Page 133 - PROTAGONIST-123

TEXT BY MARIA VITTORIA CAPITANUCCI

HIGH–

TECH

NATURE

Nature and artifice mingle in the ambitious and

unparalleled Gardens by the Bay project in Singapore,

recalling cinematic atmospheres of Avatar, Blade Runner,

and Jurassic Park.

Wonder, beauty, vision. Nature and artifice converge as in a tion of land (and water). Singapore, the Asian giant, fascinating
continuous flow, between Avatar, Blade Runner, and Jurassic for its history and geographical location – with its magnificent
Park, in the ambitious and inimitable project of the Gardens by bay facing the Pacific Ocean, an inimitable landscape but also
the Bay in Singapore. a trade connection, thanks to the port and the financial center,
Not a garden of delights, but one of the biggest parks in the towards the Orient and the rest of the world – has responded
world, with over 100 hectares organized in three areas, all fac- with a government program of ‘green’ regeneration: intensifi-
ing the ocean: Bay South Garden, the largest, flanked by Bay cation of the presence of tropical green zones, also thanks to an
East Garden and Bay Central Garden. In a world that chases infrastructural network of outstanding and ‘intelligent’ tech-
the mirage of its own natural habitat at the widest range of lati- nical excellence.
tudes, some of the largest cities have chosen the path of sophis- Visiting the Gardens by the Bay, in the center of this spar-
ticated sustainability with high-tech overtones. The practices kling city-state, is a bit like suddenly being projected into a
called into play aim to achieve sustainability based on energy timeless, visionary dimension made of futuristic mega-struc-
savings and renewable resources, to reduce the damage caused tures, greenhouses, and pathways suspended amidst tall trees
by decades of unbridled consumption, pollution and exploita- and intense, exotic greenery. The project was launched in 2006

Protagonist Architecture 131