Press Release
The next big event in China after the Beijing Olympics and Shanghai Expo with a projected 12 Mio visitors for the coming 6 months, Xi’an International Horticultural Expo has officially opened last Thursday and already received more than 200,000 visitors over the first weekend.
The ancient city of Xi’an- home to the Terracotta Army and many buildings of unique historical significance- is using this opportunity to focus on the current challenges from its recent growth and transformation.
The expo is situated in the Chan-ba Ecological District, a former sandpit where the water was severely degraded in the 1980s. Two decades of work has restored the ecosystem and this expo is able to demonstrate what can be accomplished through the use of the most advanced technology, ideas, and material.
Another challenge that the Expo is starting to address comes from the context of China’s rapid urbanisation process: how to create a sustainable urbanism and provide universal access to open space and nature?
‘Flowing Gardens’, the 37 ha central part of Xi’an Expo was won in 2009 an international competition by Plasma Studio and GroundLab with LAUR Studio (Beijing) and implemented alongside Bejing Forestry University, BIAD (Beijing), John Martin Associates (Los Angeles) and Arup (London) during a total timeframe of only two years.
The proposal distinguished itself as a choreography of flows and experiences within a dynamic and sustainable landscape and three iconic yet fully integrated buildings.
- The Guangyun Entrance has been conceived as a landbridge with a tensegrity trellice structure that will gradually become overgrown by greenery.
- After the bridge, Flowing Gardens’ Chang-Ba Flower Valley has been inspired by a river delta unfolds into many sinuous paths, creating a network for intermingling circulation, landscape and water.
- The Creativity Pavilion articulates the intertwining of this artificial landscape with the lake. It extends as three fingers cantilevering on top of the lake with landscape running in between and carrying visitors towards the shore and enjoying framed views across.
- On the other side of the lake, the Greenhouse has been submerged into the hillside as a precious crystal.
By leaving behind the obvious typological and historical references to Xi’an’s past, this project is seeking a contemporary authentic expression of China’s current and future ambitions, adding an entirely new layer to the Millenial tapestry of Xi’an. By the same token, Flowing Gardens explores a new syncretic balance between urbanism and landscape with universal relevance. The traditional subordination of ground and landscape by buildings has been reversed to offer a unique symbiotic experience.
International Competition: 1. Prize, 2009
Project: 2009-2011
Opening: April 28th 2011
Completion: March 2011Client: Chan-Ba Ecological District
Architecture: Plasma Studio, BIAD
Landscape Design: GroundLab, LAUR Studio, Beijing Forestry University
Engineers: John Martin and Associates, Arup
Website: www.plasmastudio.com