Garden of the Giant_Swarovski Crystal Worlds, Wattens (Austria), 2015

park design and art installation
dimensions: 18.5 acres / 7.5 hectares park, Crystal Cloud area 15.000 sq.ft. / 1,400 sq.m. x height 26 ft. / 8 m.

Entering a white birch forest, swirls of floral-pattern paths carry visitors to the gate of the Garden of the Giant, welcoming them to the enchanted world of Swarovski Kristallwelten. Visitors are enveloped by layers of sculpted-earth ripples, which play with one’s sense of proportion like Gulliver in the land of Lilliput. Through the forest’s dappled light, drifts of the shimmering crystal cloud guide visitors to a mirror pool, where the dark water holds reflections of a million silent stars. Trails of twinkling fireflies guard a descent into the magical pool. When the Foehn wind calls, the clouds release a dazzling display of rainbow prisms, a fleeting glimpse of crystals’ secrets in the Garden of the Giant.

team: CAO PERROT + PLACE studio. Partners: Peter Heppel Associates, TheaterMachine, ATT. Architecture: Snøhetta, s_o_s Architekten

Glass Garden_Los Angeles (California), 1998

private garden
dimensions: 2.000 sq.ft

A stylized landscape created with simple planting and 45 tons of recycled glass pebbles. The Glass Garden referred to Andy Cao’s memories of his childhood in Vietnam. The garden evoked iconic settings such as the patchwork of rice terraces, and the surreal expanse of salt farms in central Vietnam.

Jardin K_Brittany (France), 2004

private garden
dimensions: 4,300 sq.ft. / 400 m2

This garden was inspired by its ever-changing surrounding landscapes and seascapes in Brittany. The minimal plant design provides radical changes through the seasons. The sculpted landforms catch the natural lights, to evoke the sensuality and transmit the ephemeral moods of Breton landscapes.

Malibu Cloud_Malibu (California), 2009

private garden
dimensions: 1,600 sq.ft. / 150 sq.m.

Cloud II is a continuation of Cloud Chandelier for Kenzo, in Paris. This installation is an intuitive exploration of everyday materials, and their interaction with light. Constantly evolving, this vaporous formless shape evokes the impermanence, asymmetry and spacial experience - a contemporary interpretation of traditional wabi-sabi.

Guangming New Town Central Park_Shenzhen (China), 2008

urban park
dimensions: 600 acres / 240 hectares

“Cloud Water Stone”, a scroll painting by the late Ming Dynasty artist Ni Yuanlu (1594 - 1644) is our inspiration for the design of Guangming Central Park. The flowing energy depicted in the Yuanlu painting—neither rock, water nor cloud in form, but perhaps all of these—is the expression of all-encompassing qi. So, we pose a question: Can an artificial environment co-exist in harmony with the natural? Does the qi energy flow from and into both? Our intent is not to imitate nature, but to create a unique, dreamlike setting that weaves iconic Chinese cultural elements into the fabric of a contemporary park. Guangming New Town Central Park will include the necessary requirements of a traditional public park, while also bringing new interpretations to familiar elements of Chinese culture. We apply qi principles to highlight the dynamic and transformative properties of water, stone and reflected sky.