Art Meets Urban Planning in Nanyang City, China

Planted into the rich soil and verdant fields of Central China, Nanyang City is the fertile ground from which the millennia-old Chu-Han culture grew. While the bustling metropolis is home to more urban forms of life these days, farmlands still surround it. Nanyang Wanyue City Square & Landscape Sculpture by One Plus Partnership pays tribute to this local agriculture via a striking structure that’s part artwork and part city planning. “Our goal is to attract different ages to this place,” One Plus founder and design director Ajax Law says.

Erected upon a 31/2-acre plot of land, the sculpture portion is what first catches the eye. The One Plus team welded together approximately 1,600 steel-plate squared rods, coated in either taupe or emerald automative paint, into a pair of forms. The taupe rods rise some 60 feet toward the sky; the green appear to run through them, resulting in a sort of abstracted, human-scale skyscraper. At night, the horizontal and vertical bars are illuminated by wall washers hidden among them and in-ground LED spots.

The geometrical arrangements reappear below as steel flower ponds overflowing with Buxus sinica, a native plant. Around them, varying tones of granite tile illustrate One Plus’s idea of “thousands of miles of fertile field” as viewed from the air. “Farmland doesn’t have to be
a symbol of obsolescence,” One Plus cofounder and codesign director Virginia Lung notes. “Humans get the nourishment to continue their lives from them.” And, in the case of the Nanyang Wanyue City Square & Landscape Sculpture, to gaze, take selfies, and reflect.