Lanzhou, a city famous for its industrial cultural heritage, is striving to build its own industrial tourism industry and set out to show the world its industrial culture.
The project is located in Qilihe District, Lanzhou, which had been the former site of CRRC Diesel Engine Factory. After 65 years of operation, the factory had given way to urban construction and sustainable development.
Based on citizens’ needs, Lanzhou is actively promoting the construction of public green space. The city’s existing public green spaces were mostly concentrated along the banks of the Yellow River, which, however, were far away from a great number of residential areas. Living quality had been largely affected.
Lanzhou CRRC Time Park is located next to Lanzhou Technology Institute and residential areas, radiating a radius of 2KM where public green spaces had been absent.
Key Features
The most representative industrial relics are retained, and the landscape height difference is used to create multiple spaces that meet the needs of different people.
Other features include the appropriate transformation of the truss, dismantling structures with safety hazards, reinforcing the original truss structure, and employing a variety color, materials and planting to create a refreshing composite functional site. A site of vitality.
As the highest structure of the site, the chimney is the soul of the site and will also become the landmark of the park.
Structure Design
A variety of activities are allowed by the design, including basketball and exercise under the truss. A 400m fitness track runs through industrial trusses and nature. The cooling tower in the original factory area is transformed into a slide. The colorful ground graphics in the children’s area are also full of industrial elements.
The sinking site of the park is the main activity space. One side of the sinking site is a tall truss factory building. Below the factory building is a retaining wall with designed graffiti, which is an interweaving interpretation of modernity and the past. On the other side is a densely planted poplar forest with a children’s plank road in the forest, allowing intimacy with nature.
Waterscape Design
The waterscape brings a sense of agility into the whole area. Above and reflected by the water surface is a sculpture composed of the truss chandeliers, symbolizing a tribute to the past.
Sculpture design
All sculptures are composed of mechanical parts. After deconstruction and recombination, elements of mirror face stainless steel fused together embodying dynamic. At the same time, the collision of different textures and represented the fusion of the old and the new.
The sculptures resemble the shape of crocodiles, hippopotamuses, bicycles, and even the stretch and pull of gravity, not to mention the robot picking clouds. The intent was to inspire interest while stimulating the viewer’s imagination.
Plant Design
Composed of native plants, the plant landscape reveals modernity and simplicity, while continuing the industrial theme. On the side of the sales office, a regular, multi-level planting method is adopted to show the beauty of detail in the landscape. At the main area of the park, grass and forest belts are used to create an ecological and industrial environment with a touch of wildness.
Throughout the transformation design, the design team hoped to retain the industrial heritage, while establishing a vibrant public space that can evoke cultural reminiscence.
LANZHOU CRRC TIME PARK
Location: Qilihe District, Lanzhou
Landscape Design Style: Industrial & Modern Project Type: Industrial Park
Project Area: 26513.78m2
Completion Date: 2020
Image Credits: Prism Architectural Photography
Project Credits: CRRC Corporation Limited(Client), Ma ZhiPeng(Landscape Architect)
