shanghai | MutationMatter

Xi’an Expo 2011: Master Botanist
By Rem / in shanghai / September 11, 2011
Botanist Garden, by Eelco Hooftman
Area: 1031 sq meters
Design Theme: Expressive force of chinese rare species
Introduction: The Botanist Garden is designed by Eelco Hooftman, a leading figure at Edinburgh College of Art, chief designer of the renowned landscape design studio, Gross Max, receiver of international awards such as the First Prize at the competition of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the First Pirce in Colchester Invitational Tournament. This garden exhibits various noted rare plants in Wilson's collection such as metasequoia, the living fossil of cupresssaceae, Meconopsis punicea and highlands of Tibet. In terms of the space design, the designer adopts the baskets with crickets in and bamboo poles white separate the garden, the Botanist garden successfullly ahcieves the surreal transition from the forecourt to the outer court and the inner chamber.
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Xi’an Expo 2011: Master Passages
By Rem / in shanghai / September 4, 2011
Passages Garden, Vladimir Sitta
Area: 1,001 sq meters
Design Theme: Recombination of eternity and instant
Introduction: The Passages Garden is designed by Vladimir Sitta, a professor at the University of Western Australia and President of Terragram in Australia. His representative works include the National Museum of Australia, and Fantasy Garden in Canberra; He is also the receiver of the 1981 and 1986 Berlin Peter Joseph Ronna National Award. This design integrates three unique independent gardens. Close observation will expose some exquisite sights. Inside the garden there are mainly scattered walls, inserted with some cutouts for people to take a glimpse of the indistinct sceneries in front. The birches in the garden are the witnessses of the seasons' change, with trunks turning from vibrant to barren and leaves from green to gold or red. The change of seasons and the automatic reproduction of plants indicate the transitory beauty of Nature. The garden becomes Nature's minature, offering residents in cities a chance to experience it. Read More »
Xi’an Expo 2011: Master Mountain Path
By Rem / in shanghai / September 3, 2011
Xi'an Expo 2011 Master Gardens on Map
Right, so if it weren't for the Master Gardens, the Xi'an Horticultural Expo 2011 would have been a complete bust. There was a special magazine that was released prior to the Expo detailing all of the projects and which acted as our guidebook. I do not have access to this guidebook but I can ask for the specifics and will post a link or otherwise an update when I do have this information. In the meantime, I've taken the time to transcribe each of the garden's sign posts. In the image above, most of the Master Gardens are located there, with the illustrations corresponding to roughly the real thing. You'll see once you see the photos. There were also the "Student Gardens", just west of the main axis but we'll get to them last, as that's how we traveled the expo site.

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Xi’an Horticultural Expo 2011: A Review
By Rem / in shanghai / September 2, 2011
Xi'an City Walls South, at Dusk / June 1, 2011
In early June I had the distinct opportunity and pleasure to visit one of the oldest and most historic cities in China: Xi'an. During the Tang Dynasty this city, once known as Chang'an, was host to the largest city in the world (81 square kilometers) housing 1 million people. While being such an extraordinary city subject to historically massive feats of engineering, it has in more recent years made attempts to attract a more modern audience to its layers of history, namely in this case, in the form of the Xi'an Horticultural Expo 2011. Read More »
A Missive on Practice
By Rem / in shanghai / August 11, 2011
Shanghai Elevated Road Vegetated Columns
My last post in January was edgy and raw but it sparked a deeper thought on expectations when leaving design school and a kind of search for the idealistic but engaged architectural practice. Granted, in China, this kind of practice may be practically non-existent due to the drive for profitability but at the very least I would like to see more motivated ambition and deliberately invested thought in design.
I left the "corporate firm" in May, traveled around a bit and then embarked on a normal sized foreign-owned landscape practice in June. No longer do I have to go to present a project I never even worked on! So I do feel more professional now but I wanted to roughly list out some observations and reflections over the past year:
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In Search for Design: Reflections on 4 1/2 Months in Shanghai
By Rem / in shanghai / January 7, 2011
This marks my 50th post on Landline, and, as such, I find it fitting to make a critical list on what things I find unacceptable in landscape architecture practice... in China. Note that this is heavily influenced by my time at a corporate firm: Read More »
Of Crooked Lines and Glowy Things
By Rem / in shanghai / December 1, 2010
To celebrate the seasonal occasion of glow-y lights, I'm going to post a whole slew of images from the Beijing Olympic Park when I visited there during National Week in October 2010, as well as images of Expo 2010 during day and night reflecting my four visits in September and October. Read More »
Mind the Hilly Road
By Rem / in shanghai / November 30, 2010
Looking out to Jingshan Park from the battlements of the Forbidden City
Immediately following my visit to the Forbidden City I went to Jingshan Park and ended my day at Beihai Park. Read More »
Imperial Detail
By Rem / in shanghai / October 23, 2010
This post is just a collection of images of some architectural details that I found intriguing while in the Forbidden City. Read More »
Walking the Emperor's Path
By Rem / in shanghai / October 23, 2010
Tiananmen Square as viewed Monday morning from the Tian'an Gate
On Monday, October 4th, I visited the Forbidden City. I went straight through, from south to north and double backed again after I noticed that I missed the entire right side of the city complex. The 15 rmb entrance fee to get onto the Tian'an Gate was worth it and the wait was fairly minimal despite the massive crowds. Read More »