Report about the investigation of the Guangzhou People’s Park

Workgroup: Guo Baozhen (No.09) Liu Weiyi (No.18) Xu Zhidong (No.29) Zhangmin (No.39) Text By Bobo, Milk Girl, Don and Min Photographed By Don Class: City Planning 99 Completion Date:2002-06-24

As a city square, in hell who is its owner? Does it belong to the government? The designer? Or the citizens? From this report

of the Guangzhou People’s Park, we will find the answer to

the question.

Sustainable And Context • The Guangzhou People's Park is one of

the longest history among the parks in the city. The original site was the old government office of the dynasties from the Sui dynasty to the late Qing dynasty. In 1917 proposed by Mr.Sun Zhongshan, the site was built into a park, named "The first Park" It was designed by engineer Yang Xizong who studied abroad on France. The project of building the park was finished in 1918. From 1923 to 1924, Sun Zhongshan and Premier Zhou had ever published speeches here. The name was altered to "Central Park" in 1926.

Sustainable And Context • After liberation, in 1996,it was

renamed "People's Park" till now. In 1998 the Guangzhou Municipal Government decided to renovate the park in an all-round way to build it into an open greenbelt square. The process of designing for the Guangzhou People's Park went through a long time. Its design was very simple. But it succeeded in respecting Guangzhou's history and Guangzhou citizen's emotion. Nay, it is the only park that was the European style in Guangzhou.

• The People’s Park which is situated in front of the Guangzhou Government buildings is located in the central section of Guangzhou. Many kinds of transportations including subway compile here. Meanwhile, the existence of the Guangzhou Government buildings behind it stands for the square is the core of the administration. For this reason, the People’s Park becomes a important traffic core for gathering and evacuation.

Arrangement And Space Function

General Layout

Arrangement And Space Function

Arrangement And Space Function• The whole park seize hold of an area of 48400 square meters.

With a main axis that interpenetrates from the south to the north, a road- lattice is formed by five longitudinal paths and four transverse paths. Each views spreads symmetrically with the main axis in the lattice. The lawns which was divided into several areas with different sizes by the lattice shape all kinds of open space. The framework of the park takes shape of a rectangle so that it can avoid to making the feeling of a exhaustive axis. When we enter into this space, we feel it sententious and capacious. Indeed, the park gardens the people’s living space widely.

Environment And Landscape

• The landscape design of the People’s park square continues the classical European style. The greenland and the pavements are divided and the layout of the square is just like the Europeanized gardens in the former park. So it could be described as “it is a design without design ”.

• The greenery landscape of the square symmetrical, with the east, west, south, north as the axis. The west of the axis is the well-laid-out. Woods, and the straight greenery and pavements make up geometric figures. In order to express people’s great reverence for the history and the folk characters, the designer built four people’s sculptures. Taking north and south as the axis, the music pavilion, the Music pavilion stand in the center of the square symmetrically. With the Sculptures, the pools and the flower nurseries interweaving in it. Now the beautiful park has become an oasis located in the center of the city and also a good place for people to relax and refresh them selves after work.

Environment And Landscape

People’s Activities • In the park, anywhere can be seen with green

trees, singing birds and balmy flowers. It is the amusement place where the citizen always likes to go. Everyday, the citizens do the various activities in this open space buildings. Such as roller-skate, kicking boll, singing, dancing. In these photos we can see the deforming performers who are playing music, and gathered mid-life who are dancing, the old people who are playing chess and so on. Closed to the city government unconstrained make here turn into a real living room of citizens.

The city square belongs to the citizens. As a city planning designer, we should regard that providing a comfortable living environment for people as the overarching positive goal.

THE END