Architect of harmony
Nature's designs provide inspiration for award-winning artworks that tap into our surroundings, Zhang Lei reports.
These five gardens represent not only the basic physiological needs of mankind, but also the common needs of all living things. For instance, the food garden uses urban space to grow food. The water garden, as its name implies, has a rainwater collection system. Likewise the air garden displays a variety of air-purifying plants, the sleeping garden uses aromatic plants to heal people while the shelter garden uses natural materials to build a habitat. "This huge installation presents a future world where humans, animals and plants coexist in harmony," Chetwood says.
Chetwood uses a series of different levels of red wing-shaped baffles to symbolize the future city, and the prominent Chinese elements help the audience understand it without reading too much into the context. The installation is not Chetwood's first work on China. For the past 10 years, he has been making creations and practices related to China, including the award-winning works of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in the United Kingdom-Chengdu Silk Road Garden in 2017 and Wuhan Water Show Garden in 2018. As a British architect, Chetwood has delved deeply into Chinese history, geography, culture and art, and his works are full of details of Chinese culture.