Botanic Garden of 2019 World Horticultural Exposition in Beijing
iCity   Dec 30.2020

Introduction

The  theme of 2019 World Horticultural Exposition in Beijing is “Live Green,Live Better”. The Expo features a wide array of educational and interactive exhibits and hosts a range of public events, thematic symposia and cultural performances. The emphasis will be on building a beautiful home while promoting harmonious coexistence between human beings and the nature. The Botanic Garden is one of the four major pavilions in the campus . The total area of the site is 39,000 ㎡, with 9,391 ㎡ above ground and a building height of 23.95 m. The core function of this building is a tropical greenhouse about 3,000㎡.

Reason to Be Selected

Unlike other greenhouses, the greenhouse of the Botanic Garden is hidden on the east side behind the waiting area and is characterized by a “rising horizon” structure. The dangling structure inside the grey space represents the abundant root systems of the plants. This mysterious design has a strong visual appeal for the audience. Meanwhile, it provides shade for the audience while they are waiting outdoors in the hot summer weather, making the otherwise tedious queuing experience full of curiosity and wonderment.

Highlights:

Visitors begin in the Multimedia Exhibition Hall, enter the greenhouse, and finish by returning to the exhibition hall. This sequence reflects the curatorial theme of “The Incredible Intelligence of the Plant”, and it maximizes the enjoyment of the audience through various contexts.

Details

The first stop is the Multimedia Exhibition Hall. The first scene is a lively restoration of a mangrove forest created by TeamLab. To provide the audience with an interactive and engaging experience with nature, TeamLab uses the most advanced interactive acousto-optic effects and an immersive exhibition.
The route from the exhibition hall to the greenhouse includes a demonstration of mangrove tidal variations, followed by a series of thematic installations. The audience can closely experience the life of plants, such as their reproduction, survival, defense, and cross-pollination. Following along the path that circles upwards, the audience will be directed to closely observe the plants, from the roots to the top.
The major route passes through the treetops, bringing the audience back to the indoor exhibition hall. The path continues to circle up until reaching the top floor of the building, where the audience will find a bookstore, gift shop, and cafe. On the rooftop, visitors can experience a panoramic view of the entire park. This also provides a dramatic view of the Guishui River and Haituo Mountain as well as an overlook back to the greenhouse from a different perspective.

Conclusions

A tourist attraction point located on the rooftop is a sculpture of giraffes called “Molly and her family”. The sculpture was designed by James Doran-Webb and is made of Molave wood. Following the steps down brings the audience to a lighting show depicting the process of photosynthesis. The show presents the entire growth process of the mangrove from a seed to a tree and its relationship with its environment. It is designed to remind people that human society depends on plants and that people should treasure and protect nature.

 



Lat: 39.54
Lng: 116.23
Type:
Region: Asia
Scale: Building
Field: Civilian
City: Beijing