Wetland Memorial Space to Communicate History and Modernity--Zhangjiagang Dongduyuan Green Space Landscape

"Sponge City Construction Theme" - Only Landscape Design Works (2) 

Project Scale: 5.2 hectares

Project Location: Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province

Design Keywords: reminiscence of ancient ghosts, memorial space design; ecological wetland, sponge city construction

Zhangjiagang Dongduyuan is located in the urban area, which is adjacent to the local site of ancient Huangsipu, the starting point of the sixth eastward journey of Jianzhen, to the north, and the Jianzhen Dongdu Memorial Hall and Dongdu Temple across the forest, covering an area of about 5.2 hectares. The base consists of two major parts: the Dongduyuan Temple and the green area, which will be designed as a thematic commemorative green area with the functions of education, recreation and tourism.

The area where the green space is located is a typical representative of the affluent Jiangnan water town with many river networks. As a result of social changes and land use changes, the only thing left on the site is a water pond, and there is no trace of the Horse Hissing Bridge, the Mill Knife Bridge, or the injection river where they were located. In this green space of 150 meters wide and 300 meters long, the designers of Vimeo Landscape opened a small river of about 10 meters wide, connecting the pond with the river of the ancient Huangsipu site, which serves as drainage and bioretention for the site; and further planted native aquatic plants, such as water onion, Xiangpu, lotus, floating applesauce, goldfish algae, and other quite, floating, and submerged plants, some of which are ponds that have developed according to the trend of the development of the pond, and all of which powerfully purify the river and pond water, and also purify the rainwater that has been retained into the site. All of this strongly purifies the water in the river and pond, and also purifies the rainwater that stays in. The rainwater is not discharged into the city drainage network except for on-site infiltration. A dam in the river channel, which is set up according to the difference in height, also serves to maintain the height of the river in times of great drought.

From the perspective of a memorial park, an ecological wetland is built with a pond and simulates the sea; a shipwreck site covered with glass expresses the hardship of six voyages to the east; and a miniature Japanese-style Kusan-sui garden symbolizes the success of reaching the East. The river bank running through the park symbolizes the connection between history and modernity. A series of attractions are used to materialize the scene of the sixth voyage to the East: monk Jianzhen traveled to Japan six times from 743 to promote Buddhism after 11 years and suffered a lot to finally reach Japan. He brought with him the splendid culture of the Tang Dynasty, which had a profound influence on Buddhism in Japan and many other aspects. A sculpture of a lawn and a deer in the park indicates the origin of the name from the historical agricultural and forestry raising activities of the town of Deer Park, where it is located.

Lotus pond viewed from afar

Japanese-style garden (1)

Restoration of the historical Horseshoe Bridge

Trestle Bridge

Japanese-style garden (2)