Seeking the Humanities in the Nature

Abstract: On the premise of meeting the basic demand for the diversity of activities，the planning of Fuxi park emphasizes that humanities are integrated with the nature and design are derived from living. With some skillful techniques， the design also integrates forest， water and other natural elements in the base， which focuses efforts on creating a new urban landscape of harmonious symbiosis between the nature and human.

Keywords:Fuxi park;planning and design;nature;humanities

中圖分類號:TU986

文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識碼:B

文章編號:1008-0422(2010)09-0088-03

1The Background of the Planning

Yangcheng， its western part higher than its eastern part， is a city of inland region in China， which lies in the mountain area of the Taihang in the south of Shanxi province. Its location is very superior because it is a transition district of warm temperate zone toward semi-tropical zone， and the natural resources are abundant. With the advantaged landscape of the nature and humanities， famous historic places， this city has been liked by lots of scholars， artists and poets， etc since ancient times.

The design of Fuxi park is a significant engineering project in Yangcheng city. It is an important place for sports and recreational activities of citizens. The base locates the center of the whole city， whose north starts from the urban main road of W.E—Xinyangxi- street. With complicated functions， surrounding buildings include a bus stop， a hospital， a nursery school， a primary school， a middle school， a theater， office buildings and some residential areas. The northeast corner of the base faces to the people's government in the other side of the street， which the project's name is also got from. The east is near the civil square， and the west is near the Yangcheng occupation senior high school. The south of the park is higher than the north. There is a 20m-high hill in the south with greatly abundant planting species and trees. Fuxi park is with an area of 7.03 hectares in this Planning. The special upland pattern and plentiful regional culture provide a good natural condition and human environment for the design.

2The Target of the Planning

Based on the location， functions and geography characteristic of the park， the target of this project is creating a kind of urban compound landscape with diversity， affinity and vitality in order to meet the people's needs of variety， selection and effectiveness. The design will be based on the principle of human-oriented， and then combined with diversified natural elements in the base by using mountain body， stream and vegetation as connatural conditions of the design. Therefore co-existence about human and nature， the characteristic of regional culture and modern urban idea of living will be manifested in the planning applying some practiced skills such as building view， combining feeling， representing rhythm. This planning aims to create an open space full of gladness and to strengthen the sense of space so that the theme of the park is endowed with such an artistic concept as clearness. As the natural recreational place with multi-function for the citizen， it will provide the compound functions of living room and green lung and is becoming an important window displaying the new feature of Yangcheng city as well.

3The General Layout

According to the planning target and particular environmental characteristics， the General layout of the park is to configure reasonablly with various functions， which is in details as follow:

3.1 Realizing the special planning features with the variety of landform

Landform is the framework of the park， which can come into being abundant space effects，also provide more available spaces for the visitors through the variety of landform. On the basis of the natural pattern of the south mountainous region and the north flat ground， the whole planning is divided into two function areas. The north area is called “A” and the south area “B”. Several interrelated squares with different patterns compose the A area， where the human landscaping is mainly presented. On the contrary， the B area mostly represents the natural landscape， and is established along the mountain. The A area includes two parts of the east and the west， divided by a intermediate waterfall as the boundary line. The west near the mountainous region is higher than the east near urban roads. In the General Layout， the proportion of the A area and the B area is reasonably suitable.

3.2 Realizing the framework of the space composition with roads

All kinds of roads distributed in the park compose the main traffic body. A ring main road round the whole park is the contact of the space sequences. Other roads and sidewalks near the urban district also link and organize the different space functions.

There are mainly open spaces in the A area， containing activity spaces of children， old men， adults， etc. Its east is a green-square being level and wide， its west includes shallow rivulet， small squares and other activity fields.

The natural landscape is the main proportion in the B area， where the people may return to the nature by walking， relaxing， enjoying plants， taking exercises， etc so as to express harmonious symbiosis between the nature and human.

Designed as the main entrance， the usher flower beds presents a kind of condition of welcome in the planning. In the north， there is a secondary entrance， where the main ring road is joined with the sidewalks leading to Xinyangxi-street. This entrance is near by bus stops and some office buildings such as environmental protecting department and insurance company so that it is convenient for people to enter the park from different directions. Then some walking paths and alleys connected with the ring main road run through W.E and S.N.

