Precedent Studies - #2 - Grand Canal
Suzhou Grand Canal Waterfront
in Suzhou, China
Client: Suzhou Hi Tech District
Size: 287 acres
- City of Suzhou commissioned TLS Landscape Architecture, Berkeley, CA to plan the urban renovation of 13 km (approx. 8 miles) of the Grand Canal
- The Grand Canal begins at Beijing, passes through Suzhou and ends at Hangzhou
- Construction of the Grand Canal began 2,500 years ago ; its construction enabled it to become the main shipping artery of China in the ancient times
- Today, it's still heavily active with commercial barges and other boat traffic
- As eastern China's levels of urbanization rose, the water levels also rose substantially due to runoff; THUS, requiring new strategies to raise the level of flood protection
- Suzhou wants to convert the "disconnected, neglected banks" to fully connective urban centerpieces ; which would turn a "back door" into a "front door" for daily civic life and redevelopment
- The canal has been the site of much of China's cultural heritage
- NEW PLAN; turn this waterfront into an "unfolding scroll" that weaves together diverse historic strands to create a monumental resource
- They plan to achieve this by using devices ranging from large scale photo murals and "Lantern Box" mini-museums to an itinerary of "scenes" evoking modern relevance of this history through art installations
- There's a variety of shoreline typologies such as sculptural hard edges at the water, green terraces which step toward the water, protected urban wetlands at the Canal's level
- The idea is that as you move along the length of the "urban scroll" (the Grand Canal), the specific stories and spatial experiences designed/integrated into those spaces, respond to the specific histories and current dynamics of each district and neighborhood
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