Clean, green and serene

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Visitors at the exhibition MVRDV Green Factory in Hangzhou (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

For decades, the oxygen plant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, was a symbol of the city’s industrialisation and economic development. Sprawling over more than 148 acres, the vast complex is now taking on a brand-new existence.

In accordance with changing requirements for urban development and industrial upgrading, the factory has been moving operations to more suburban areas of the city since 2008. Now, the municipal government has decided to repurpose the site and make it an international platform for promoting culture and tourism.

Part of this involves the creation of the O2 Museum, comprising an urban museum as well as an art and science museum. Although it is scheduled to open officially in 2024 , it recently offered visitors a sneak peek of what to expect with an exhibition and accompanying series of forums.

As visitors enter the exhibition, MVRDV Green Factory, they find the exhibition hall is also covered in greenery, and a banner at the entrance greets them with the words: “Welcome to the green city”.

Running until 31 December 2023, the exhibition is about the work of Dutch architectural firm MVRDV, with a particular focus on the Green Dip research project undertaken by The Why Factory, a think tank set up by the Dutch firm’s founding partner, Winy Maas.

Explaining the Green Dip concept, Maas uses the analogy of dipping ice cream in chocolate to enhance its flavour.

The exhibition hall is covered by greenery (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

“I imagine cities being dipped in greenery to make them better. I have always dreamed that cities could be like that in the future, maybe Hong Kong, maybe Beijing, maybe Hangzhou,” Maas said during his speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

With scale models, descriptions, images and an immersive film, the exhibition presents an overview of the work The Why Factory has undertaken to turn its vision of transforming cities with greenery into reality.

To turn these images into reality in a practical manner, The Why Factory has been developing the Greenmaker tool, which, through meticulous calculation, designs reinforced structures that permit vegetation to grow throughout buildings, thus contributing to carbon neutrality. Projects ranging from individual buildings to the planning of urban areas have been carried out achieving the “green reality” Maas envisions.

Since 2000, the Dutch architectural firm has been involved in projects in several major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou.

The current Hangzhou project dates back to 2019, when Maas and Weng Ling, art curator and founder of the Beijing-based cultural company IDEAS, worked on the master plan for a demonstration area in the northern part of the city near the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, where the former oxygen plant is located.

“Our urban planning projects integrate the IDEAS concept — the integration and innovation of art and science to create an ideal future for people, cities and nature,” Weng said. “We are blending different forms of art and creative expression, as well as interdisciplinary creation and presentation, into an envisioned future space.”

In tandem with the exhibition, a series of IDEAS Envisioning the Future forums took place in mid-September, drawing experts from fields including design, education, art and science.

Covering topics ranging from art and science, and the power of art and design, to innovation for good, and humanity and lifestyle, guest speakers discussed popular contemporary topics, as well as ways to facilitate the creation of future societies and urban construction in creative and innovative ways.

By inviting dozens of internationally known artists, architects and scientists to Hangzhou for an intense two-day session, the aim of the event was to bring international vision, an open attitude and a wealth of resources to the city.

“We hope that the invitees will bring us new ideas, methods and references,” Weng said, adding that in the future, forums and lectures will be hosted in the revamped spaces, and experts from all over the world will be invited to speak, to infuse new vitality into the city.