The whole road system in the park is divided into three levels according to the different functions:

The main road inside the park: The width is 4m~6m. It mostly solves problems about the transportation relations of various functional areas and the landscape guidance， and ensures the emergency vehicles to pass safely.

The landscape walking path: The width varies with the changing of the garden area and axes.

The recreation alley: The width is 1.5 m~2.5 m.

Based on the precondition to meet the citizen's demand for each kind of activities in this planning ， the A and the B， as two unique activity areas， will be constructed in a harmonious， unified surrounding through a series of organization， relation and penetration， etc. In this way separate or conflict effects of space are unable to appear in the planning， and a kind of urban compound landscape of diversity will be established.

4The Construction of the Landscape

The planning of Fuxi park manifests overall， continual and diverse principle of design in construction of the landscape. Then applying the organization of space sequence including beginning， development and high tide， it is continuously deepened. In the course of the construction， the organic combination of artificial landscape and natural elements will actualize the blending of human and the nature， the integration between palpable and invisible elements will create harmonious， mutative and plenty effects of space.

4.1 Entrance

The proportion of the entrance is not too big but absolutely necessary because the entrance is not only the transition space between the park and the urban roads but also the beginning of the space sequences in the park. Eight Usher flower beds are designed in the entrance， where art flowerpots are put on eight granite balls with the diameter of 1.9m. The scene fully expressing the effects of prominence， strength and tend will guide the people to enter the main areas.

4.2 Lawn square

Seventy pieces of ecology lawns of 5.4m2 are the main body of the area. The intervals of lawns are designed as passageways with the width of 1.2m， and are paved with colorful bricks of tessellation. Some Leisure facilities such as bowers， seats， etc are laid on the hard pitching around the lawns， and they are organically combined with the hedgerows and trees designed by the people. These landscape elements may encircle the square space， and relatively provide undisturbed and comfortable environment for local people. The Lawn Square can satisfy the people for various activities such as exercise，assembly， leisure， entertainment， etc and further more symbolize the connection between past and present because of being the important node of the park and the urban original roads.

4.3 Art folds

Compared with the design elevation of the lawn square， the west nearby the mountainous region in the A area has around 5 meters’ difference in elevation. In order to represent space sequence and to close to water， applied by the artificial circulatory system， water surface is improved as the high as three meters so that a waterfall can be formed. There are many groups of music fountains in water. With the combination of lawn squares， fountains and waterfall， a background of jumping and lively square is emerged.

4.4 Shallow rill

A shallow rill stretched from the source of the waterfall runs circuitously so that the people can play water. The coastwise and acclivitous grassplot combines artificial rockery， pond and other natural elements， and lots of arbor and shrub are planted freely to compose the rich landscape levels.

4.5 Plantation for commemoration

The entrance of the north area， which maintains the original appearance of the slow grass slope，is called “plantation for commemoration”. In the plantation， the citizen may choose some significant trees or flowers to plant personally， and then express feeling by writing words on some commemorative days such as Arbor Day， marriage， birth， graduation， etc. This method can strengthen the public consciousness of participation in the urban environment construction.

4.6 Square called twelve years of animals

The North of the shallow rill has a square called twelve years of animals. The square's center is an iron plate with the diameter of 6m， where the designs of twelve years of animals are inlaid with colorful ceramic tile， metal and glass. The patterns of the animals are carved in the plate， and some buried lamps are installed under the plate. These anthropomorphism designs are clockwise arranged as a group of each two animals according to Chinese era. It is quite good-looking and educational.

4.7 Sunken square and children pleasure ground

The sunken square and children pleasure ground are designed in the south of the shallow rill. They compose a complete circular plane together and are connected with the square called twelve years of animals by two small stone arch bridges. The children may have their own joyful world in the garden， which has some game facilities such as jumping pit， sliding board， etc. At the same time， the garden is able to enliven the ambience of the park. The sunken square is a good stage of communion for the people， and moreover brings the convenience for those parents who need look after their playing children.

4.8 Sculpture woods

The sculpture woods composed of a group of multifarious sculptures is in the east of the children pleasure ground. These sculptures of GRP， whose colors are beautiful and shapes are vivid， will become one kind of space and centripetal force under the surrounding of fountains and trees. It seems to be integrated and orderly.

