Beijing Landscapers 3D Print Prototypes for Massive Flowerbeds on National Day

With both grand floral design and a budget in mind this year, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry is organizing their famous annual flower beds by using miniature, 3D printed prototypes for project coordination and design at the annual National Day celebrations on October 1 at Tiananmen Square.

 “With 750,000 flowerpots containing 120 types of flowers planned for this year’s display, designing the arrangements is no small task,” says Zhou Jianping, the landscape bureau’s deputy director.

Budget or not, that’s a stunning amount of flowers normally requiring an enormous amount of planning and labor. Digitizing these tasks and using the 3D prototypes will save hours of labor and engineering of the beds.

This year celebrates the 65^th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. “Ten displays this year will incorporate cultural elements such as Peking Opera, New Year paintings, shadow plays and others”, said Zhou.

The main “parterre,” composed of ornamental flower beds and paths engineered in a deliberate pattern, will be placed in the center of Tiananmen Square and measures 50 meters wide and 15 meter high, featuring a giant peony. (Converted, the parterre is about 165 feet wide and 50-feet high.)

Budget is no laughing matter in terms of these displays, as last year there was public outcry over the whopping 570,000 yuan (approx. $100,000) spent on a giant vase, with citizens taking to social media to criticize how tax dollars were being spent. A report said that a significant amount of funds had been saved last year, with the number of flowers being halved. Officials also reported this year, like last, that flowers which are able to withstand the fall weather and chillier temperatures will be used, extending the life of the gardens.  National Day in China celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic of China. This is generally a vacation period for Chinese citizens, centering around the holiday. Celebrations start with the raising of the flag in the square, followed by a large parade of military, dinners, and fireworks. There is a lot of hustle and  bustle prior to the holiday, sprucing up and decorating Tiananmen Square, which means “gate of heavenly peace.” Mao Tse-Tung’s mausoleum is at the Square also, and is a big draw for Chinese tourists.

The grand flower designs have been an ongoing National Day tradition for 28 years, and one can imagine designing of the projects has evolved immensely with the use of software to create the parterres. In incorporating the use of 3D printed prototypes, the holiday coordinators have come up with a smart, efficient way to streamline parterre design—saving on labor and revisions with the 3D printed prototypes—while retaining the beauty and expanse of the gardens that are known to be part of the annual celebration.

With the 3D printed prototypes, project coordinators can easily visualize the patterns of the flowerbeds, assessing design, coordination and what will be most aesthetically pleasing to the thousands of Chinese tourists who will flock to the National Day celebration at Tiananmen Square.  How do you think this affects budget? Please discuss this story in the 3D printed National Day forum thread at 3DPB.com.