Fengming Mountain Park
Location Chongqing, China | Client Vanke | Size 16 hectares | Associated Landscape Architect: Lacime Architects Status Completed 2013 | Photographer: Terrence Zhang | Tags Parks and Civic Spaces, Culture and Art, Corporate and Commercial
Inspired by the steep hillside, we created a zig zag ‘mountain journey’ for a new park next to Vanke’s proposed housing development.
Our brief was to design a demonstration park and urban public realm to express a unique indentity for the area, and to encourage visitors to walk from the car park down to the sales centre at the lowest point of the area. We were asked for a design that could be integrated into the new development.
We created vibrant sculptured steel pavilions which attract people into the arrival plaza car park, and then form a series of abstract ‘mountain peaks’ to encourage people down the slope. Their bright colours, shaded from orange to red, refer to Chinese lanterns, and form a vivid contrast with the misty skies over Chongqing. The pattern of the holes changes from bottom to top, negotiating the transition from ground to sky; they provide shade during the day, and form glowing lanterns when lit at night.
The zigzag path ensures the extreme level change is accessible for all.
At the same time, the path suggests geological layers and gives the feeling of a trail winding up a steep mountain. At each turn, a platform provides a place to take a breather, sit and enjoy the view. Balustrade walls constructed from large pieces of deeply textured dark concrete line the path, creating a rocky silhouette looking up the hill. Water flows between the walls down the slope; channels, pools and jets add their delightful sounds and help to cool the journey.
Fengming Mountain Park is located in the growing Shapingba District of Chongqing. Opened in spring 2013, its structures linked by greenery and water features lead visitors on a journey to the proposed Vanke Golden City Development sales centre.
The client loved the connection we created between the site and the surrounding peaks and valleys of the Sichuan Basin, with the references to the patterns of rice paddy terraces and the nearby Chang Jiang river. Fengming Mountain has become a joyous and popular part of the Chongqing cityscape.
MSP’s plan for the challenging steep slope at Fengming
You can hear a recording of Martha describing the project at Breaking Into China: Fengming Mountain Park | Martha Schwartz | Pidgeon Digital
