Once an essential stop along the Maritime Silk Road for its production and trade of fragrance products, Dongguan was known as the “Capital of Fragrance” since the Qing Dynasty (1636 AD -1912 AD). In recent decades however, the city’s revered fragrance culture has faded as the region’s main industry shifted to labor-intensive manufacturing. 

Additionally, despite a strong tradition in sports with national recognition in weightlifting and professional basketball competition, the city lacks reliable and accessible recreational programming and facilities. This poses a significant challenge for its predominantly working-age population, and additional infrastructure and amenities are desperately needed.

A Challenging Site

Adjacent to the South Ecological and Technological Innovation Zone, a vital development area in Dongguan, the linear site resides between Huangqi Mountain and Bayi Road, the gateway of the city’s Landscape and Leisure Axis. Despite the city’s ambitious plan to develop central Dongguan into a regional service center, the existing outdoor recreational facilities cannot meet the growing demands of the population. 

The site is surrounded by a dense subtropical landscape, where commercial-scale industrialization and urbanization in recent decades have eroded its ecological value. The low elevation and poor drainage of the site causes severe flooding during storms, while the decreasing biological diversity and fragmented programs have rendered it an underutilized place both environmentally and recreationally.

Encountering Fragrance

Dongguan’s dynamic urban landscape presents a unique opportunity to integrate recreational experiences with the site’s history and culture. Taking inspiration from the region’s renowned but presently overlooked fragrance culture, the design employs fragrance as a guiding force to weave together a network of recreational, cultural, and ecological programs throughout the site. 

The design framework utilizes two tiers of design elements to celebrate the culture of fragrance and introduce a vibrant recreation setting: Fragrance Journey and Scent Boxes. The Fragrance Journey works as the primary circulation path meandering through the site, along which different aromatic immersions are organized, while a family of structures called Scent Boxes further emphasizes the culture via special programs and spatial experiences.

1. Fragrance Journeys

A themed circulation network connects the fragmented facilities and reorganizes existing and proposed programs into a holistic journey. It consists of three paths: Fragrance Corridor, Fragrance Loop, and Discovery Trail.

The primary path, Fragrance Corridor, runs through the linear site and accommodates walking, jogging, and biking activities. Built from the existing paths, this 6-kilometer trail connects all zones and destinations from Jiangjunmao to the Fragrance Therapy Valley, a secluded area populated with aromatic plantings that offer a unique aromatic experience.

Two Fragrance Loops, derived from the Fragrance Corridor, offer special trips highlighting different fragrances. The first departs from the Water Sports Park and leads to the Huangqi Forest Park, where visitors reach the highest point of Huangqi Mountain. The second Fragrance Loop, located at the Fragrance Therapy Valley, introduces a secluded healing experience where scented woody and herbal plants along the way evoke a variety of emotions and senses.

Lastly, the Discovery Trail is a network of walking trails of all difficulty levels, connecting programmed spaces in the corridor to the forest park, elevating accessibility to the woodlands, and increasing their recreational values.  

2. Scent Boxes

Scent Boxes are multifunctional cubic structures that allow people to feel, capture, and create scents. They serve as art installations, recreational program spaces, and cultural venues. While adhering to guidelines to maintain their basic structure and scale, the Scent Boxes vary in form, materiality, and programs to respond to specific contexts and needs, resulting in a unique and characterful collection throughout the site.

In addition to providing basic amenity services for daily users, Scent Boxes offer distinctive recreational and cultural experiences. Boxes near the Fragrant Orchard can host agricultural workshops where children and parents make jam and bake goods from freshly picked fruits, while Scent Boxes in the woodland area blend into the surroundings by incorporating glassy facades and minimalist structures, showcasing scented artwork that magnifies the natural forest breeze.

Scent Map and Zoning

An additional tool for exploring the region’s fragrance culture, a Scent Map is developed to characterize distinct zones, each with unique fragrant atmospheres and specific recreational programs. Challenged by the intricacy of the site’s existing conditions, the design is highly associated with recreational facilities and environmental resources already on site.

The Children’s Park and Nature Education area, catering to families and minors, transforms existing natural elements of woodlands, orchards, and flower fields into outdoor campuses, mazes, and mini sports fields for exercise, exploration, and play by all ages; meanwhile, an Eco Bridge extends the focus on ecology and recreation into the larger urban fabric. Tucked under this bridge is the Museum of Fragrance, a hub to exhibit the fragrance culture of Dongguan. By empowering the role of scent throughout the experience, the Fragrance Therapy Valley evokes a range of emotions while offering visitors a sensory retreat from the bustle of daily life.

A Sustainable Approach

The design framework of Huangqi Mountain South is integrated with sustainable strategies to ensure the site’s long term environmental success. Considering its location at the lower level of the watershed, the design engaged a comprehensive stormwater management system to mitigate against potential floods. Green infrastructures such as wetlands, bioswales, detention ponds, and retention ponds are adopted throughout the site, blending into the fragrance landscape.

A tailored ecological restoration strategy will help nurture the flora community. It involves thinning and clearing existing homogeneous canopy species, planting climax communities, and reseeding featured fragrance plant communities. Secondary forests and wetlands are expected to mature in about 15 years and become climax communities in 30 years.

The Huangqi Mountain South Master Plan introduces an innovative approach to addressing the growing demands for physical wellness among the Chinese population while offering an immersive storytelling of the rich fragrance history of Dongguan. Integrating recreation with local cultures, the master plan sparks a new conversation about design for public recreational spaces.