อินทีกรัล อีโค่-อินดัสเทรียล แคมปัส

Project Summary

Integral Guilin is an industrial park located in Jiumeiqiao, Guilin, China, comprising of textile factories, factory facilities, retail shop, offices and public visiting area. Integral, inspired and named from the Buddhist concept, is the philosophy to position oneself among the nature of life and the universe. The landscape design aims to naturally bring back the local flora and fauna of the area and foster a respectful co-existing mindset between individual human being and nature.

Guilin is a place of natural heritage, from the Li River scenery to the lifestyle of the locals, as well as a place of progress and industrial advancement. Balancing between the two contrasts, Integral Guilin aspires to create a place that generates sustainable community for human and nature by fostering and educating the values of nature to factory staff, locals and visitors alike.

The site used to be a brick manufacturing factory and was left half spoiled by the previous owner, large pits scattered all over the area and bare soil surface with minimal to no groundcover, inevitably prone to erosion during the rainy season. In order to reintroduce nature back into the site, erosion preventive method through use of recycled material were applied in area of concern. Designers surveyed the site and surrounding with local horticultural experts to gather specimens and gain understanding of the site’s potential and ecosystem.

The landscape dedicate an isolated island located in the middle of the lake as a habitat for the untampered nature. Physically inaccessible by people, a symbol of an untouched sacred place of nature, a reminder for anyone who visits to cherish the purity of the nature and the absence of pollution. The stand-alone island acts as a habitat for water birds and other fauna in the area and as a specimen of “nature taking its course” for outsiders.

The landscape design approach of this project is very implicit and subtle but impactful to the users’ mind. Utilizing recycled materials made from the waste materials of manufacturing process and the construction into the design. Installation elements are designed for not only aesthetic function but also contribute to the environment. All concrete mix test batches, made during construction, were molded into pillars/stacks to create erosion preventive mechanism used to fortify the soil surface. Scrap plastics from the factory were gathered and used as the main component for the porous compressed plastic bricks that mitigate irrigation on the campus hardscape area.