MORE THAN A GARDEN

Design Background

Against the backdrop of rapid urbanization, ecological challenges such as stormwater flooding have grown increasingly acute, while vast amounts of urban architectural space sit idle — single in function and low in use. In response, this project takes ecological recreation, climate-adaptive design, and co-creation as its core principles, reactivating an underutilized campus rooftop into a sustainable rain garden demonstration — one that weaves ecological experimentation, climate response, and public engagement into a single living landscape, inviting a forgotten space back into the city's metabolism.

Design Strategy

Framed by the multi-objective coordination of "experiment – landscape – co-construction," the design unfolds three mutually reinforcing strategies.

Co-creation and co-management

collaborative planning, joint construction, and shared stewardship fold daily maintenance, teaching exhibitions, and community activities into a dynamic participatory building system.

Combination of experimentation and recreation

combined planter and experiment boxes embed scientific observation naturally within the public's recreational routes.

Climate-adaptive experimentation

before-and-after site comparison, together with water volume, water quality, and carbon management experiments, turns the rooftop garden into a measurable, verifiable prototype for climate response.