Pocket Park on Xinhua Road | Shanghai, China | SHUISHI

Honourable Mention in the 2021 WLA Awards – Built – Small category

The site was a small-scale unoccupied space on Xinghua Road, Changning District, Shanghai, which is a 22-meter-long alleyway between two buildings. We expect to reactivate this forgotten “pocket” space in the city, transform it into a pocket park and make it serve the neighboring citizens. We decided to intervene the site contexts by the mirror-finished stainless-steel system, which was equipped on the both sides of the walls in the alleyway with 4.2-meter width. The mutual reflections by the two-side mirrors creates an infinite natural garden. In terms of urban governance and safety, the space is far away from the main roads and comparatively closed. We hope to function the reflection of these mirrors as a warning, in case of the alleyway becoming an urban crime space. The garden can be turned into a street gallery with the rotation of the mirrors, as the renewable exhibition boards are at the back of mirrors.

We hope to present the scenery of time, which is changing endlessly. The natural garden shows different scenes due to the seasonal cycle. The mirrors are screens alike, recording the interactions between different participants and this space. The space is an infinite natural garden. It could also transform into a street gallery for continuous exhibitions.

We have created a natural and poetic space in urban concrete jungles. Through the power of space, people could release from the busy city life to a quiet natural garden, where people can take a walk, sit at leisure, enjoy the exhibition, and admire the beauty of flowers.

Landscape Architect: SHUISHI

Photographer credits: Hao CHEN,  Xiu WANG

Client: Xinghua Subdistrict Administration Office, Changning District

About Damian Holmes 3253 Articles
Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/