Park as Sculpture——Zhengzhou Sculpture Park

Location: Zhengzhou, Henan Province

Client: Zhengzhou Landscape Architecture Bureau

Area: 29hm2

Competition: First Prize, 2008

Design and Competition: 2008-2012

Zhengzhou Sculpture Park is located in Jialuhe River valley, which depth is about 10 meters. After water regulation in the upriver region, the river level is basically stable in the site. The site was mostly occupied by farmlands, and trees, houses and temporary factory buildings were few and far between in this area.

In 2008, Atelier DYJG won the first prize in design competition and further got commission to complete the scheme design and development design.

We think, that nowadays building sculpture garden and showing art pieces under the sun and in the woodlands is back to the essence of sculpture in the remote antiquity——sculpture should be integrated into and response to the natural environment. So, in the design of Zhengzhou Sculpture Park, we not only try to create a beautiful environment for displaying sculptures, but also expect that the park itself will be an impressive art piece, that is to say, even there are no sculptures in this park, the park itself will be a huge sculpture.

Based on the original topography, we shape a series of finger-like hills according to the direction of water-flow to solve the height difference of the valley, thus creating strong sculptural characteristic and rich spatial variations. At the same time, hilly landscape changes the original river course and creates a central lake with dynamic shoreline morphology.

The Sculpture Park is divided into Public Art Zone, Exhibition and Activity Zone, Hills Valley and Central Lake, and each part has its own function, and provides different types of exhibition spaces for various sculpture exhibition requirements. By establishing an interesting 3 Dimension pedestrian network, the park offers visitors different viewpoints and various spatial experience.

The park itself is an open-air museum and a huge earth sculpture full of inner energy. It provides public a relaxing environment to approach and understand the art, promotes the interaction between artists and public, and also becomes a public leisure place filled with artistic atmosphere.