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DevolutioN Park
von • by Devolution, CN-Xiamen

www.devolution.cn

DevolutioN Park — located on the 27th floor of a 50-story residen-

tial tower in Xiamen — is the design of the architects Tang Jian-

song, Wang Qi and Yang Lutong and their joint office Devolution.

It extends over 90 square meters and thus has exactly the floor

space of a typical three-room apartment with a kitchen and bath-

room, millions of which have been built over the past decades for

the emerging Chinese middle class. As is so often the case, the

apartment in Xiamen — it is one of six almost identical apartments

on the same floor — was primarily an investment for its owner and

stood empty for years, until Jiansong, Qi and Lutong came up with

their idea of an ephemeral park. The owner was interested and

gave the go ahead. For a few months, the architects transformed

the apartment into a truly urban 'green lung'. Of course, the archi-

tects also wanted to convey a message! After all, public parks are

becoming increasingly rare in China's large metropolises, whereas

the new residential complexes increasingly feature private parks,

which, however, are only available to the respective residents.

With their installation, Jiansong, Qi and Lutong are deliberately

pushing this development to the extreme.

Foto: Xu Xiaodong