The lawn represents social commonwealth, an urban substitute for the productive soil of the rural environment. An ambiguous surface, infill for urban designers’ master plans, palliative for the scourge of urban development. Green looks great filling the spaces between buildings on all those drawings, but once those lawns are seeded do we all have to “Keep Off!”? Lawns are benign, hygienic and controlled; they cover all the horror, squalor and uncertainty of the ground. Lawns are a tactic on the battlefield between power and democracy—occupying and sometimes also inhabitable! Lawns are a visual representation of nature in an urban context; but they are anything but natural. The lawn is an engineered product genetically enhanced, mass produced in rolls, cut into uniform strips, transported in a truck and installed on-site by hard human labor. Lawns are a little like urbanism in China; they consume little material, and cover large areas in a short time. Floating Green, a public art installation located in Shanghai Pudong Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, detaches the flat lawn from the earth it covers, folds it and structures it to form inhabitable urban furniture. Instead of “Keep Off!” we are encouraged to “Hop On!” and touch it, smell it, use it and sense it however we please. The thin structure shakes gently when people sitting on it burst into laughter. An architectural artifact is usually singular and monumental, while a city emphasizes density and multiplicity. Floating Green rejects sculptural iconography in favor of an urban surface articulated in diverse parts.
294 FAN, Ling
SITTING ON A FLOATING GREEN The lawn represents social commonwealth, an urban substitute for the productive soil of the rural environment. An ambiguous surface, infill for urban designers’ master plans, palliative for the scourge of urban development. Green looks great filling the spaces between buildings on all those drawings, but once those lawns are seeded do we all have to “Keep Off!”? Lawns are benign, hygienic and controlled; they cover all the horror, squalor and uncertainty of the ground. Lawns are a tactic on the battlefield between power and democracy—occupying and sometimes also inhabitable! Lawns are a visual representation of nature in an urban context; but they are anything but natural. The lawn is an engineered product genetically enhanced, mass produced in rolls, cut into uniform strips, transported in a truck and installed on-site by hard human labor. Lawns are a little like urbanism in China; they consume little material, and cover large areas in a short time. Floating Green, a public art installation located in Shanghai Pudong Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, detaches the flat lawn from the earth it covers, folds it and structures it to form inhabitable urban furniture. Instead of “Keep Off!” we are encouraged to “Hop On!” and touch it, smell it, use it and sense it however we please. The thin structure shakes gently when people sitting on it burst into laughter. An architectural artifact is usually singular and monumental, while a city emphasizes density and multiplicity. Floating Green rejects sculptural iconography in favor of an urban surface articulated in diverse parts.
295
Floating Green, Fan Ling, Zhangjiang Art Park, Pudong, Shanghai, 2008. Four 2x1.5 x 1.2m stainless steel LING FAN is an architect and critic based
units are assembled and topped with turf on-site
in Beijing. He is Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture at the Central Academy
Floating Green, Fan Ling, Zhangjiang Art Park, Pudong, Shanghai, 2008. Four 2x1.5 x 1.2m
of Fine Arts, Beijing.
stainless steel units are assembled and topped with turf on-site
FAN, Ling
LING FAN is an architect and critic based in Beijing. He is Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture at the Central Academy
Floating Green, Fan Ling, Zhangjiang Art Park, Pudong, Shanghai, 2008. Four 2x1.5 x 1.2m
of Fine Arts, Beijing.
stainless steel units are assembled and topped with turf on-site
FAN, Ling
306090 13
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294
295 FAN, Ling
SITTING ON A FLOATING GREEN The lawn represents social commonwealth, an urban substitute for the productive soil of the rural environment. An ambiguous surface, infill for urban designers’ master plans, palliative for the scourge of urban development. Green looks great filling the spaces between buildings on all those drawings, but once those lawns are seeded do we all have to “Keep Off!”? Lawns are benign, hygienic and controlled; they cover all the horror, squalor and uncertainty of the ground. Lawns are a tactic on the battlefield between power and democracy—occupying and sometimes also inhabitable! Lawns are a visual representation of nature in an urban context; but they are anything but natural. The lawn is an engineered product genetically enhanced, mass produced in rolls, cut into uniform strips, transported in a truck and installed on-site by hard human labor. Lawns are a little like urbanism in China; they consume little material, and cover large areas in a short time. Floating Green, a public art Floating Green, Fan Ling, Zhangjiang Art Park, Pudong, Shanghai, 2008. Four 2x1.5 x 1.2m installation located in Shanghai Pudong stainless steel units are assembled and topped with turf on-site Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, detaches the flat lawn from the earth it covers, folds it and structures it to form inhabitable urban furniture. Instead of “Keep Off!” we are encouraged to “Hop On!” and touch it, smell it, use it and sense it however we please. The thin structure shakes gently when people sitting on it burst into laughter. An architectural artifact is usually singular and monumental, while a city emphasizes density and multiplicity. Floating Green rejects sculptural iconography in favor Floating ofGreen, an urban Fan Ling, Zhangjiang Art Park, Pudong, Shanghai, 2008. Four 2x1.5 x 1.2m stainless steel units are assembled and topped with turf on-site. See “Sitting on a Floating Green” on page 294. surface articulated in diverse parts.
Floating Green, Fan Ling, Zhangjiang Art Park, Pudong, Shanghai, 2008. Four 2x1.5 x 1.2m stainless steel units are assembled and topped with turf on-site
Floating Green, Fan Ling, Zhangjiang Art Park, Pudong, Shanghai, 2008. Four 2x1.5 x 1.2m stainless steel units are assembled and topped with turf on-site
306090 13
LING FAN is an architect and critic based in Beijing. He is Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture at the Central Academy
Floating Green, Fan Ling, Zhangjiang Art Park, Pudong, Shanghai, 2008. Four 2x1.5 x 1.2m
of Fine Arts, Beijing.
stainless steel units are assembled and topped with turf on-site
FAN, Ling
306090 13