Crossboundaries Addresses the Emerging Demand for Public Space with Songzhuang Micro Community Park

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The Songzhuang Micro Community Park addresses the rising demand for public area in China. Situated within the East of Beijing, the slim L-shaped park is designed as a neighborhood park responding to the huge range of the inhabitants in addition to the utilization necessities and leisure pursuits, specializing in the necessity of the neighborhood for alternate between generations and social teams. The essential idea of the design is the creation of various scenes that happen each hundred strolling steps. The open “rooms” developed for this function differ in format and openness. A winding yellow path connects all of the “rooms” and in the end loops via an oblong, barely hilly park space.

Architizer chatted with Binke Lenhardt and Hao Dong from Crossboundaries to be taught extra about this venture.

Architizer: What impressed the preliminary idea on your design?

Binke Lenhardt and Hao Dong: The present demographics and the shortage of public area are key drivers on this venture: The village of Xiaopu in Songzhuang is populated by many artists who work of their studios and run their galleries, they’re residing side-by-side with the locals. Moreover, the mix of artwork guests and an getting older inhabitants creates a curious social combine, the place every group has a definite demand for public area. An current sidewalk subsequent to a parking zone was redeveloped right into a linear public area opening up in direction of an even bigger park. The design connects the provision of greenery with public actions and caters for the change in consumer wants. The park is known as an city lounge that responds to numerous calls for, integrates individuals of all ages, encourages everybody to speak with one another, and reconnects nature with the neighborhood.

What do you consider is essentially the most distinctive or ‘standout’ part of the venture?

The design has many, very distinct options, together with the gray, perforated brick wall, the yellow pathway, and the Corten metal detailing, however most original might be the concept of the ‘change of surroundings’ each 100 strolling steps. The sequence of out of doors ‘rooms’ or niches are organized alongside the yellow path and tackle completely different consumer teams and actions. Amongst all of the rooms, essentially the most particular room is the playroom, which addresses primarily youngsters. It’s brilliant yellow inside, standing in distinction to the opposite gray brick partitions. The in a different way sized openings for peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek and connecting talking tubes invite youngsters to freely play and discover.

What was the best design problem you confronted through the venture, and the way did you navigate it?

On this venture an enormous problem was to combine all of the completely different consumer calls for at completely different occasions of the day, contemplating the moderately advanced demographics. The positioning space was small and linear, so a steadiness between sufficient greenery and leisure areas for the inhabitants needed to be established – however on the identical time, a novel character of the brand new neighborhood park needed to be developed. The very energetic design course of concerned many various events and rounds of adjustment and in the long run, integrated many opinions. Subsequently the design course of required lots of flexibility and openness on the designer’s aspect.

What drove the number of supplies used within the venture?

Gray bricks are used all through the complete design of the Songzhuang venture. Such a gray brick is a standard constructing materials within the Songzhuang space, it may also be discovered within the outdated metropolis of Beijing. The usage of the gray brick brings a way of familiarity and the fabric harmonizes with the encompassing atmosphere. The yellow coloration used for the pathway and the road furnishings is in distinction however kinds the visually connecting component and subsequently can also be a powerful figuring out function. Corten metal is used for the perimeters of the plant beds and is reoccurring in a perforated kind as a separation in direction of the parking zone.

How essential was sustainability as a design standards as you labored on this venture?

We tried to reuse as many supplies as potential, the earlier pavement stones have been collected and have been reused consciously, current bushes remained at their location and solely native crops and supplies have been used.

How have your purchasers responded to the completed venture?

The venture could be very nicely acquired by the consumer and the neighborhood.

How do you consider this venture represents you or your agency as an entire?

At Crossboundaries we put individuals within the heart. As structure and planning have an enormous impact on behavioral patterns, we care concerning the affect of area and design on the consumer and need to have constructive impression. Quoting Jan Gehl, the Danish architect: “Structure is the interaction between kind and life. And provided that life and kind work together in a profitable method, this can be good structure.” Whereas designing the Songzhuang park, we studied Jan Gehl’s analysis and built-in the various consumer and age teams, offering them with a multifold of actions within the public area. Jan Gehl’s analysis focuses on the connection between outside actions and the standard of out of doors area and he manifests that the prevalence of actions in public areas is the motivation to draw individuals to socialize and that individuals are the important thing issue affecting the vitality of the area.

How do you think about this venture influencing your work sooner or later?

With this venture, Crossboundaries grew to become additional serious about public area design, and the agency is momentarily concerned in tasks which take care of current neighborhoods and communities, bettering their present situations and including worth via actions and public landscapes.

Staff Members

Companions in cost: Binke Lenhardt, DONG Hao / Design group: GAO Yang, Silvia Campi, Ivan Chen, Marijana Simic, Sean Yu, YU Hongyu, Elena Gamez Miguelez

For extra on Songzhuang Micro Community Park, please go to the in-depth venture web page on Architizer.