decoration_add, drag and drop

In looking at some of the insertions around the cities we've been too, I've seen a lot of Add, Drag and Drop. In my example from the midterm, the Olympic Green is a very good example. In Beijing, the Olympic Green is full of all this very modern and iconic buildings like the the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube.

























The space itself is very big; the boulevard and the distance between building make a big difference. However, on the way to the train station, there is the Sunken Garden, literal downstairs patch of green space very similar to the traditional Chinese Garden and
home/gazebo.





It's placement in the midst of the new suggests that the aesthetics of the old are worth having, and to some degree, help to amplify the essence of the place. This garden is a reinterpretation, or an attempt to replicate the traditional garden by showing the same elements of very old gardens like Yuyuan and the Administrator's Humble Garden. (Well, they're old in theory because a lot places in China have been touched by the itchy had of renovation).





















It seems as the elements that the designer wanted to mimic were simply dragged and dropped like a file to a folder, to be added. This area serves a purpose: its a smaller open space, it gives nice views on the way to the subway, and is accessible to the McDonalds. But what is more clear is that this space is...well...decoration. Its a regurgitation of what was (I use that word because the ingredients are there, but a lot of things have changed in appearance, organization or quality). However, it allows the old and the new to coexist in a new context. Its an accommodation of the old as the new invades.