Honor Award
Forest Park West Entry: Breaking Barriers to Connect Neighborhood Landscape Infrastructure
Kunshan, Jiangsu, China
Lead Landscape Architect: Fred Liao, ASLA
Client: Kunshan City Construction Investment and Development Group Co., Ltd.
Forest Park is a large open space and a major resource of green resource for Kunshan, a developing suburb of Shanghai. 163 hectares of forested wetland form a green island within the rapidly developing district of Kunshan West.
Transforming the park into landscape infrastructure that serves the residential communities of the district required strategic planning that addressed the accessibility, ecological, and programmatic challenges of the site. The West Entry broke through the barrier of the western edge of the park to act as a neighborhood link for Kunshan West, fulfilling the vision of a fully connected Forest Park.
This West Entry acts as a gateway into a network of boardwalks and bike trails that weave through a variety of both active and passive recreational amenities. A diversified planting palette improves the biodiversity of the site as well as serves the overall district with an effective stormwater runoff treatment system. Today, Forest Park has transformed into an dynamic district park and a fundamental piece of landscape infrastructure that will support the thriving future of Kunshan West.
