A milestone in the history of Chinese modern landscape design: the Fangta Park in Shanghai

Abstract

Fangta Park in Shanghai is a widely admired Chinese modern park and a representative work by Professor Feng Jizhong. A literature review is first used to explain the construction process of Fangta Park, its design philosophy, master plan, and detailed design, followed by an analysis of the park’s design. Previous studies have shown how Feng Jizhong ‘deconstructed’ Western architectural forms using traditional Chinese space concepts, thus generating novel Chinese architectural forms underpinned by Western construction concepts. He adapted rhetorical devices of Chinese traditional poetry and used them in the spatial arrangement and landscape design of Fangta Park, a modern landscape and architectural masterpiece with distinctive Chinese characteristics. Feng Jizhong promoted blending Chinese culture with modern landscape design and illustrated the process of ‘space-time transformation’ with ‘conative space’. Through the design of Fangta Park, he exhibited his individuality and profound scholarship, charting a unique course for modern landscape architecture in China.