We were presented with original natural landscape at the Yanxi Lake, 20 km from the Wuhan city centre. The distance made it a great suburban getaway. The government was planning to build a park near the lake, serving surrounding residents. This made the lake park unique compared with other Chinese lake parks in the city. The Yanxi Lake is less discovered by the mass, wild yet poetic, secluded and elegant.
Due to the rich natural landscape and complex terrain at the site, the project team paid multiple visits to try to find the best design solution. They were always attracted by the original wetland at the end of the site each time they visited. The wetland is connected with the lake. One can not see the end of it. The big trees standing in the water look alone but tenacious, thick branches greeting each other, lifting upwards. Seen together with the lake, they form a perfect picture. They reminded us of impressionist paintings during late 19th century.
Facing this painting, we hope people not only find it a companion to look at and appreciate, but also enter the painting to become part of it. Hence we designed the site into two functional parts extending from the wetland’s centre. The separation was based on vertical relations between the objects at the park and the aim was to create two experiences: Look over and immerse. This enabled multi-dimensional experiences of the site.
When deciding the location of the viewing point, we wanted to make sure that it’s where one can be amazed by how beautifully nature can draw. We named the viewing pointing Lake Viewing Drawing Room. The Drawing Room extends horizontally, pointing towards the centre of the late, establishing close contact with the lake surface. The bottom of the Drawing Room sinks into the slope, while the top of it floats in the air, creating strong contrast. The Drawing Room is small in the face of the big lake, yet one feels that the entire scenery at the lake can be taken in at the Drawing Room. Walking down the stairs leads one to various platforms with different heights, some hiding in the woods, some floating on the water, forming the full scene-viewing public space with the Drawing Room.
Coming down from the platform and walking along the wetland bank, one enters the drawing without knowing. Seeing the pieces of lotus leaves, the groups of trees, and the extending wetland, visitors would want to walk deeper into it, before coming out. Immersing oneself in the view with absence of mind is perhaps the best respect to pay to nature. For all the rest, nature has done exactly what’s needed.
We decided to exert minimum changes onsite. Our inspiration came from the lotus leaves when we walked along the lake bank. The light and elegant lotus leaves extended our thoughts about splatter some giant lotus leaves on the lake surface to become platforms. Spending some time resting on these platforms must be really pleasant. Further thoughts came about more lotus leaves as umbrellas to shield the sun and the rain. Slightly curved and staggered, they are in the shape of the final design of the platforms. The contrast of the small platforms versus the big lake becomes the connection between man-made and natural. With the lotus leaf installations and platforms being the main function at the site, and a pathway connecting them, the project preserved nature in its original form as much as possible.
The two lotus leaf-shaped platforms have openings pointing to the best view of the lake. The steel main frame minimised impact on the environment during installation. They were prefabricated before installed onsite. The face is made of narrow wood strips, giving soft and warm senses that blend well with the site. The lotus leaf platforms are either open and unfolded or tactful in relation with the woods, giving off rich spatial expressions. The platform and the wetland brighten up each other, forming a frame of the view like the windows of ancient Chinese gardens. They are intentional but not deliberate. Looking further away, where the pathways fade and the shadows of the trees thin, the glittering late surface enters central stage. That’s when nature outshines landscaping.
Our attempt to minimise interference at the Yanxi Lake arose from our appreciation of the site’s rich nature. Through extending local environmental details, shape of installations, and the creation of local climate, we enabled the learning of nature and maximised respect of the environment. Despite the site being a small part of the entire greenery of the lake bank, the project is our aspiration of being the seed of future possibilities of the lake part.
Photography: Ning Wang
Project location: Yanxi Lake, Wuhan City, Hubei Province,China
Design year: 2021
Year Built:2022