Shanghai Culture Park, Shanghai China

Balmori Associates. Team: Diana Balmori, Kira Appelhans, Johanna Phelps, Mark Thomann

This park is a compliment to a new theater in a large historic preservation district in central Shanghai. The south end of the park is an extension of the theater where a historic space frame hovers over an amphitheater carved from the earth. Tall pine trees mirror the towering columns of the space frame among the seats. A main path defines the site as it loops around the public plaza in front of the theater and continues, in one ribbon like gesture, around the theater to create the east/west access. From the south, the loop rises with the ground around the theater to form the grade for a natural amphitheater and embraces the theater.. The landforms are continuous, rising along the northern edge of the site their ridge lines pull though the western edge of the park weaving with the watercourse and secondary paths that lead through quiet garden spaces. The intersection of these elements creates a series of smaller, more intimate spaces with surreal seasonal bands of planting surrounded by water.
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All content copyright Kira Appelhans.