large white pergola building surrounded by trees

October 22, 2024

Words: Athena Waligore

Walk Through A Lush Pergola In Bogong Island Ecology Park

To revitalize and draw more visitors to Bogong Island Ecology Park near Shanghai, Wutopia Lab reenvisions the traditional Chinese pergola in new materials and a beckoning form.

Wutopia Lab Revitalizes Bogong Island Ecology Park

  • 10 architects and designers led by Wutopia Lab cofounder and chief architect Ting Yu
  • 10,000 square feet
  • 32 feet high
  • 10 months of design and construction
  • 10,000+ visitors

Using Photoshop, Wutopia Lab illustrates the site plan and elevations for Emerald Screen Pergola, the firm’s new multi-arched pavilion at Bogong Island Ecology Park in Wuxi, China.

a map of a train going through a forest
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.
site plans showing green grass and buildings
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.

Wutopia cofounder and chief architect Ting Yu and his team were tasked with replacing an existing ¾-mile-long canopy, which had fallen into disrepair, with an architecturally dynamic, photo-worthy centerpiece.

A walkway in the middle of a park
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.

Construction workers spent four months on-site building Emerald Screen Pergola from bent tubular steel panels inset with steel mesh, all later painted white.

A man is standing under a metal structure
Photography courtesy of Wutopia Lab.

Yu drew inspiration for the structure from an Imperial-era handscroll depicting walled gardens, a wisteria covered pergola, and structured paths in a lush landscape.

A painting of a garden with people and trees
Photography courtesy of “spring Dawn at the Han Palace,” attributed to Sun Hu, Zhou Kun, & Ding Guanpeng.

Wutopia Lab modernized the typology of traditional bamboo pergolas into stacked and overlapping mesh panels.

A large white building
Photography courtesy of Creatar Images.

Like leaves, the curved panels vary in height and width and will eventually be covered in climbing jasmine, ivy, roses, wisteria, and honeysuckle.

A couple standing in a park with a white structure
Photography courtesy of Creatar Images.

An aerial view captures the top of the pergola and its flowerlike configuration.

A white structure with a circular design
Photography courtesy of Creatar Images.

An incentive for the Emerald Screen Pergola is to make it a site for wedding photo shoots.

A bride and groom walking through a tunnel of white arches
Photography courtesy of Creatar Images.

The structure follows a long, winding path—Yu refers to it as “dragonlike,” and, in China, the mythical animal symbolizes wisdom, power, good fortune, and wealth.

A bird's eye view of a park with a river and a bridge
Photography courtesy of Creatar Images.

read more