4.9 Gallery and pavilion for appreciating the scenery

The transition from the A area to the B area is designed through stone steps and view terraces， etc. When passing through the sinuous walking paths，the people will reach a 72m-long gallery and the pavilion at the node of the A area and the B area. The roof of gallery adopts pyramidal units being continuous and undulant on purpose that rhythm and jumpiness can come into being. The pavilion is designed with the pitched roof truss of wood to pursue simple image of returning the nature. The people may get a panoramic view of the humanities scenery in the A area.

4.10 Alameda

Because the landform fall in the B area is obvious， the planning and design will present a feeling of flowing space through the sinuous walking paths according to sunlight， function and natural scenery. Around the paths is placed some healthy facilities such as quincunx stakes， horizontal bar， etc for the purpose of “Civil Fitness”. The facilities provide convenience for the people at various ages who want to try the skills. Combined with the local plants and scenery elements which are suitable for the landscape，the design shows the leisurely and placid condition of living.

4.11 Recreation area on the mountain path

The recreation area on the mountain path is composed of three ring small platforms， and there are artificial wood desks and chairs under trees. This is a reasonable design which expresses that skill is from borrowed view， and makes the people feel the processes of the nature and four seasons.

4.12 Square of true love

The square of true love， occupying a commanding position， is located at the mountaintop of the park. Colorful bricks ， granites and lawns together structure the heart-shaped square，and the romance and vivid modeling symbolize that the sincere love of all happy lovers is pure and supreme. There lies a curved landscape wall in the lawn where lovers and fellows may put down messages or poems， etc to keep the commemoration. And many white pigeons， fed by the people in the square， bring a kind of auspicious and warm atmosphere.

In a word， the total style of the B area contrasts finely with the artificial planning of the A area， even shows the wild charm.

5The Design of Street Furniture and Planting

The design of street furniture and planting fully satisfies urban ecology and operation requirements，simultaneously provides comfortable and beautiful landscape. Based on the idea of “adjust measures to local conditions”， the design of street furniture is combined with space planning. For example the different blanketing materials are designed on the walking roads. Wearable granites and colorful bricks are used on the ground whose frictional frequency is higher. The avenue selects white pebbles and cement blocks， which forms a kind of contrast with green lawn in the color. In addition， the design of the servicing facilities is also considered with the total request in the environment and human engineering. For example， the particular design of the chairs nearby green area and small squares adopts combination with the tree ponds; the sculpture lamp standards around the lawn square are also the setting of the loudspeaker of the square.

As an important part in the planning， the greening design of Fuxi park persists in the principle including adjusting measures to local conditions， planting according to the environment and improving the environment. The application of the multi-ply construction of arbor， shrub， grass， climbing plant， ground cover plant， flowering plant， etc is used in the park to create the integration of science and art. In the aspect of plant collocation， it is a harmonious symbiosis between the civil plant and the ecdemic plant， and all the plants are divided into functional and ornamental kinds according to their own functions. Supplement among multiple plants is paid attention to in the choice of plant variety. As a whole， such effect as “the spring with flower， the summer with shade， the fall with fruit，the winter with green” will be achieved. For example there are herbaceous flowers whose varieties are changed along with the different seasons in Usher flower beds; Tall Fescue and Bluegrass are planted together at the bottom of the flower-beds; the formal hedges that are composed of Evergreen euonymus，Woman chastity and Purple berberis are at two sides of the lawn ground; the mass planting including arbor and shrub such as Japanese Maple thunberg， Weeping Japanese pagodatree， Sabina chinensis， Weeping willow， Common crapemyrtle，Shrubalthea， and Savin Ju nipper as ground cover plant freely are planted in the lawn nearby the folds; there are swampy plant-Fleur-de-lis， reed and Metasequoia as well as hydrophytic plant-Water lilly， etc around the shallow rill;the introversive and tranquil space near the Gallery and Pavilion is surrounded by Japanese pagodatree， Silktree albizzia， Panicled goldraintree， Weeping forsythia， Flowering almond， etc; there are Ginkgo， Cedar， Dragon spurce around the activities space in the B area; the plant variety is mainly Lacebark pine at two sides of the alameda， because the shape of Lacebark pine is beautiful and ancient; the original forest is reserved and serviced by the people.

6Conclusion

“Seeking the humanities in the nature” is a fine wish，which needs us try hard together. Except for the construction of park，not only the urban kinds of constructions but also human various activities should follow the order of nature so that the harmonious developments of the nature and human can be realized.

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