To revitalize and draw more visitors to Bogong Island Ecology Park near Shanghai, Wutopia Lab reenvisions the traditional Chinese pergola in new materials and a beckoning form.
Wutopia Lab Revitalizes Bogong Island Ecology Park
- 10 architects and designers led by Wutopia Lab cofounder and chief architect Ting Yu
- 10,000 square feet
- 32 feet high
- 10 months of design and construction
- 10,000+ visitors
Using Photoshop, Wutopia Lab illustrates the site plan and elevations for Emerald Screen Pergola, the firm’s new multi-arched pavilion at Bogong Island Ecology Park in Wuxi, China.
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.
Wutopia cofounder and chief architect Ting Yu and his team were tasked with replacing an existing ¾-mile-long canopy, which had fallen into disrepair, with an architecturally dynamic, photo-worthy centerpiece.
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.
Construction workers spent four months on-site building Emerald Screen Pergola from bent tubular steel panels inset with steel mesh, all later painted white.
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.
Yu drew inspiration for the structure from an Imperial-era handscroll depicting walled gardens, a wisteria covered pergola, and structured paths in a lush landscape.
Photography courtesy of “spring Dawn at the Han Palace,” attributed to Sun Hu, Zhou Kun, & Ding Guanpeng.
Wutopia Lab modernized the typology of traditional bamboo pergolas into stacked and overlapping mesh panels.
Photography courtesy of Creatar Images.
Like leaves, the curved panels vary in height and width and will eventually be covered in climbing jasmine, ivy, roses, wisteria, and honeysuckle.
Photography courtesy of Creatar Images.
An aerial view captures the top of the pergola and its flowerlike configuration.
Photography courtesy of Creatar Images.
An incentive for the Emerald Screen Pergola is to make it a site for wedding photo shoots.
Photography courtesy of Creatar Images.
The structure follows a long, winding path—Yu refers to it as “dragonlike,” and, in China, the mythical animal symbolizes wisdom, power, good fortune, and wealth.
Photography courtesy of Creatar Images.