Chinese Herbal Garden
Architect: DnA Design and Architecture
Location: Songyang County, Lishui, Zhejiang Province, China | View Map
Project Year: 2018
Category: Parks/Gardens
松阳县盛产中药材，孕育了中医传统和居家疗法及文化习俗。县城中心的历史街区仍然是原始的建筑和历史建筑，如文庙、吴庙、城隍庙、医药宫、天皇殿、太保宫等。医学方面引进实用的药膳、教学等项目，也与周边居民区和生活区融为一体
Songyang County is rich in Chinese medicinal herbs, which nurture the tradition of Chinese medicine and home-therapy and cultural practices. The historical district in County Urban Center still remains the original fabric and historical buildings such as the Wen Temple, the Wu Temple, the City God Temple, the Medicine Palace, the Heavenly Empress Palace, and the Taibao Palace. The Chinese medicine recreational and cultural district has been planned centered around the Palace of Medicine to introduce practical programs such as medicinal cuisine and teaching, which also integrates with the residential and living areas in the surrounding.
在这个人口稠密的狭巷私房区，由于消防规定，当地一个轻钢结构的商品交易市场已经腾空，这一市场区的拆除将开辟一条通往太平坊大道的主要通道，并连接到南部的松阳戏院。这也将在密集的居民区提供一个开放的休闲广场。
In this densely populated area occupied by private housing on narrow lanes, a local commodity trading market built with light steel structure has been vacated due to the fire regulations. According to the district planning, the demolition of this market block will open up a main access to the mainTaiping Fang Road and connect to the Songyang Opera Theatre in the south. This will also provide an open leisure plaza in the dense residential area.
我们参与了这个公共广场项目的设计，当时商品交易市场正在进行拆迁，按照计划，设计和施工的总时间只有6周，因此，为了适应项目需要，按照进度要求，同时也是本区的规划主题，我们提出了一个“中草药园”来定义广场的生活和文化特征，同时也将巩固区域规划和景观设计。
We became involved in the design of this public square project while the Commodity Trade Market was already undergoing demolition. The total timeline to complete both design and construction was only six weeks according to the schedule. Therefore, to adapt to the program needs, the schedule requirement, and also the planning theme of this district, we propose a “Chinese Herbal Garden” to define both living and cultural characters of the square, which will also consolidate both district planning and landscape design.
原标的原地面已经硬化，所以我们的设计适应了这种情况，在水泥地面上刻了一块，种上了药材，按照南北轴线的顺序记录了当地的草药，由地区织物延伸的东西向通道分为四季章节。广场四周是原有的建筑群，西侧的新文化墙上，以传统的方式描绘松阳中医药文化的历史，作为背景信息，并提供一个有座位的休息区。
The original floor of the former marker has already been hardened, so our design adapts to the condition by carving out the cement floor and planting medicinal herbs, in a sequence of recording the local herbs in writing along the north-south axis, which are divided into four season chapters by the east-west passages extending from the district fabric. The square is surrounded by the original buildings, while on the new cultural wall on the west side, pictures illustrating the history of Songyang's Chinese medicine culture are painted in traditional way to serve as background information and provide a resting area with seats.
All writings are sequenced along the north-south direction to emphasize the order of entrance at Taiping Fang Road into the historic district in the north.
药名与种植的草药相对应，区分灌木和草本，字体分别为4平方米和2.5平方米。树木被种植在字符之间，为那些需要遮荫的人提供树冠。
The names of the medicine correspond to the herbs planted and are distinguished between shrubs and herbs, with fonts in 4 square meters and 2.5 square meters, respectively. Trees are planted between characters to provide canopy for those need shading.
根据不同的生长季节，不同的药材可以为游客提供不同的识别体验。这种互动也可以成为当地中医药和草药文化的一个有趣的学习过程，从周围居民楼的上层往下看，这个草药园就像是用中草药书写的书法。随着生长和衰败的循环，植物在一年中的不同季节里盛衰交替，就像书法的墨水一样。
According to their different growing seasons, the various medicinal herbs can provide different recognition experiences for people visiting this plaza. This interaction can also become a fun learning process on local Chinese medicine and herbal culture. Looking down from the upper floors of the surrounding residences, this herb garden is seen as calligraphy written with Chinese herbal plants. With the cycles of growth and decay, the plants flourish and wither throughout different seasons of the year, like the ink of calligraphy.
