ASLA 2010 Professional awards

This must be Kongjian Yu’s big year-or one of them, anyway. Out of a dozen ASLA 2010 Professional Awards in the general category, Yu’s firm, Turenscape, based in Beijing ,has won three. With two urban parks and a beach restoration in China, Kongjian Yu, International ASLA, a frequent winner of ASLA awards in the past, shows the possibilities of aesthetic and ecological revival in places where people had previously left the land for dead. A fourth project in China, by EDSA Inc. is said to be the country’s first ecotourism destination; it won in the same category, and yet another took honors in the Analysis and Planning category for protecting ancient Chinese landscapes in Hangzhou from the pressures of modernity. This small collection is encouraging because these projects hint in different ways that perhaps China is coming to terms with some of the ill environmental effects brought about by its fast growth and urbanization.

 

There are 48 honorees in all, and among the categories, including those for residential design, communications, research, and the ASLA Landmark Award to Bryant Park, in New York City, they form a diverse and global group. The jury, which met for two days in March at ASLA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., chose projects from Lebanon, South Africa, Rwanda, Singapore, New Zealand, Morocco, the Netherlands, and Canada. The high number of entries-there were 618-and the anticipation that attend the announcement of the winners attest to the esteem that ASLA’s awards program has been gathering around the world in recent years. The only problem for the jury, as the number 48 suggests, was not a dearth of intelligent work submitted but a glut of it.

 

"The range and depth of excellence in this year’s submissions present something of a drawback,” The jury reported. The jury members looked for innovative approaches to sustainability, functionality, inspiration, stylistic diversity, team coordination, and restrictions of geography, site, and budgets. To bring the larger lot of entries to a wieldy number of winners, the jury recognized not merely high standards but only the most exacting marks of quality in projects that transcend those criteria.

 

On the Jury were the jury chair, Mario Nievera, ASLA, of Mario Nievera Design Inc.; Jose Alminana, ASLA, Andropogon Associates; Herbert Dreiseitl. International ASLA, Atelier Dreiseitl; Sarah Kinbar, former editor, Garden Design; Bill Marken, Honorary ASLA, editor emeritus, Garden Design, Elizabeth Mossop, ASLA, Louisiana State University and Spackman, Mossop + Michaels; Shannon Nichol, ASLA, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd; Doug Reed, FASLA, Reed Hilderbrand Associates Inc.; John Reynolds, FASLA, National Park Service (retired); Katie Tamony, editor in chief, Sunset magazine; WilIiam Tishler, FASLA, University of Wisconsin; and David J. Yocca, ASLA, Conservation Design Forum.

 

General Design Category

 

GENERAL DESIGN, Award of Excellence

SHANGHAJ HOUTAN PARK:

LANDSCAPE AS A LIVING SYSTEM, Shanghai, China

Turenscape, Beijing, and Peking University Graduate

School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing

Client: The 2010 Shanghai Expo Bureau

 

LONG AFTER THE END of the urban—themed Expo 2010 in Shanghai, for which it was created, Houtan Park will mature and season in the ways it reconnects the city center to the Huangpu River. The mile-long brown field site is only 100 to 265 feet wide and serves as a mega structural way to control flooding in the city, which was previously the work of a 22--foot--high barren concrete wall. Terraced plantings, which incorporate former factory facilities, and a constructed wetland maintain the flood control and retain runoff, cleaning up to 500,000 gallons of river water a day while paying homage to both the area's 1 8th century farming landscape and its 20th century industrial heritage. Pathways through the seasonally changing crop and wetland vegetation allow people to walk easily through the park and are punctuated with small, bamboo—lined gathering spaces and views to the Shanghai skyline.”This is a powerful illustration of how landscape architecture can restore the ecology and history of a place,” the jury noted, “while accommodating human use and reinforcing the value of nature within a vibrant urban context.”

 

GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award

THE QINHUANGDAO BEACH RESTORATION:

AN ECOLOGICAL SURGERY, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, China

Turenscape, Beijing, and Peking University Graduate School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing

Client: The Municipal Government of Qinhuangdao City

 

A HEAVILY ERODED AND BADLY ABUSED coastline has been restored as a living, harmonious system. Located in a coastal tourist destination in northern China, the 6.4 kilometers of littered sand dunes, once a national bird reserve, had been destroyed by development and then deserted. This reformative design protects the dunes from erosion on the windy shoreline with a board walk that maintains established native plant communities while reconnecting people to beach views. The recovery plan includes replicating tidewater holes that catch rain and allow wetland plants and animals to settle in once again. Nine green islets built in a once-barren artificial lake also serve as nesting areas.A new wetland museum teaches visitors about aquatic ecology and provides a physical connection to it. Replacing shoreline concrete with riprap and hard-surface pathways with a boardwalk increases the permeable surface, supporting ground-cover planting. “It is so simple,” said the jury. “It makes nature accessible and uses all native plants. It is a project of hope.”

 

GENERAL DESIGN, Honor Award

TIANJIN QIAOYUAN PARK:THE ADAPTATION PALETTES, Tianjin City, China

Turenscape, Beijing, and Peking University Graduate School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing

Client: The Municipal Government of Tianjin City

 

 

THROUGH ALTERED LANDFORM and plant adaptation, a deserted shooting range and garbage dump have been turned into a low—maintenance urban park that contains and purifies stormwater, remediates salinated alkaline soil, and provides environmental education. This 54- acre urban park in northern coastal China arose from a heavily polluted site. Inspired by the adaptive vegetation that enlivens the landscape in this region, the landscape architects let nature work by digging a series of pond cavities. With the rains, cavities turned into ponds, wetlands, and seasonal pools. Some remained dry. Soil pH improved and diverse habitats arose as workers initiated plant community evolution by both seeding and allowing native vegetation to grow unhindered. Platforms and paths allow visitors to sit or stroll among vegetation patches, earning from an environmental interpretation system along the way. The park achieved its goals in two years, with the seasonally changing landscape attracting thousands of people every day.” The transformation is remarkable,” the jury noted. “There is a lot of complexity despite its apparent simplicity.”