Garden of 10,000 bridges 万桥园 opens at Xian Expo: West 8

WEST 8 - Garden of 10,000 bridges 万桥园 Xian
WEST 8 - Garden of 10,000 bridges 万桥园 Xian

The International Horticultural Expo in Xian, China opened on 28th April. The Garden of 10,000 bridges by West 8 is complete along with many other display gardens.

Gardens are telling stories; they are poetry and have a narrative. Our garden represents the human life, the path of people’s lifetime. This path is a path of uncertainty and burden. Many bridges over troubled water. The garden design takes this path of life as a meandering, winding road – continuous and like a labyrinth. The path through nature takes you over 10000 bridges.

For the 2011 Xi’an International Horticulture Exhibition, West 8 designed a Master Landscape Architect Garden, that plays with the limits and the sensation of surprise.

The International Horticulture Exhibition 2011 has many gardens designed by world renowned landscape architects such as Terragram, Martha Schwartz, SLA, Topotek1, Catherine Mosbach, Plasma Studio, GROSS.MAX, EMBT Miralles/Tagliabue, and Atelier DYJG. Also a 9000 square metre garden has been designed by various landscape architecture programs from across the world that were exhibited in July this year at the Creative Nature Exhibition in Qingpu, Shanghai.  With many other gardens designed by city and provinces along with some enterprise gardens. The 2011 Xi’an International Horticulture Exhibition will be held from 28 April to 8 October 2011.

4月28日，西安世界园艺博览会之West 8“万桥园”正式对游人开放。

每座园林都有一个故事。它们是诗，在诉说。
我们的园林讲述的是生命的故事，人的生命之路。
这条路跌宕起伏，忍辱负重，
讲述了忧愁河上的众桥。
在这座园林中，生命是一条绵延不绝的蜿蜒小路，更恍如一座迷宫。
这条小路深入茫茫自然，带你去渡万座桥。

2011年西安世界园艺博览会, West 8设计了大师展园中的一座。这座园林模糊了感官上的界限，带给游人惊奇的游园体验。

2011年西安世界园艺博览会将于4月28日至10月22日在中国西安市举行。

Images Courtesy of West8

West 8 Partnered with DYJG Beijing for this project.

Continue reading Garden of 10,000 bridges 万桥园 opens at Xian Expo: West 8

Construction begins on Xian International Horticultural Exhibition

West 8 Garden 10000 Bridges Xian Expo 2011
With just under 150 days to go before the opening of 2011 International Horticultural Exhibition to be held in Xian, China (西安, 陕西) construction is in full swing on the gardens including West 8′s Garden of 10.000 Bridges (pictured above).

Gardens are telling stories; they are poetry and have a narrative. Our garden represents the human life, the path of people’s lifetime. This path is a path of uncertainty and burden. Many bridges over troubled water. The garden design takes this path of life as a meandering, winding road – continuous and like a labyrinth. The path through nature takes you over 10000 bridges.

For the 2011 Xi’an International Horticulture Exhibition, West 8 designed a Master Landscape Architect Garden, that plays with the limits and the sensation of surprise.

Continue reading Construction begins on Xian International Horticultural Exhibition

SLA: Process Urbanism – The City as Artificial Ecosystem

SLA has developed a landscape inspired planning method called processs urbanism. SLA does not regard nature and the city as opposites. The city is part of nature’s ecosystem and vice versa. There has to be a balance and a direct synergy effect between the many dynamic elements. Knowledge about wind, water, light, energy, circulation, politics, health, urban life, density, sustainability etc. is collected to create one urban ecosystem, filled with poetry and surprises.

The movie about process urbanism is an process itself, and will be subject to editions during 2010 and 2011. Currently the movie is shown at the Man Made Environment exhibition(23.09.–21.11), that will be shown in the Nordic countries during 2010-12, and on the website processurbanism.com.

SLA is a Copenhagen office of architects working with innovative landscape and urban space planning in Denmark and abroad. Among the office’s best known projects are the new urban spaces in Frederiksberg, the elephant landscape at the Copenhagen Zoo and the regeneration of Sønder Boulevard in Copenhagen. The office has ongoing projects on the waterfront in Oslo and at Kalvebod Brygge, as well as at several other locations.

SOURCE: Youtube CREDIT: SLA

New temporary urban space by SLA for the COP15 arrival area

When thousands of COP15 delegates arrive at the climate summit in the Bella Center, they will not be bored in the queue. SLA has staged the arrival area with a temporary urban space that provides food for thought.

With the project White Balance it is SLA’s intention to put focus on the factors in our cities related to the climate issues pivotal to COP15.


SURFACES

Bright surfaces reflect the sunlight, thus restricting the city’s overheating and CO2 imprint. The reflection also means that you can reduce the energy used by the street lighting. To draw attention to this, the surface of the arrival area is replaced with a giant circle of white limestone.

The limestone also tells another story: Rainwater that is acidified by the CO2-levels in the atmosphere is neutralized by the limestone. The circle will slowly disappear as long as there is an unnatural level of CO2 in the rainwater.


BIOMASS

Trees and plants absorb water and CO2. They increase evaporation, provide shade and shelter, creating a comfortable microclimate – all things that will reduce the impact of the CO2 emission. The trees in the arrival area are a reminder of these beneficial effects. The nature will in future cities be integrated in everything we do, if they are to be sustainable.


WATER

The changing climate’s violent rainfalls coupled with the cities’ sealed surfaces often result in flooding. One solution is to use local seepage and establish delay pools, that also are beautiful and recreational oases in the cities. The arrival area contains 3 water mirrors, each with its own theme. One water mirror contains lime, and a slight bluish tone is visible similarly to the sea below famed Moens Cliff in Denmark. Another water mirror contains bio waste, which slowly will decompose – nature’s way of recycling its own resources. A third is surrounded by water jets, emitting a water cloud every two minutes. During COP15 the pulse daily consumes the same volume of clean water as used by the average Dane.

Stig L. Andersson: The city is an ecosystem where each part is interdependent. Nature and city are not opposites, but merely different systems, that as a whole must be in balance. COP15 will affect the possibility for a future balance between human urbanization and Earths ressources. The arrival area at COP15 will hopefully inspire to this thinking.

Read more at SLA

SOURCE: SLA
IMAGE SOURCE: SLA