Located 200 kilometers South of Shanghai, the city of Hangzhou is crossed by a large networks of canals, which has fostered its prosperity. Since 2007, the city has been undergoing a major development around the Grand Canal in order to improve its touristic pull.
In this framework, the Hangzhou government has decided to radically transform the industrial image of the Grand Canal over a 10-kilometer span in the city center, by renovating waterfronts, initiating diurnal and nocturnal cruises and creating a nighttime landscape capable of attracting visitors both Chinese and foreign.
The goal of the Lighting Masterplan has therefore been to reveal the intrinsic beauty of the site, its monumental nature, identity, characteristics and the richness of its traditional architecture as well as of its landscape. The waterfront landscape has been unified and emphasized through a blue-green toned light. This haze of colored light creates a quiet and mysterious environment, and elicits a Chinese wash drawing that perfectly suits the very natural features of the site.
The new nighttime landscape has transformed the site for tourists’ enjoyment, but it has also shaped a pleasant, one of a kind luminous atmosphere that locals fully enjoy as well.
