The Yangshupu Power Plant Relics Park, aiming at the regeneration of urban cultural landscape, has completed the transformation from a thermal power plant to an ecological art waterfront. Through adaptive landscape design, it constructs a response system of history, activities and environment, and creates a mixed, open and eco-friendly public life style. The design has changed the urban spatial structure of “sitting at the riverside without seeing the river” in the past, promoted industrial upgrading and urban renewal in surrounding areas on the basis of restoring urban ecology, improved urban public services, and provided a meaningful demonstration for the regeneration of waterfront industrial shorelines.

A few days ago, 11 finalists of the 11th Rosa Barba International Landscape Prize went through five-day global online public reporting and speeches, and the final selection results were announced. The "Yangshupu Power Plant Relics Park" project co-presided by Zhang Ming, a professor at College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, and Zhang Zi, the design director of the original design studio of Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., won one of the three awards of this Rosa Barba International Landscape Award, "WINNER OF THE ROSA BARBA AUDIENCE PRIZE". It is the first time that a Chinese team won this award since the International Landscape Biennale was held 22 years ago.

The waterfront art space of Yangshupu Power Plant was formerly Yangshupu Power Plant built in 1913. This thermal power plant, the first in the Far East, once played an important role in Shanghai's urban development. In 2015, with the start of the whole Huangpu River public space project, the power plant was shut down, and ecological and artistic transformation began. From the closed production shoreline of "no admittance" to the living waterfront open space of culture and ecology, "the waterfront was returned to the public", solving the ecological pollution caused by coal burning, shaping the spirit of the power plant, and transforming into a waterfront public space embedded in the rhythm of the city.

The industrial relic transformation of the power plant section begins at two anchor points. On the one hand, the construction of public space is carried out on the basis of understanding the original technological process: the operation facilities such as crane, coal trestle, conveyor belt, clear water pool, wet ash storage tank and dry ash storage tank on the riverbank have special space volumes and forms, and these site remains provide designers with a starting point for shaping the spirit of the site. On the other hand, the strategy of limited intervention and low-impact development is adopted, and ecological restoration and transformation are carried out on the basis of respecting the spatial foundation and original form of the original factory area, thus retaining the original geomorphic state and forming a low-lying wetland that can collect rainwater. The plants are mainly native herbaceous plants and water-resistant pond cypress, and at the same time, they are matched with light intervention steel structures, forming a landscape with both native wild charm and industrial characteristics.

The concept of taking advantage of local conditions has been implemented during the transformation process of the whole power plant section. Artificial traces in different periods are juxtaposed indiscriminately, expressing respect for the history of different stages; different microclimates are identified, maintained and repaired with limited intervention and low impact means. The power plant section has set up a platform for dialogue to discuss the worldwide topic of "waterfront space brings a better life to mankind". After five years of accompanying-like design, "Yangshupu Power Plant Relics Park" has become the most special section with industrial features of Yangpu Riverside, which not only retains the original site texture, but also carries out unique transformation on seven important industrial relics through technical exploration and innovation, thus realizing the preservation and reuse of industrial relics.

The Rosa Barba International Landscape Award, named after Rosa Barba, founder of the International Landscape Biennale, is held every two years to reward designers of landscape architecture projects representing the highest level of professional practice worldwide. This year, the Award publicly collected and selected for landscape planning and design projects that have been built worldwide in recent five years. Eleven works were selected by the international jury to enter the finals, and finally competed for "ROSA BARBA PRIZE WINNER" (Brooklyn Bridge Park), "ROSA BARBA PRIZE MENTION FROM THE JURY" (Medellin River Park) and "WINNER OF THE ROSA BARBA AUDIENCE PRIZE" (Yangshupu Power Plant Relics Park).