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The Lan Su Chinese garden grew out of a friendship between the mayors of the siter cities of Portland, Oregon and Suzhou, China. It was designed to be a national showcase for classical Chinese culture and to honor the contributions Chinese-Americans made to the building of our city and state. Located on a 40,000 square foot block in Portland’s Old Town/Chinatown district, the garden was also meant to encourage the economic revitalization of the neighborhood.
The Suzhou Garden Institute took the lead in the garden’s design, working with the City of Portland’s regulatory agencies to modify some of the traditional garden elements to satisfy Portland’s Design Guidelines. As lead Architect of the American team, MBA provided all the infrastructure, foundations and coordination services. The undertaking was complex, with over 70 Chinese craftspeople participating in the garden’s meticulous construction. We were responsible for ADA and energy code compliance as well as resolving the numerous construction method issues involved in deploying traditional construction methods within the context of contemporary building codes.