GENTLE DIALOGUEIN TIME——FUTURE COMMUNITY ANCIENT SEAWALL PARK

Grasp Earth Architecture & Landscape Design Co., Ltd.,

Short description

Project Overview
The project area is located in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, an area concentrated with 1970s to 1990s old residential buildings and urban villages. Targeting the entire district, the government plans to construct a "Future Community" as the conceptual framework for urban renewal, leveraging the existing Civic Cultural Activity Center and Neighborhood Center buildings on the site.

The overall design concept embodies the idea of "Clear Water Emerges Lotus," with the twin center buildings abstracted from the patterns of lotus petals, while the surrounding environment incorporates elements from the ancient seawall water culture. Traversing through the timeline from ancient to modern history, the community is transformed into an outdoor museum centered around the seawall heritage site.

Heritage Preservation and Spatial Redesign
The site is named for its buried seawall ruins. Aiming to preserve the heritage, its original appearance is restored with minimal intervention. Excavating the top of ruins from south to north, the site forms a sunken space at the end to showcase the ancient seawall to the public. By integrating the heritage with interactive cultural exhibitions, the history and culture of the ancient seawall is brought to light. An accessible sunken space and interactive lawn space add interest and exploration to the otherwise ordinary site. The circular greenway connecting the buildings and the site creats a comprehensive public space system with hierarchical and flowing spatial dynamics.

Open and Shared Smart Experiences
Centered around the unique attributes of "future scenarios" and cultural lifestyles, the community expands residents' "future-oriented scenarios" through futuristic and intelligent interactive facilities, such as shared offices, AGV parking, floating libraries, smart fitness boxes, intelligent sports facilities, outdoor theaters, and low-carbon slow lanes, rejuvenating what was once a functionally monotonous community.

Multi-faceted Plant Spaces
Diverse vegetation communities are constructed to replace the single vegetation type on the site, creating a four-season scenic community. With varied terrain, the site presents different natural habitats, where plants in various postures and colors create a naturally beautiful spatial layout.

Low-impact Development Facilities
Utilizing ecological grass ditches, sunken green spaces, and permeable paving among other sponge measures, ecological sustainability is emphasized. Rainwater from buildings roofs and surrounding areas is effectively infiltrated, retained, purified, stored, utilized, and discharged, with collected rainwater reused, making the site a breathable land.

As one of the pioneering future community projects, our innovative exploration of future lifestyles and spatial creation has not only reivived the longstanding ancient seawall culture but also injected new vitality into the community, constructing intelligent scenes that carry the promise of a better future life for the community.