Jincheng Children's Park

The basic idea behind the redesign of the park was a creative and functional division into three parts in a north-south direction. The south has an urban character and thus reflects modernity. As a contemporary entrance and representative space, it creates an unmistakable "address". The north, on the other hand, is landscaped and symbolizes tradition. This area is primarily used for recreation.

The intermediate space, an exhibition and event area, is intended to mediate between urbanity and landscape or modernity and tradition. This is achieved through the content of the exhibition (urban development information board and modern art objects) and formally through the design elements of both areas. Structures worth preserving, such as the bonsai garden and the Muslim cemetery, have been integrated into the new concept.



Award: Gold medal for outstanding built landscape architecture,

Chinese Society for Landscape Architecture 2011

Analysis

The botanical garden (children's park) in Jincheng had many deficits in its design as well as numerous potentials. These included, above all, the old trees worth preserving and such special features as the bonsai garden or the traditional bridge. Among the things that absolutely required redesigning were the inaccessibility and lack of experienceability of the lakeshore areas, the unrepresentative entrance area and the adjacent polluted river. This resulted in a need for action to preserve and redesign the individual functional areas.

In keeping with the tradition of Chinese garden design, the visual connections from the outside into the park and between the special features within the park were also worth preserving or expanding.



Concept

The basic idea was to divide the planning area into three parts in a north-south direction in terms of design and function.

The south has an urban character and thus reflects modernity. As a contemporary entrance and representative space, it creates an unmistakable "address".

The north, on the other hand, is landscaped and symbolizes tradition. This area is primarily used for recreation.

The intermediate space - the exhibition and event area - mediates between urbanity and landscape or modernity and tradition. This was achieved through the content of the exhibition (information panel on urban development and modern art objects) and formally through the design elements of both areas.

Structures worth preserving, such as the bonsai garden and the Muslim cemetery, were integrated into the concept.

In addition to the main entrance in the south, there are further entrances to the park in the east and north.

The motifs for the design of the park were provided by the surroundings of Jincheng - islands, footbridges, colorful and species-rich forests, lakes. Any natural landscape in China provided the formal template for the park as a landscape space. The man-made agricultural landscape with curved shapes in the Jincheng region provided the point of reference for the design of the exhibition space as an intermediate area between landscape and urbanity. The idea for the urban plaza was derived from the directional structures of urban development in Jincheng itself. By transferring the motifs to the layout of the park, the three different park zones were created.



Master plan

Entrance area

The motif for the design of the plaza was the famous game of Go in the Jincheng region. Woods are arranged irregularly in a grid of 7x7.6m (proportions based on the original playing field) as if in the course of a game. The black playing pieces were symbolized by round tree discs filled with dark Chessmanstone. Round benches running around individual trees represent the white playing pieces. Go playing fields are integrated into the benches so that players can play Go under the light canopy of Farmiana symplex trees. In addition to playing, meeting and lingering, smaller events such as markets, festivals or performances can also take place in this part of the city park.



Park

In contrast to the urban entrance plaza, the park area is characterized by large lawns laid out in amorphous shapes. Two-meter-wide curved paths run through the park like a network and occasionally widen out into small squares at the intersections. The plantings and benches also follow the course of the lawns. Dense groups of trees provide a shady park-like atmosphere and invite you to relax or play sport.



Exhibition concept

The exhibition and event area mediates between the northern park area and the southern plaza by incorporating formal elements from both areas.

The sculptures on display are made from materials that originate from the region and thus represent it. Most of the materials have already been used to create works of art in the past and are therefore well suited to the concept (e.g. sandstone). Other typical regional materials to be used for the exhibitions include glass and steel. They can only be produced from the raw materials thanks to the region's rich coal deposits.

The idea behind the sculptures was to transform the amorphous shapes of the park area from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. Regionally renowned artists were commissioned for this purpose.

The areas directly adjacent to the exhibition building are used for the presentation of the art objects. While smaller sculptures will stand on the square, large sculptures will be placed on the lawns. To the west of the exhibition hall, an information board made of Corten steel provides information about the urban development history of Jincheng.

To the south of the exhibition hall, there is space for a variety of events in the form of a multifunctional square.



Material concept

Pavements were used that meet the design and functional requirements of the planning area.

In the area of the heavily frequented southern plaza, paving made of regional natural stone emphasizes the urban character. The individual go spaces are marked with indented steel strips.

The landscaped path connections in the northern park area were made of asphalt with chippings. This ensures passability with maintenance vehicles.

The intermediate zone in the area of the exhibition hall was designed as a hybrid of both surfaces. Individual go fields were equipped with slabs and others with asphalt.

Wood is used in the area of the marshland in the form of walkways and as a transition in the area of the park meadow.



Planting concept

In keeping with the design principle of urbanity and landscape, the trees were arranged in a loose tree grid on the southern plaza and as dense groups of trees in the northern park.

In the south, only one type of tree (Firmiana simplex) was used due to the urban character to be achieved. Existing trees worthy of preservation were integrated into the planning. The landscape character in the north is created by mature existing trees and shrubs, which were combined with other species to form groups. Species with special flowers (e.g. Prunus cerasifera) or autumn color aspects (Ginkgo biloba) were used for this purpose.

While the majority of the existing trees and shrubs could be preserved, a few trees and shrubs had to be felled in order to clearly implement the design concept.

Tall shrubs and hedges or bamboo were planted to the west and north to provide privacy. The east of the planning area is bordered by a trimmed band of hedges to allow views from the street into the park area. The main entrance in the south was left free of planting.

Compact lawns characterize the northern park area. The large park meadow is used for resting or playing and is free of planting in the north-east. The remaining lawn areas are bordered by single or multi-colored and diverse ornamental plantings of grasses, roses, perennials and bulbous plants.

The planting of the naturally designed bank areas and the marshland is also rich in species and color.



Shore areas

The shore areas of the lake have been designed naturally and allow direct access to the water. In addition to flat embankments with partial areas of riparian vegetation and traditional Chinese stones in the north of the lake, shallow water zones with lush riparian vegetation have been created in the south-eastern areas.

The western end of the lake is formed by a stone promenade, under which the embankment extends. The edge of the promenade path facing the shore can also be used as a seating area. Seating steps to the south of the lake mediate between the urban plaza and the body of water.

An additional design element with its own character is the island and marshland landscape in the north-east of the lake. Here, children in particular can explore the swamp ecosystem via wooden walkways.



Furnishing concept

The furnishing elements such as waste baskets, bicycle racks, etc. are uniform in color and material.

There are two types of benches - separated into park and plaza. The Pagwood benches of different lengths in the park area run parallel to the lawns. On the plaza, the white round benches symbolize the Go game pieces on the playing field. Game boards integrated into the benches make it possible to play Go.

A simple wire fence serves to demarcate the planning area to the west. In addition, a dense privacy screen will be planted in front of it.

An information board on the history of Jincheng and a stand with information on the opening times of the exhibition hall and events in the city park are located in the southern entrance area.



Lighting concept

The urban landscape principle also applies to the lighting concept. There are three zones that differ in terms of the form and intensity of the lighting

While the plaza is illuminated conspicuously and intensively with linear LED strips, the lighting in the landscaped park is more discreet. The LED strips in the park area run with the shape of the lawns so that the design principle can also be recognized at night. The exhibition area is most strongly illuminated and particularly colorful light installations can also be used for events. Special trees and sculptures are accentuated by effect lighting. Red light points are distributed throughout the entire planning area as a superordinate, zone-independent element.