101 Green Banyan Park is a linear green community park in Guangzhou, China. Originally, this site was an old village in Guangzhou, surrounded by a thousand-year-old temple and residential areas developed over the past two decades. With the city’s urban development, the remaining village area was planned for a large, high-density residential community. A core area of 16,000 square meters was designated as a linear park. Upon first entering the site, we were deeply impressed by the two rows of vibrant banyan trees lining the old road that passes through the park. Their lush, expansive canopies create a green corridor, providing cool shade on hot summer days. Residents walk leisurely under the trees, with occasional cars passing by, and a few car repair shops nearby. This was once the most significant historic road for the community. Therefore, we decided to transform this banyan tree-lined space into a park filled with human warmth—a “second living space” for the local residents.
Design Challenges
Issues and obstacles arose with existing old telephone poles and cables, as well as drainage pipes that were left along the road. After coordinating with the architectural planning team over multiple rounds, the design team carefully tagged and marked each and every one of the one hundred and one banyan trees. The one hundred and one banyan trees were successfully preserved while also maintaining a non-interfering relationship with the old residential area to the north. To the south, the park interacts with the children’s play area and the lawn. We created a space where children could play in the water under the banyan trees, and elders could rest in the shade. Just beyond the trees, visitors would immediately reach the sunlit camping lawn and the sandpit play area where children can enjoy themselves freely. The park offers inclusive spaces catering to the comfort of visitors across all age groups.
Design Features
The park stretches about 280 meters in length. At the start of the banyan tree-lined path, a stainless steeled mist sculpture was designed. Its modern structure resembles the roots growing out of the banyan forests, marking an impressionable entrance. As visitors enter the park, they encounter a unique water play area where numerous children can gather and interact, most of whom come from nearby communities, bringing their water guns and water pails to enjoy their summer days. The sound of children’s laughter fills the air as they play under the banyan trees’ shade. After passing through the water play zone, visitors enter a peaceful banyan tree-lined path, illuminated by large lamp-like structures. The paving patterns are a modern reinterpretation of a notable local temple roof ridge design. A stone turtle installation, representing a traditional Chinese auspicious creature, releases a cool mist from its surface on a hot summer’s day. Through the integration and transformation of the original banyan tree-lined road, the park perfectly exemplifies the evolution of a forgotten and neglected cultural heritage to a vibrant modern park life for the community.
101 Green Banyan Park
Location: Guangzhou, China
Landscape Architect: 容心设计 ROXin Design
Client: Guangzhou Vanke
Cooperate with the construction drawing: Zome Landscape
Construction Company: Pubang Landscape Construction Co., LTD
Sculpture Design: Shanghai Haoshuo
Photography: IAM Photography Studio