Guangde Lake once covered a vast area to the west of Ningbo City. The lake emerged in the early Tang Dynasty, and played a key role in irrigating the surrounding farmland and providing water to the city. In the late Song Dynasty, it was gradually reclaimed and replaced with farmland. As Ningbo urbanises, half of the landscape that was once Guangde Lake has been covered with dense urban construction.

The project traces the boundary of the lake and proposes using this forgotten datum as a catalyst to transform the remaining landscape into a protective green and blue buffer, slowing the further expansion of the city and preserving remaining natural landscapes. The site is gradually transformed into an ecological wetland of lotus fields and paddys seeded with native aquatic plants. Fish, frogs, shellfish and other organisms will be carefully re-introduced to the landscape.

Fields, paddys, rivers and ecological wetlands will contribute to the restoration of the aquatic ecosystem, helping to mitigate the effect of extreme climatic events in the region. The project improves existing farmland and water systems whilst buffering urban development. The great lost lake of Guangde is memorialised in new walking routes across the landscape.