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Imagine how refreshing it could be if you could retreat from the concrete jungle and spend your time in a garden where butterflies flutter and dance. As you may have noticed, Link has recently built butterfly gardens in the outdoor area of some malls, such as Kai Tin Shopping Centre in Lam Tin, Choi Ming Shopping Centre in Tseung Kwan O and Chung On Shopping Centre in Ma On Shan. These gardens are perfect places for the community to unwind from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong. But what you may not have noticed is that every little detail of the lovely gardens are the fruits of butterfly reserve specialists, landscape architects, designers and residents from the respective districts. With the help of these creative minds, we can now sit back and relax in our beautified communities.
Vega Shang was one of the key drivers who helped bring Link’s idea to life. He is a lecturer of Higher Diploma in Landscape Architecture, a programme under Higher Diploma in Architecture, Interior and Landscape Design Department at Hong Kong Design Institute. For this assignment, he lectured a special group of students – the broader community. In the community workshops introducing residents to landscape architecture, Vega covered basic elements such as topography, walls, paving, amenities, water features and lighting. Participants could build their own miniature butterfly gardens, which later became prototypes for the real butterfly gardens in Link’s malls. Vega witnessed how residents and architects joined hands to bring their ideas into real life. He noted that Link has created remarkable examples of placemaking, and these should be widely promoted.
Landscape architecture is based on design and construction, but the opinions of the community and non-profit organisations are also important. When it comes to building a butterfly garden, ecologists also play an important part. “That is why we organise workshops in places like malls,” Vega said, “so we know what the community wants, and we can do it together.”
To better visualise the community’s dream landscape, Vega and his team prepared materials of different shapes so the participants were able to create their own DIY gardens during the 3-hour workshops. By splitting them in small groups, the participants were also able to discuss their ideas and gain a better understanding of the basics of landscape architecture. “The workshops performed magic, turning every participant into a designer.” Vega said. “Participants don’t necessarily have to be real designers or attend professional design courses. They just need realise their ideas through DIY methods.”
Having great landscape architecture and placemaking is just the first step. An important next question is how is it beneficial to the community? Vega has an answer. Placemaking is essentially people-oriented, which makes the participation of the residents living in the area crucial. Through collaboration, residents can improve and beautify their living environment themselves, which helps them bond with their community.
“Placemaking is just the start,” Vega said. “After completing these projects, residents are now able to show their neighbours around in the newly renovated gardens, and tell them more about the conservation work there. All community members can even volunteer to help maintain the gardens. This is a perfect chance for them to mingle and socialise, helping to build a sense of belonging in the neighbourhood.”
Apart from building butterfly gardens, Vega suggested that Link considers different placemaking possibilities in the future to increase biodiversity, for example, growing vegetables and herbs, or creating a bee garden. As humans and nature depend on each other, designers also have to take care of nature when planning out placemaking projects. The ultimate goal is to design and build places that are enjoyable to both human beings and wildlife, whether it be butterflies, bees or other living creatures. “Other than butterflies, the gardens will also be inhabited by other insects,” Vega said. “Therefore, the gardens are not only beneficial to butterflies, but the whole ecosystem.”
“It was not easy to design a place that could truly fulfil the needs of residents,” Vega pointed out when asked about the challenges of placemaking. “Designers have to strike a balance between practicality, aesthetics, ecological conservation and social inclusion. Placemaking is a long-term project, and only through constant trial and error, and optimisation, can we create a space that everyone gets to enjoy.”
