“The minimum intervention approach to urban greenway against a background of natural terrain and vegetation, is a “red ribbon” spanning five hundred meters, which integrates the functions of lighting, seating, environmental interpretation, and orientation. While preserving as much of the natural river corridor as possible during the process of urbanization, this project demonstrates how a minimal design solution can achieve a dramatic improvement to the landscape.
The project was located on the Tanghe River, at the east urban fringe of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, China.
The major design challenge was how to preserve the natural habitats along the river while creating the new urban uses of recreation and education. The solution is the “red ribbon”.
A “red ribbon” was designed against the background of green vegetation and blue water. This ribbon stretches for 500 meters along the riverbank, integrating a boardwalk, lighting, seating, environmental interpretation, and environmental orientation. Various plant specimens are grown in strategically placed holes in the ribbon.
The bright red color of the ribbon lights up this densely vegetated site, links the diverse natural vegetation types and the four added flower gardens, and provides a structural instrument that reorganizes the former unkempt and inaccessible site. The natural site has been dramatically urbanized and modernized, two attributes that are highly sought after by the local residents while keeping the ecological processes and natural services of the site intact.”
