Changsha Poly — Assembly City — A Magical Forest in Urban Jungles

Changsha Poly — Assembly City by Dean Design

An enchanting forest-themed environment activates a new type of urban park.

Offering numerous panoramas and activities, the design proposes a new form of human-nature interaction for those who experience these open spaces, ultimately providing an opportunity to relax and reflect in the city.

-Dean Design

With accelerated urbanization and continuous development of a high-tech lifestyle, the importance of urban parks and landscapes has gained new significance. One aspect of this transformation is rethinking human-nature relationships and integration.

As the first high-end project in the 'City' series located in the New Jiangnan District, a strategic zone of the Belt and Road Initiative, Assembly City is near developed central city areas. The project sits close to notable landmarks such as the Tianxin Commercial Center and Yuelu Cultural Center. It is accessible via major roads Tangzhou and Yuyaoxian, and borders the National Wetland Park of Yanhu, offering an opportunity to create a new type of project integrating green, ecological, and progressive values.

Focused on the integration of natural ecology and urban life, Dean Design applies a concept of enriched human experience through art to the design of all landscape elements. Applying the theme of urban forest to plantings, pathways, street furniture, and sculptures, they use archetypal images of deer in the forest to create a synthesis of culture and nature accessible to park visitors. This unique blend of forest environment and active park creates a memorable urban experience, both tactile and poetic, within nature.

"Landscapes represent the integration of aesthetic feelings applied to natural scenery and everyday life. In this forest urban park, ecology, life, and leisure were key words in our conceptual approach. We used gentle, fleeting images of deer in the forest to begin exploring nature-human relationships with the goal of fully realizing the unique potential of this site."

Plants and trees, light and shadow, deer sculptures, and winding paths interweave into a series of vibrant scenes. By designing plantings to match the types of pathways in the park, designers recreated an experience of visiting a natural forest environment. Deer sculptures, as central elements of the scene, bring joy and lightness to those passing through this area.

While visitors stroll through the forest, quiet sounds of grass in the wind, babbling brooks and waterfalls create a rich sensory experience. Here, deer sculptures among the landscape add aesthetic appeal. From a leisure perspective, listening to flowing water nearby and gazing at distant green forests satisfies urban residents' inner need for nature, fostering a strong connection to the park's activities.

"For us, landscape sculptures are not just physical forms but metaphorical bridges between humanity and nature. By integrating associations of 'art-place-landscape-emotion', they provide both conceptual and intuitive connections for society to the core meaning of the project: symbiosis between landscape and emotion."

Along winding paths, visitors encounter living installations composed of circular forms in the landscape. The designer explored structure, rhythm, and artistic aspects of geometry to create a strong contrast with surrounding natural elements. Each time visitors pass by, they gain opportunities to discover and enjoy new nuances of this unique environment.

Integrating principles and feelings of modern art into the rich natural features of the park, a new type of design lexicon was created that addresses not only contextual beauty but also coexistence between art and nature — as well as how their relationships can be continuously explored beyond traditional understandings of what constitutes a landscape.

As visitors head toward the garden adjacent to the water zone, they pass through a steel ring installation reflecting clean minimalist aesthetics of modern art. Reflected in the pond’s water, this landscape with a dreamy atmosphere of virtual and real evokes poetic feelings and emotions reflecting the experience of life beside water.

Visitors, stopping to gaze at the shimmering surface of the water, can observe subtle reflections of trees, light, and sculptures brought together. "Here, regardless of object or form, we strive to create an engaging environment that reflects not only the world of culture but also the fundamental connection between humanity and nature through landscape aesthetics and design."

As elements with high potential to attract visitors to the park, cloud-mushroom sculptures are a bright expression of creativity. Introducing these playful and memorable elements into the project transforms the atmosphere through lively interaction between visitors, young and old — creating an engaging active zone for the local community.

The children's playground hidden among trees is a space for kid activities and where the local community can enjoy a vibrant, dynamic atmosphere. "Planning children's playgrounds is closely linked to natural ecology, urban environment, and child behavior; it is based on careful observation and practical application of dynamic systems rather than static assembly of play elements."

The playground integrates parent-child interaction, play activities, and visitor communication opportunities. Unique play elements such as the "deer house," colorful ground covering, swings, and sports complexes offer tactile connections with the park for the local community. Thus, the park concepts of "deer by the lake" and "children playing in the forest" become reality, supporting the well-being and sense of wonder for visiting children.

With urban life comes housing in concrete buildings and alienation from nature. In the Changsha Assembly City project, designers aim to allow urban dwellers to rediscover and explore nature in the city, promoting an innovative ecological system compatible with a poetic and aesthetically refined environment. Dean Design created a mythical forest within the urban park, where art and nature harmonize beautifully. By focusing on the complexity of the urban environment, the project not only creates a natural landscape compatible with city life but also a living place for public events — a friendly space of interaction between urban workers, the local community, and visitors, opening the way to new possibilities, ideas, and lifestyles.

-Project description and images provided by CURRENT-NEWSWIRE