In contemporary urbanization, landscape design faces key questions: can we create living natural experiences amid scarcity and density? Can we create unique places rooted in local culture despite global homogenization?

Oriental One, in Shanghai’s high-density core, uses landscape to integrate city, nature, culture, and dwelling.

I. Urban Vision

Split by a road but designed as one, a fan-shaped structure crosses the road. Along Zhongxing Road, it sets back over 25m to release public space – plazas for daily and festive use. The road becomes a stitched axis, not a boundary.

II. Vertical System

Using “Garden Room” as a prototype, hedges, planters, and topography enclose small gardens. “Ha-Ha” boundaries eliminate walls. Three levels: ground, sunken courtyard, and 9.45m-high roof garden.
Ground Level: unfolds along “Misty Fountain Plaza – Landscape Pavilion – Great Lawn”,forming a garden stroll on both sides of the homecoming path
Sunken Courtyard: features naturalistic planting forms a lush “green room”
Roof Garden (+9.45m): Skybridges connect buildings – a floating ribbon with different gardens. Paths lean to small-scale socializing while keeping street views.

III. Thematic Narratives

Plants as language. Each garden tells a story rooted in color, texture, form, season, and local memory.
Terrace Garden: Salix babylonica ‘Tortuosa’ (willow – Chinese cultural symbol), Musa basjoo (Jiangnan poetic resonance), Ficus carica (old Shanghai courtyard fruit). Nymphaea, birdbath. Eastern atmosphere.
Edible Garden: Citrus reticulata, Myrtus communis ‘Variegata’, ,Malus spectabilis, Ziziphus jujuba (childhood memories), blueberry, oregano, catnip, Symphyotrichum campestre (typically spring wild vegetable). Integrates biodiversity and culture.
Pocket Garden: Roof pocket garden with open mid-storey plants (Ternstroemia gymnanthera, Pittosporum tobira, Gardenia jasminoides, Ilex cornuta). Betula nigra canopy, shade-loving Hydrangea and ferns.
Starry Lawn: Central lawn with flower borders, Cornus kousa subsp. chinensis (mountain lychee, native memory). Blue-white palette: Hydrangea paniculata, Juncus inflexus ‘Blue Arrows’, Anemone hupehensis var. alba.
Children’s Playground (<200㎡): Hedges as a strong element, connecting climbing, slides, balance beams, seesaws, and a maze. Natural timber, combined with equipment. Hedge height 80cm to 40cm. Sapium sebiferum (fiery autumn leaves), Lantana camara. Hedge mazes of Olea europaea, Vitex agnus-castus.
Tapestry Meadow: Ornamental grasses (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Little Bunny’, Andropogon scoparius, Leucanthemum maximum) and Agave americana simulate “waves and pebble beach” on shallow soil.
Corridor Garden: Sequential planters between columns, fragmented hedges with flower borders – freedom collides with order.
Entrance Flower Borders: Six buildings, six color palettes (purple-red, red, orange-red, orange-yellow, yellow, moon white), echoing facades.

IV. Ecological Paradigm Shift

From high-maintenance “floral decoration” to sustainable “plant ecosystem.” Over 170 local, adapted species form stable communities. Three layers: structural, theme, companion – self-renewing. Niche complementarity in vertical, root, and seasonal layering ensures long-term coexistence.
Native species prioritized: Betula, Sapium, Cornus, Salix, Musa, plus rare Sinojackia xylocarpa (endemic to East China).
Technological innovation in shallow-soil roof planting: Pre-cultivated carpet technique, shallow-rooted perennials, lightweight substrate, drip irrigation (saves 50-70% water), soil moisture sensors.

V. Integration of Art and Furniture

Bird-shaped wind chimes in Terrace Garden. Amber resin benches in the Edible Garden. Rounded stones in Tapestry Meadow materialize as a “pebble beach”. Cat-shaped signs in the children’s Playground reinforce hide-and-seek. Multi-sensory narrative system.

VI. Sustainability

Ecological: Low maintenance, low consumption. Local plant communities provide nectar, pollen, shelter, and berries for birds. Resilient ecological node.
Social: Public space released, shared urban living room, commercial activation.
Cultural: Modern translation of spatial narrative and local plant culture – international vision with local identity.

VII. International Implications

Replicable model: spatial setbacks, vertical construction, ecological thinking, narrative. “English skeleton, Eastern texture” – interdisciplinary integration. Paradigm shift to sustainable plant ecosystems.

Oriental One transcends conventional residential landscapes – a livable modern naturalistic garden through urban symbiosis, vertical construction, ecological science, and humanistic narrative.

Client: Vanke & Ronshine. Architectural design: RSHP and Shanghai Zhongfang Architectural Design Co., Ltd. Landscape consortium: Gillespies and GM Landscape. LANDTEK Group for key nodes. Special thanks to Perennial planting consultant: Endless Summer Landscape Design Office.

508 Zhongxing Rd, Jing An Qu, Shanghai, China, 200081