Vale of Springs

Landscape + detention basin of university campus

The Vale of Springs project involved the restoration of the sunken plaza outside Chung-Yuan Christian University library. The concrete pavement had been damaged by decades of use and the roots of the large banyan trees. The designers explored several modalities of porosity and hybridity through exposed and pervious concrete, metal grates, and gravel. They also worked closely with a plant consultant and contractors to find drainage and rainwater storage solutions. The concrete pavement of the sunken plaza was demolished and repurposed. Native perennials were planted wherever soil remained exposed. The overall design is a sensitive dialogue with the modernist campus through imaginative materiality that reveals traces of time.

Client / Manufacturer

Chung Yuan Christian University

Taoyuan, TW

Design

ArchiBlur Lab

Taichung, TW

Wen artstudio

Taipei, TW

Studio ++

Taipei, TW