LILA 2021 Winner in Residential Landscapes

Valley Forest by


Residential Projects / Residential Projects / China / Built in 2019 /
chan9e.cn

The power of this project lies in the rich sequence of diverse ambiences it presents within a highly contrasting and difficult existing conditions. The design approach is contemporary, yet references to a more traditional Chinese garden design are seamlessly interwoven into a new experience. Although the park seems detached from the residential buildings due to topographical constraints, it is placed alongside dense housing, offering residents easy access to quiet contemplative niches. With its strongly artificial appearance, it juxtaposes a rougher and more natural surrounding valley that had been damaged by a series of infrastructural interventions. The use of materials is impressive and works well with the various native plant choices – a more ‘foresty’ style outside the pavilion, and mosses within it. Offering such an experience is truly a generous gift to the residents.

- from the award statements

Valley Forest is a rare urban oasis within the river basin, that redefines previously damaged nature, and sees residents’ lives intertwine with brand new yet pristine nature. It’s only now we experience space, time, and humanity across the restored and original nature, prompting us to consider city vs nature, and art vs life. Landscape designers hope it becomes an example and source of inspiration that people come back to when planning designing city functions. The new culture no longer focuses on creation in material world, but guides us to sense and find betterment in real nature.

Basic Information

Chongqing is a megacity of 30 million people. Its rapid urbanization often faces the consequences of ecosystem damage and cultural destruction, but we only call for restoration of nature after damage is done. Valley Forest is the first phase of the river side park, part of the Chongqing Cultural Tourism Town. The 2-hectare project has a narrow strip shape, with a length of about 450 meters and width of about 40 meters. It has an elevation of 7-10 meters from the river. The western part of the area has an 8-meter deep ditch dug for pipe laying, as if a deep scar on the land surface, cutting the connection between the city and the river. The northern part of the area retained its natural status relatively well, with trees, grasses, rock faces, river beach, and waterfalls.

Vision and Challenge

Valley Forest is only part of the river-side park, but the damaged earth mixed with relatively well retained nature underline a common starting point of a modern city construction. We hope the execution of the first phase would provide a modern field model for other river-side parks, and inspire thinking around nature-based city development. This also serves as an example when studying contemporary Chinese landscaping.

Nature Restored

The 8-meter deep ditch in the western part of the strip is something designers had to work with. They managed to fit a natural valley along the flowing river, along the ditch. Human activities are covered by this piece of forest. End of the valley is parallel to the waterfall, where one can’t see the waterfall but hear all of it. The valley ends towards a rock patch, though the sound of nature (of the waterfall)that we look for points to a cavern hidden in the forest. The connection point serves as a gathering point and arts centre for surrounding residents, as well as a place to think and reminisce. A cavern is the most modest and mildest entry point, concealed in greenery. Its mystique and ambiguity amplifies curiosity and imagination.

Pristine Nature

Exit of the cavern has been ingeniously situated at the best viewing point of the waterfall. After the sensory enjoyment of the sound of the waterfall, the art of water, and the experience of the narrow cave pathway, the natural waterfall appears with strong visual and air impact, elevating a surreal experience. A light passage blends with the cliff, forming part of the landscape. Waterfall, rock faces, woods, vines,  and the river beaches materialise a liberating symphony of natural elements.

Life Returned

People look to redefine relationship with nature. Designers look for that resonation when they keep fine-tuning their works. The valley converges into a vertical line at the turning, serving as the connection between the Park and the Poetic Habitat residential area. Climbing the stairs brings us to the cluster of simplistic modern architecture concealed behind the woods. Radiance of the metals and glasses on the buildings is reflected by the lake in front. This is actually the back of the valley – after rounds and turns we trace to the origin. To witness mountain and waterfalls at the end of the cavern, is perhaps the idealistic life we are looking to return to. The park brings experience of rebuilding nature, to nature itself, and finally life in nature, which enables people to sense space, time, humanity, and inner voices when traversing through different parts of the park.

Tradition and Modernity

The park is unapologetically modern, yet its spatial design conveys oriental lifestyle, atmosphere, and spirit, by demonstrating the sustainability of implementing tradition gardening techniques in modern city space. Chinese gardening emphasises the harmony of people and nature. The design team infused the tradition ways of layering of rocks and designing of water spaces into this project, together with the contrasts of empty and full, and hidden and exposed, as a realization of what modern Chinese landscaping is about.

Sustainable Design

The construction of the park took advantage of locally sourced materials and plants, especially nature-based rocks. The design team explored and tested new environmentally friendly materials – recycling waste rocks from demolition, crushing and re-bonding them to become highly flexible construction materials. The valley walls at the Nature Restored segment of the park used this material, giving it new life. Designers limited new floras brought onsite to Chinese tallow tree, camphor, bamboo, Chinese silvergrass, and ferns – all native to the area, hence extending its original ecosystem and restoring its beautiful scenery.

Landscape Contractor: Sohan Eco

Photography: Wang Ning & Holi

Architecture Design:  GOA

Project location: SUNCA Poetic Habitat, Cultural Tourism Town, Sha pingba District, Chongqing, China

Design year: 2018

Year Built: 2019

 

logo-landscape-forms

LILA 2024 Sponsor

Info