Expo Cultural Park Greenhouse Garden
China

Cultural
Greenhouse
Landscape Design
Refurbishment

Built

The zeitgeist has shifted towards recognizing nature as the essential basis of our living environment. And nature has also moved to the heart of architecture. In recent years, as it has repeatedly addressed the specific task of greenhouse design, DMAA has developed extensive technical and cultural knowhow.

With a population of 23 million, the megacity of Shanghai is the focal point of China’s urban and international development. The sparsely inhabited industrial suburb of Pudong has become home to one of Asia’s most spectacular high-rise skylines, at the heart of which the Expo Cultural Park is situated. But the Shanghai Region is also directly threatened by the consequences of unlimited growth and climate change.

Given biting smogs, water shortages, and rising temperatures, the country’s leaders are looking for solutions that take the form of radical largescale steps – steps that should not only preserve natural habitats but also steer China’s technological and economic efforts in a sustainable direction.

Before its transformation into the Expo Cultural Park, the inner-city recreational area was occupied by a coal-fired power plant and a steelworks. It was then remodeled as the location for Expo 2010. As part of the project for the new Greenhouse Garden, the steel structure of a former industrial hall was used as a geometrical superstructure that was then enhanced by organically shaped pavilions. The twin dualities of industry and nature and tradition and future mark the historical turning point at which Shanghai now finds itself. The municipal administration’s decision to refunction such a huge, centrally-located piece of land as a high-quality leisure area offers clear evidence of the overall trend towards the more intense planting of the core urban zones of Shanghai, one of the largest cities in the world with a subtropical climate.

Address
Shanghai Expo Cultural Park - Guo Zhan Lu
Pudong Xinqu, Shanghai

Competition
1st price

Start of planning
03/2019

Start of construction
01/2020

Completion
09/2024

Gross surface area
41.000 m²

Construction volume
340.000 m³

Site area
47.000 m²
(within the whole Park)

Height
35 m

Number of levels
3

Number of basements
1

Costs
€ 300 Mio.

Project manager
Diogo Teixeira

Project team
Yue Chen, Jurgis Gecys, Thomas Peter-Hindelang, Toms Kampars, Prima Mathawabhan, Sebastian Michalski, Ernesto Mulch, Maximilian Tronnier, Toni Nachev, Marillies Wedl

CONSULTANTS
Coordination
Yiju Ding

Executive planning
SIADR Co.Ltd

Structural engineering
Bollinger + Grohmann ZT GmbH

Energy Design
Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH

Landscape Design
Yiju Ding

Photographer / Movie
CreatAR
Yiju Ding

Movie
© CreatAR

Line sketch of a modern, multi-wing architectural complex on a shoreline.

Yin & Yang-
Turning an old steel factory into a sustainable Greenhouse

Yin-yang symbol; on the right, black abstract blob inside a vector-editing frame with guides and a selection box.

Aerial view of a futuristic glass-domed complex with bubble-like modules over a lake, linked by white curving walkways through a green park.

Aerial view of a futuristic glass-walled building complex on a lake, connected by curved white walkways, with parks and a distant skyline.

A vision for human-nature interaction in urban environments.

Curved glass building in a landscaped park by a lake, with a distant city skyline.

As greenhouses generally consume large amounts of energy, one particular aim of this project was to create a zero-energy building. This was achieved by the use of single glazing – a choice based on simulative calculations that showed that double glazing would be less energy efficient due to the fact that the reduction in heat loss would be more than cancelled out by the impact of the artificial lighting required by the plants.

Opening windows in the perforated roof can be adjusted to permit the natural ventilation and passive cooling that creates the optimal climate for the specific plants. A pool adjacent to the pavilions not only provides cooling but also supplies energy to the greenhouse from PV panels that are located just below its surface.

Modern glass conservatory with curved cylindrical facade and steel framework; a person walking on the manicured lawn nearby.

Glass-clad modern building along a lakefront; a person walks on the grassy bank beside slender trees.

The first pavilion recreates the radical aridity of the desert, with a sandy and rocky landscape that embodies the home of plants that can withstand drought yet are threatened by extinction in every continent. In contrast, the second pavilion contains the tropical vegetation of the rainforest, while the vertical flower gardens of the final pavilion offer space for travelling exhibitions. The terrace above the pavilions offers an overview of the entire park and the buildings that form the edge of the surrounding urban fabric. Between the three pavilions and the entrance building, and below the listed steel structure, a largescale circulation space integrates the project into the surrounding nature.

Visitor walking up wooden steps through a rocky desert garden of tall cacti inside a glass greenhouse.

The desert pavilion

Plain white background with a small blue line near the bottom center.

Person walking along a rocky desert garden path inside a glass-enclosed conservatory with tall yucca plants.

Visitor walking on a curved wooden walkway inside a glass-enclosed tropical greenhouse, with circular skylights and lush plants.

The Path Forward
There is always a chance for people to take an alternative path and “lose” themselves in the environment.

Person standing in a misty indoor botanical conservatory with a glass ceiling, taking a photo amid sunbeams and lush tropical plants.

Two visitors walk through a sunlit indoor botanical conservatory with glass skylights and lush greenery.

The tropical forest

Person walks along a wooden boardwalk inside a glass greenhouse with a rocky wall and dense tropical plants.

Blank white canvas with no objects or discernible action

Person standing on an elevated glass walkway inside a futuristic glass conservatory, overlooking a dense indoor forest.

Exterior view of a modern metal lattice facade with curved reflective panels creating abstract patterns.

The network of pathways within and between the greenhouses generates new qualities. By actively exploring this network, visitors pass through each spatial sequence, experiencing a targeted interaction with the built substance. Glazed parapets reveal these guests while gentle gradients speed up or slow down their progress.

The variation in water levels between the desert and the tropical vegetation is taken from nature, while also offering a global political perspective due to the questions about the future availability of water that are being raised by climate change. In this way, the organically undulating form of the facade becomes a leitmotif for not only the internal organization but also the new adaptable relationship between humans and nature.