My thesis examines to what extent modern public parks draw elements from traditional private gardens and how or in what way these elements are expressed on the case study of the public Olympic park in Beijing. In the assignment, I also tried to find out the reasons for the appearance of public parks in Beijing and their importance and role in people's lives. At the same time, I am interested in how people reacted to the first public parks and whether they serve their purpose today.
After China established contact with Western countries, many changes befell China in various fields, which is also reflected in the field of garden architecture. The idea of public parks, which first appeared on Chinese soil at the beginning of the 20th century, spread from Europe to East Asia in the second half of the 19th century. The first part of my thesis is related to the composition of Chinese classical gardens, which is closely related to Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. The correct placement and balance between the various elements is crucial to the proper design of gardens, and it also helps to create harmony between man and nature. The second part of the assignment concerns the origin and development of Beijing's public parks. The assignment here focuses on the social and political aspects of Beijing in the 20th century, which led to the opening of private gardens to the public in China.
Although modern parks in China today incorporate more abstract Western elements, they still incorporate some traditional Chinese elements. As more and more people visit Chinese parks today, some elements of classical gardens are not suitable. On the contrary, in the modern park you can see many restaurants, souvenir shops, theaters, museums, etc. An example for my research is the Beijing Olympic Park, established in 2008. It is the largest urban public green space in Beijing and is therefore crucial to Beijing's ecology. It has many of the characteristics of traditional parks expressed more discreetly. The Olympic Park in Beijing is of great importance to Chinese culture and the lives of the people there and is a good example of the integration of traditional and modern elements in modern garden architecture.
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