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Architects: July Cooperative Company
- Area: 335 m²
- Year: 2020
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Photographs:Hao Chen
Text description provided by the architects. Xinzhao Garden is located on the first floor of Joya Hotel in Lujiazui, Shanghai. It serves as the backdrop of the reception area and tea room measuring approximately 50 meters long. The glass windows frame the garden into a continuous long scroll as guests stroll from one side to another. The linearity of the site is suitable for building a unique atmosphere, but the narrowness nature of the site results in very limited perspectives; designers need to tackle the existing challenges and fulfill the space modeling experience at the same time. We hope to create an appropriate atmosphere for the guests while also stimulating their visual senses, changing their mood slightly as they enter the property.
The designer consciously utilizes the landscape to create adequate lighting that can be felt as one enters the reception area, influencing how light behaves and feels indoor. The southern end consists of large yellow-rust stone groups resembling a mountain that obstructs the view to the driveway to the greatest extent, creating a somber atmosphere. Most of the stones are tilted towards indoor, creating an oppressing sensation as if one is at the base of a mountain. The large stone groups also obstruct possible peripheral views, creating more room for imagination as if there are endless possibilities beyond the stones.
Light gradually brightens as space progresses from south to north. The landscape transitions from the tall yellow-rust stone stone wall with irregular patterns accompanied by taller hedgerow to brighter, lower sesame white stone stone wall. Thin-branched deciduous plants are used to increase transparency, emphasizing the contrast between foreground and background. Towards the northern end, the landscapes become dominant with shrubs and the stone wall comes to an end. The area is brightened with the predominant use of plants and gravel.
The three stone walls strengthen the connectivity between different segments of the garden. They increase privacy and divide the garden from the driveway on a functional level and also enrich visual sensation on a sensual level when combined with plants in the foreground. Using varieties of plants combined with different heights of stone walls, the verticality of the garden is highlighted while the horizontal continuity is preserved. The irregular nature of the yellow-rust stone stone wall echos with the natural surface of the statue-treated yellow-rust stone below, while the sesame-white stone wall uses more artificial techniques.
The designer uses stones and special techniques to influence the behavior of light. The texture of light changes as it passes through the garden, creating various ambiances in different areas. We hope those who visit the garden can shift their mood as they see fit by situating themselves in different parts of the garden.
