 years. The combination of stone, steel, and water with minimal intervention creates a bold landscape. Bringing in CorTen Steel An even and lifeless rock surface became the new entrance to the Quarry Garden; it was transformed into Mirror Lake, a clear, shallow pond that reflects the Chen Mountain peak. At this point, visitors descend a CorTen steel staircase into a deep pool at the lowest point of the former quarry. A wooden pathway across the water offers multiple vantage points to admire cascading waterfalls and the dramatic surrounding cliff face. Related Articles:- Cor-Ten Steel: The Essential Guide
- Metamorphous: The Constantly Changing Seawall Sculpture
- Urban Jungle Created to Perfection by Agence TER
Full Project Credits for Quarry Garden in Shanghai Botanical Garden
Project: Quarry Garden in Shanghai Botanical Garden Landscape Architecture: THUPDI & Tsinghua University, Beijing Lead Designer: Yufan Zhu Landscape Architects of Record: Yufan Zhu, Yujun Yao, Fanyu Meng, Zhenwei Zhang, Shuni Feng, Ling Qi, Dan Wang, Weiwei Zhai, Chang Guo, Zhiguo Yan, Jianyu Sun, Tianzheng Sun, Zhanzhan Yang Location: Songjiang District, Shanghai, China Client: Guiping Peng, Construction Headquarter of Shanghai Botanical Garden Award: This project won ASLA Honor Award 2012 Date of Construction: 2010 Size: 4.26 hectares (10.53 acres) Photography credit: Yao Chen Firm/School/Agency involved: Department of Landscape Architecture, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University Research Center of Landscape vs Design Study Urban Planning & Design Institute of Tsinghua Engineering Design Group Xiaohong He (Senior Structural Engineer) Aijun Cui (Water Supply & Drainage Engineer) From Beijing Zhongyuan Engineering Design and Consult Co. Show on Google Maps
Recommended Reading:
- Landscape Architecture: An Introduction by Robert Holden
- Landscape Architecture, Fifth Edition: A Manual of Environmental Planning and Design by Barry Starke
Article by Taylor Stapleton
Published in Blog