Griffen Galante [edison park]
Project Description: Create a contemplative destination for the Business Leaders Meeting at the future marina docks project site of Chinese investors Yuan Xiaohona and Wu Kin Hung. This design will be a park for industry and business leaders to meet with clients and co-workers. This space will create a stress-free experience of inspiration and creativity. It will also bring the hard, industrious city closer to the natural landscape. The design elements of this project focus on the symbolic and metaphorical meanings behind rocks and mountains. A vertical element is created by layering dredge material until a karst topographical mountain develops on the site. Pedestrians will experience this mountain on two different levels: above being the surface level of movement, and below in the tunnel being the meditative experience. The site will host many different activities, including contemplative experiences, recreational, business meetings, picnics for local residents, and exercise zones. The site will use roughly 300,000 cubic yards of dredge material in the construction of this project.
TOLEDO, OHIO : Modern Industrial Leader Design Intent
Griff Galante Dredge Studio - Sean Burkholder
Toledo, Ohio
Create a Contemplative Destination for Business Leaders Meeting at the Future Marina Docks Project of Chinese Investors Yuan Xiaohona and Wu Kin Hung. This Design Will Be a Park for Industry and Business Leaders to Meet With Clients and Co-workers. This Space Will Create a Stress-Free Experience of Inspiration and Creativity. It Will Also Bring the Hard, Industrious City Closer to the Natural Landscape.
The Chinese believed that somewhere in the highest mountains there was a cave that was an exact representation of the world outside. In its center was a stalactite that gave off the milk of contentment. Any rock that suggests a mountain, cave or stalactite became symbolically important. This idea is reinforced by the Chinese notion that in addition to north and south, east and west, the most important orientation was ‘in’. It is because of this inward focus that Chinese culture looked for paradise inside of things, just as western culture looked upward and outside. In Chinese art, this orientation caused a search for ‘a world within a world’, for imagery in surprising and unpredictable places.v
Thomas Edison Park
[”The Most Important Orientation, Was IN”] Let us imagine that early Chinese lived in limestone caves. We know that karst limestone caves are common in China, and that among their characteristics are endlessly winding tunnels. They have underground streams and lakes, skylights, even fish. The geography of this world was so complex, that people would not be able to explore and map them in a dozen lifetimes. Paradoxically, when they emerged from these caves, they could readily see and walk around the small mountains that contained these ‘worlds within worlds’.
bridge and main access road. These roads allow for intriguing views for drivers.
This path is the mirror opposite of the “Above World” level of movement. The lower bath involves the experience of “Self-Awareness.” It is a literal metaphor for meditation and the journey to your inner-self.
The lower gathering space will spot a pedestrians 50 feet below the “Overlook,” gazing in awe at the fact that they have walked on a normal path, into a winding tunnel, and reached the water’s edge with a mountain standing tall behind them. Pedestrians can enjoy the end of their “Journey” into their own minds, by relaxing with friends to enjoy lunch with a cool breeze
The “Above World” level of movement on the site. Here pedestrians have the full freedom allowed by their legs to roam the hill top. This movement is based on the concept of an “Unfocused Mind.”
The “Overlook,” a balcony looking down upon the pedestrians who have arrived at the waterfront from the tunnel. This space adds a destination for the pedestrians walking above, as well becomes a relaxing place to sit and picnic in good weather conditions.
Circulation Diagram, Points of Interest