Colorful ‘pocket parks’provide shady respite from scorching heat
Print Edition
Shanghai is sizzling hot! Since the city entered summer on May 30, it has reported 23 days with the mercury climbing over 35 degrees Celsius.
The temperature hit 37 degrees on eight of those days, weather authorities said on July 21. And there’s no respite expected from these dog days in the near future.
But people have their own ways of chilling out.
A fountain outside Jing’an Kerry Center has become a popular destination for kids to splash around.
Wearing swimsuits and goggles, carrying buckets and squirt guns, they really have fun, as if they were in a Maldives resort paradise. What’s better, it’s totally free!
“Pocket parks” dotted on every corner of Jing’an offer another free option to hide from the scorching heat.
As the name suggests, “pocket parks” are mini parks tucked away on street corners, usually designed to include existing greenery.
The tree canopy offers natural shade against the sun, casts shadows and cools the air. The vivid kaleidoscope of colors and delicate floral arrangements are a wonderful antidote to a fractious mood.
In Jing’an, every “pocket park” is unique, like the one at the intersection of Weihai Road and Shaanxi Road N.
It features white and gray concrete flower beds, benches and corridors in an almost Nordic design based on minimalism and simplicity but with a stylish edge.
Ornamental grasses and vibrant clusters of blue and violet blossoms are planted to create a “blue” garden.
As dusk falls, LED lights in the style of reeds hidden among grasses and twigs are illuminated to blend with the silver moonlight, enveloping the park with a soft and tender ambience.
An aesthetically beautiful “pocket garden” prevails at the corner of Nanjing Road W. and Shimen No. 1 Road.
Surrounded by vertical green walls rising 5.5 meters, it is like a courtyard tucked into the concrete jungle. The walls are covered with the vibrant colors of red geraniums, pink begonia, white baby’s breath and hardy blue-flowered leadwort. The flowers are arranged to meld with patterns on the façades of nearby historical buildings.
The dark gray, volcanic rock ground is embellished with red-leafed maples and red plum blossoms.
A carpet of pink muhly grass perfectly matches the lavender-colored, perforated aluminum panels erected as decoration. They are a nod to Italian painting master Giorgio Morandi, renowned for his muted colors and quiet simplicity.
A music-themed “pocket park” at the corner of Jiaozhou and Anyuan roads has its own name: Garden of Nature Sound.
True to its name, notes written on music stuff are incorporated into the design of the park’s walking paths and benches. Plus, an interactive installation formed by giant loudspeakers gives out sounds akin to birds singing, bells ringing and water flowing.
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