Constructing Shadows: Shanghai Houtan Park, China

 

Pudong, Shanghai, China

Expo 2010

Kongjian Yu-Turenscape

 

Living organisms have the ability to adapt, change, and protect themselves. Houtan Park at the Shanghai 2010 Expo is designed as a living Organism. Located on a former “brown lands” field on the Huangpu waterfront, Houtan Park is a showcase for the Expo as a regenerative public green space.

 

At the very north end of the linear park, a shadow-casting structure is located. It is an advanced version of the Dujiangyan plaza's Golden Canopy. This shadow-casting structure spreads out in the manner of tree canopies surrounding a water pond, the same pond which collects the water that has been cleaned through the wetland system. It is a celebration of water that has been heavily polluted and then been cleaned through the landscape as a riving system.

 

The shadow-casting canopies are painted in shades of pink, the color tones of Lotus flower petals. a metaphor for the Lotus that has its roots in dirty mud but produces a plant and flowers that are clean and elegant. The shadow-casting canopies are made of metal, white the supporting pates are made of steel and painted white.