The Xi’an Expo 2011 has officially opened and, as expected, the international horticultural event has attracted a staggering 200,000 in just the first weekend! We’ve been covering the Expo beginning with Plasma Studio + GroundLab’s conceptual design, and we have been featuring updates about the project over the course of the last few months. The Expo embodies the idea of transformation as the site was formerly a sandpit where the water was severely degraded during the 1980s. Efforts over the past two decades have restored the ecosystem and now the Expo is able to demonstrate what can be accomplished through the use of the most advanced technology, ideas, and materials. As we reported earlier, the 37 ha complex includes three buildings that are interconnected with a dynamic landscape of unfolding paths and networks of water, circulation and foliage.
More images after the break.
“By leaving behind the obvious typological and historical references to Xi’an’s past, this project is seeking a contemporary authentic expression of China’s current and future ambitions, adding an entirely new layer to the Millenial tapestry of Xi’an. By the same token, Flowing Gardens explores a new syncretic balance between urbanism and landscape with universal relevance. The traditional subordination of ground and landscape by buildings has been reversed to offer a unique symbiotic experience,” explained the architects.
International Competition: 1. Prize, 2009
Project: 2009-2011
Opening: April 28th 2011
Completion: March 2011
Client: Chan-Ba Ecological District
Architecture: Plasma Studio, BIAD
Landscape Design: GroundLab, LAUR Studio, Beijing Forestry University
Engineers: John Martin and Associates, Arup
Those plazas DESPERATELY need trees.
agree with U
Apparently, U don’t Know China!!! So many people overthere!!!! In weekends, the people stands over all the ground. the expo is: bodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybody【entrance】bodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybodybo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As a large park, I’d like to know more about what will happen here after the expo. Bravo on making cool forms, but how does this place evolve over time? What about the ecosystem? What happens to that? More diagrams, i’m interested.
At the official website of the local government(where the expo Opens), the government answered the question about what will happen after the expo. There will be a permanent theme park, and a variety of leisure venues and recreational facilities will be built.
I had visited the expo, I think it’s much better than shanghai!
“unique symbiotic experience”
read as -
‘A whole lot of nothing’
No trees, no work on floor materials, no details, the railings on the last picture even aren’t straight, it’s not asking much… designed too fast, built too fast with no care or pride for good job done…
Like 99% of the projects in China, it COULD HAVE BEEN nice.
i think its not about trees, its not about details, its not about people. Its about GDP. China is building building building, ghost cities, expo areas etc. its all about artifically keeping the GDP up, maintaining “false” growth. Money, money, money…
actually there is no ghost city in China. It definetly happens in the US, but not in China, because of the population density.
Actually yimyim is correct: http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-ghost-cities-2011-5?comments_page=2&op=1
China is always so f**ked by those monsters. what the hell is the meaning of doing all those folding landscape meagastructures which could do nothing but waste steel.
China is the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods in the world. It is the world’s fastest-growing major economy. useless constructions !! Maybe in Dubai but not in China !!!
i agree with anna.. the old lady in the 2nd last photo looks so out of place.. just imagine her walking 3km from the bus stop to get to the “creativity pavillion”..
This is a great achievement for China. It is a change from the pink cladded and blue green glazed pastiche buildings seen all over the place. More quality in China would incite the younger generation of developers, planners, architects, builders and engineers to go for innovation and complex geometry.
Xi’an is growing by leaps and bounds, and this expo with amazing architecture is yet another example of its vitality. Unfortunately, the comments above about a “lack of trees” reflects a some ignorance of the Chinese relationship with nature. It is much more personal and reserved for private gardens versus public spaces. Not good or bad, just different.
I think designing is not in the nature of asian people, I mean this seriously, look at Japanese cars for example. You can’t give any other argument for such a modern country. Different races, different qualities.
Well well. Plasma Studio only won this competition just the other day and I remember thinking “2011!?” – to complete?
Yet here we are