Challenging the historical paradigm of inward oriented gardens, the Beijing Expo looks out to engage adjacent gardens and its context through an outward oriented composition of overlapping paths, swaths of plantings, and sculpted earthworks activated by movement, light, and time.
The interrelated composition and compression of garden elements define the Beijing International Garden Expo, offering a new perspective on the potentials of 21st century garden design and contemporary design expression. The garden experience choreographs visitors through a cinematic arrangement of bold chromatic juxtapositions, using plants, topography, and garden structures typically experienced in larger landscapes. Visitors are gradually elevated atop sculptural landforms towards a sky bridge; while the incline of the path is gentle, it raises visitors up 12 feet above the ground level of the entry plaza, immersing visitor in an unusually physically and psychologically uplifting perspective of the garden from above. The interrelated organic logic of the planting strategy creates a living painting, expressed as a flourishing carpet of drifting lavender plants with aromatic properties that heighten the sensual qualities of the garden.
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