Quarry Garden
Shanghai, China
Once vital to China’s industrial economy, quarries are now frequently abandoned. Depleted of their mineral resources, many of these quarries fill with water and form dangerous lakes, while others become landfills that subject nearby residents to pollution.
Photo: China Witty
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In Shanghai, landscape architects at Beijing Tsinghua Urban Planning & Design Institute (THUPDI) and Tsinghua University saw an opportunity with an abandoned quarry that offers scenic views of the Shanghai Chen Mountain Botanical Garden. Its central pool had been fenced off from people for more than twenty years.
Photo: ASLA 2012 Professional General Design Honor Award. Quarry Garden / Yao Chen
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Their project transformed the 10.5-acre quarry into an ecological public garden that is sensitive to its historical and cultural context.
Photo: ASLA 2012 Professional General Design Honor Award. Quarry Garden / Yao Chen
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A rocky area near the entrance was transformed into a new “biocoenosis” – a self-regulating ecological community – known as “Mirror Lake.” The land was reshaped and plants were established around its edges.
Photo: ASLA 2012 Professional General Design Honor Award. Quarry Garden / Yao Chen
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Landscape architects built a free-standing vertical stone wall and a rusty steel plate fence to enclose a garden of diverse plants set amid the rocks.
Photo: ASLA 2012 Professional General Design Honor Award. Quarry Garden / Yao Chen
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The deep quarry pool, which covers about 2.5 acres, remains the core of the project. The landscape architects created a sight-seeing route around the pool.
Photo: ASLA 2012 Professional General Design Honor Award. Quarry Garden / Yao Chen
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The landscape design makes a formerly-dangerous place safe but not entirely accessible, given all the stairs. Due to the complexity of the existing hills and rock structures, landscape architects collaborated with structural engineers to transform the rock into multi-functional walls and terraces.
Photo: ASLA 2012 Professional General Design Honor Award. Quarry Garden / Yao Chen
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The garden educates visitors about the history of the Chinese mining industry, and its legacy of negative environmental impacts. Chinese landscape traditions permeate the project, creating stunning scenes.
Photo: ASLA 2012 Professional General Design Honor Award. Quarry Garden / Yao Chen
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Project Facts
- The 10-acre Quarry Garden is located at the center of Shanghai Chen Mountain Botanical Garden.
- An abandoned rock quarry was transformed into an ecological public garden.
- A rocky area near the entrance was transformed into a new “biocoenosis” – a self-regulating ecological community. The land was reshaped and plants were established around its edges.
- Exposed hills and rock walls were reconfigured as pathways to allow access to the deep pool, the central feature of the landscape.
- The landscape design pays homage to the Chinese landscape architectural traditions while also putting a spotlight on the destructive history of mining in China.
- Opened in 2011, 3 million visited the garden in the first year. Ever since, the garden receives about 10,000 visitors every day.
PROJECT TYPE
- Urban
- Botanical Garden
- Park
Environmental Benefits
- Improves Walkability
- Re-uses Waste
- Captures Water
- Restores Biodiversity
Links
- 2012 ASLA Professional Awards (Quarry Garden)
- The Award Winning Quarry Garden Breathes Life Back into Abandoned Site (Landscape Architects Network)
- China’s Landscape Architects Undo the Damage (The Dirt)
- Connecting the World through Landscape Architecture: The Beijing Tsinghua Urban Planning & Design Institute (AIA 2012)
- Digging Deep to Discover Nature (ChinaDaily Asia)
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