The Forest Sports Park in Guangming, Shenzhen (China), for play, sport and relaxation is a joint design by LOLA Landscape Architects (NL), Taller architects (COL/NL) and Land and Civilization Compositions (CN). During the World Architecture Festival China in December 2020, the project won the overall WAFChina Best Landscape and the WAFChina Excellent Design award.
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The Shenzhen area is all about innovation, therefor the ambition was to make a park that is as innovative as the city itself. A park that can adapt to the constant evolution of sports and were the people can constantly contribute to a more resilient nature.
Immerse in the thick Forest
An elevated red path gives universal access to the forest. With a steady soft slope, connecting ramps and elevators it provides users from all age groups a safe and easy way to visit the mountain. To enjoy the views of the surrounding city and the ability to immerse yourself in the thick forest. The Forest and Sports Park forms a slow transition space between the city of Guangming and the forest reserve.
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The park focuses on innovation in sports and ecology
With the first phase of the 600 ha. park almost completed, the park is to become a unique destination for the Guangming Big Bay area. As this metropolitan region finds its success in innovative industries, the park focuses on innovation in sports and ecology. Two R&D centres, one for sports, one for botany are centrally located in the park. From here, a constant evolution and diversification of the park will take place. On the central park loop, a linear plant and tree nursery is integrated.
A scenic route
In a natural forest setting, visitors are able to get to know new and forgotten sports, as well as the latest techniques used in sports. A range from open valleys to lower hills and mountain forest offers the natural background for these sports and active leisure. The Red Path forms a landmark that connects the park to the city and the forest; a scenic route that passes by all different types of forest.
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Minimize the environmental impact
In the park a series of pavilions hosts functions like a restaurant, restroom, viewing platform and forest cabin. In order to minimize the environmental impact, the pavilions are modular and prefabricated. By placing them on stilts they avoid direct contact with the ground and at the same time provide shadow so that visitors can escape the summer heat. The construction of the second phase of the Forest Sports Park is expected to start in 2021.
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Location: Guang Ming, Shenzhen, China
Size: 600 ha
Design: 2018
Construction first phase: 2019-2020
Organizer: Guangming New District Management committee
Co-organizer: Shenzhen Guang Ming center for urban Development
Design team: LOLA Landscape Architects, Taller architects, Land and Civilization Compositions
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Trees and forests are the lungs of our planet. The topos issue 103 on the topic “Trees” presents concrete projects involving trees that rethink the relation of nature and society and restructure it in very distinct and very different ways.
Young architect’s firm Lipinsky Lasovks Johanson has won the architectural competition for the Forest Finn Museum in Finland. Their design merges architecture with its surroundings: An exciting example of how architecture and nature can go hand in hand.
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The museum deals with the topic of the so-called ‘Skogfinner’: farmers who moved from eastern Finland to the woodlands of Sweden and Norway during the 16th and 17th century. Using fire clearance, they turned forest areas into arable land. This sparked a conflict with the growing industry which again was in great need of charcoal. For this reason, the government had an ambivalent attitude towards the immigrants. Up until the 20th century, the Forest Finns had their own culture and language but merged more and more into the Norwegian and Swedish society. The Forest Finn Museum will tell the story of this minority.
Forest In A House
The museum will be located between a grove and a river and the architecture picks up the forest as a common theme. The simple green saddle roof and wooden stelae make the building look like a primitive hut. Stable wooden beams support the roof, allowing the glass facade to wind around the interior like a ribbon without any structural purpose. This way, the forest seems to expand into the building. The stelae are placed across the inside space in a seemingly random order, the layout of the building doesn’t guide visitors through the exhibition but invites them to go astray and wander about.
Visual Axes
Within the glass ribbon, the architects have placed exhibition spaces in square rooms. The arrangement of these cuboids keeps the visual axes between the forest and the river clear. This makes for an almost transparent building that fits seamlessly into the forest landscape and doesn’t block the view. Architecture and landscape seem to melt into one another.
The young architects have come up with a design that not only interacts with its surroundings but also reflects the topic of the museum outwards which makes the museum a place that sparks interest and invites its visitors to playfully discover its topic.
