Topos: A Resilient Landscape

In Yanweizhou Park in Jinhua City water-resilient terrain and plantings are designed to adapt to the monsoon floods. The project has given the Chinese city a new identity and is now acclaimed as its most poetic landscape.

 

In the urban heart of Jinhua, a city with a population of over one million, one last piece of

natural riparian wetland of more than 64 acres remains undeveloped. Located where the Wuyi River and Yiwu River converge to form Jinhua River, this wetland is called Yanweizhou, meaning “the sparrow tail”. The three rivers divide the densely populated communities in the region. As a result of this inaccessibility, the cultural facilities, including the opera house and the green spaces adjacent to the Yanweizhou, were underutilized. Most of the riparian wetland has been fragmented or destroyed by sand quarries and is now covered with secondary growth.

 

Due to its monsoon climate, Jinhua suffers from annual flooding. Hard high walls have been

built, or were planned to be built, to protect the last patch of riparian wetland (Yanweizhou) from the 20-year and 200-year floods. These floodwalls would create dry parkland above the water, but destroy the lush and dynamic wetland ecosystem. Therefore, we devised a contrasting solution and convinced the city authorities to stop the construction of the concrete floodwall as

well as demolish others. Instead, the Yanweizhou Park project “makes friends” with flooding by

using a cut-and-fill strategy to balance earthwork and by creating a water-resilient, terraced

river embankment that is covered with floodadapted native vegetation. Floodable pedestrian

paths and pavilions are integrated with the planting terraces, which will be closed to the public during the short period of flooding. The floods bring fertile silt that is deposited over the terraces and enriches the growing condition for the tall grasses that are native to the riparian habitat. The terraced embankment will also remediate and filtrate the stormwater from the pavement above. The Yanweizhou Park project showcases a replicable and resilient ecological solution to large-scale flood management.

 

In addition to the terraced river embankment, the inland area is entirely permeable in order to create a water-resilient landscape through the extensive use of gravel that is re-used material from the site. The gravel is used for the pedestrian areas; the circular bioswales are integrated with tree planters; and permeable concrete pavement is used for vehicular access routes and parking lots. The inner pond on the inland is designed to encourage river water to infiltrate through gravel layers. This mechanically and biologically improves the water quality to make the water swimmable.

 

A pedestrian bridge snakes across the rivers, linking the parks along the riverbanks in both the southern and northern city districts, and connecting the city with Yanweizhou Park within the river. The bridge design was inspired by the local tradition of dragon dancing during the Spring Festival. For this celebration, many families bind their wooden benches together to

 

 

create a long and colorful dragon that winds through the fields and along narrow dirt paths.

The Bench Dragon is flexible in length and form as people join or leave the celebration. Like the

Bench Dragon during the annual festival, the Bench Dragon Bridge symbolizes not only a form of celebration practiced in the Jinhua area, but is a bond that strengthens a cultural and

Social identity unique to this region. As water-resilient infrastructure, the new bridge is elevated above the 200-year flood level, while the ramps connecting the riparian wetland park can be submerged during the 20-year and larger floods. The bridge also hovers above the preserved patch of riparian wetland and allows visitors an intimate connection to nature. The many ramps to the bridge create flexible and easy access for residents from various locations of the city in adaptation to the flow of people. Reaching a total length of 2,300 feet, the bridge is composed of a steel structure with fiberglass handrails and bamboo paving. It is truly a resilient bridge that is adaptive to river currents and the flows of people, while binding city and nature, future and past.

 

The large oval opera house posed significant challenges: the area near the building needed to accommodate large opera audiences as well as offer intimate spaces, and the building had to be integrated into the floodable, riparian waterfront. The design uses curves as the basic unifying pattern language that integrates the building and the environment into a harmonious whole, including the curvilinear bridge, terraces and planting beds, concentric paving bands of black and white, and meandering paths that define circular and oval planting areas and activity spaces. The spatial organization and design forms establish an extensive paved area for a large audience during the events at the opera house. However, the forms and the inclusion of alcoves create places for the individual, couples, and small groups. The dynamic ground of the pavement and planting patterns define circular bio-swales and planting beds, densely planted with native trees and bamboo, bound by long benches made of fiberglass.

 

The circular bio-swales and planting patches resemble raindrop ripples on the river. The reverse curves simultaneously refer to the shape and scale of the building, while forming a contrasting shape that is human in scale and enclosed for more intimate gatherings. They also reflect the weaving of the dynamic fluxes of currents, people, and material objects that together create a lively, pleasant, and functional space.

 

The project is a proven success. After the park opened in May 2014, an average of 40,000 visitors used the park and the bridge each day. The local media exclaimed: “the whole city is crazy about one single bridge!” And now, Yanweizhou Park has created a new identity for the city of Jinhua.

 

Yanweizhou Park, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China

Client: Jinhua Municipal Government

Landscape architects: Turenscape, Beijing; Kongjian Yu (design principal), Hongqian Yu, Yu Song, Yuan Fang, Shuiming Zhou, Hui Tong, Shenghui Li, Chujie Lin, Dengfeng Chen

Completion: 2014

Area: 26 hectares

 

 

About Topos:

 

Topos–The International Review of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Professional quarterly journal.

 

As the one and only truly international quarterly review of landscape architecture and urban design, Topos publishes examples of successful projects and designs from all over the world. Topos provides worldwide surveys of planning activities, urban design projects and concepts, planning strategies for cities, urban regions and cultural landscapes.

 

Topos highlights interdisciplinary work and examines future questions arising within the landscape architecture profession. Topos has its steadfast and continuously growing readership, across all continents.

 

│Kongjian Yu's Previous Articles on Topos：

 

    K. Yu, Slow Down: Hydrological Infrastructure for Liupanshui, China, Topos, 2014 (87): 10-11.

    K. Yu, Landscape installation in the Sanlihe Greenway, Qian'an, China, Topos, 2013 (83): 6-7.

    K. Yu, Stormwater Park For a Water resilient City:Qunli National Urban Wetland, Topos, 2011 (77): 72-77.

    K. Yu, Five Traditions for Landscape Urbanism Thinking, Topos, 2010 (71):58-63.

    K. Yu, Qiaoyuan Park, An Ecosystem Services-Oriented Regenerative Design, Topos, 2010 (70):28-35.

    K. Yu, Positioning Contemporary Landscape Architecture in China, Topos, 2006 (56): 91-98.