The Constitution serves as the fundamental law and the overarching charter for governance and national security. Fully implementing the Constitution is essential for advancing the rule of law and building a socialist legal system. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council’s “Seventh” and “Eighth Five-Year Plans” emphasize innovative approaches to constitutional education, including the comprehensive implementation of the constitutional oath system and incorporating respect for the Constitution into ceremonies such as new citizen ceremonies, youth coming-of-age events, and student graduations.
Studying and applying General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speeches, especially promoting his rule of law ideology in an engaging and vivid manner, is crucial. It helps citizens deeply understand that adherence to the Constitution requires upholding the Communist Party of China’s leadership, the national system of people’s democratic dictatorship, and the political structure of the National People’s Congress as mandated by the Constitution. This remains a vital task in current and future rule of law education and advocacy.
The Nanjing Constitution Park project received its construction planning permit on November 25, 2021, followed by the pile foundation permit on December 3. Construction officially commenced on December 4, 2022, coinciding with the eighth “National Constitution Day,” and the park was completed and opened to the public on the same day.
After thorough consideration of the urban public space, site characteristics, functional positioning, and short-term feasibility, the Standing Committee of the Nanjing Municipal People’s Congress partnered with the Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau to develop a Constitution-themed park with distinct Nanjing features. Located in Green Expo Park on the west side of Jiangsu Grand Theater, the site primarily occupies the sheep lawn with a planned area of approximately 64,530 square meters.
Phase I covers a total construction area of 31,162 square meters, including 6,921 square meters above ground and 24,250 square meters underground. The project integrates Constitution Park with the Green Expo Park urban living room upgrade, following a “three combinations” principle to create a vibrant public cultural living room for city residents.
The park combines rule of law culture with the natural environment. Nanjing, a city shaped by the Yangtze River, has developed a regional civilization deeply influenced by this waterway, which also provides a spatial corridor fostering innovative urban ecological development. Constitution Park’s location adjacent to Jiajiang River highlights Nanjing’s riverside city character, evolving the “one river, two banks” concept into a new area defined by comprehensive functions, concentrated activity, and vibrant energy. This makes it a model for integrating legal culture with nature.
Constitution Park also blends legal education with community life. Situated next to the under-construction Metro Line 9 and flanked by Yangtze River Avenue to the east, it offers convenient transportation and a well-developed riverside slow traffic network. The park’s diverse leisure venues and public facilities ensure lasting vitality, making it a popular destination for relaxation and entertainment.
By leveraging the excellent ecological and cultural resources of Green Expo Park, Constitution Park enables visitors to learn about, reflect on, and appreciate the law in a peaceful and enjoyable setting, fostering constitutional spirit and legal literacy through leisure.
The project harmonizes the legal-themed landscape with Green Expo Park’s existing features. Without altering the park’s original layout or appearance, the design integrates constitutional elements into the natural surroundings, injecting new life into the space. Constitution Park extends the Hexi Cultural and Sports Axis to Jiajiang, connecting with the Binjiang Green Axis and introducing themed spaces such as National Flag Square, Oath Square, Water Landscape Square, and Green Slope Lawn. These spaces link key nodes focused on legal education, river protection, urban leisure, and ecological conservation, establishing a benchmark for legal landscape integration within the park.
In 2021, the Nanjing Planning and Natural Resources Bureau initiated detailed planning and urban design for the core section of Nanjing Binjiang, under the title “Nanjing Charm Binjiang 2035”. The plan proposes nine “urban living rooms” along both riverbanks to elevate the quality of the Binjiang area through strategic points and zones.
The nine urban living rooms include Hexi Yuzui, Happy Binjiang, Green Expo Park, Baochuan Site Park, Xiaguan Binjiang Business District, Shangyuanmen, Muyan Style District, Jiangbei New District Dingshan, and Lushuiwan.
The Green Expo Park urban living room, with its unique ecological assets, connects spatially with the Jiangsu Grand Theater—the largest theater complex in Asia—to create a fashionable riverside cultural space that integrates ecology, greenery, and vibrancy. Along with improvements to Binjiang Park Metro Line 9 Station and nearby “Gingko Lane” and “Sheep Lawn,” it forms a lively public belt stretching from Jiangdong Middle Road through the Olympic Sports Center, Grand Theater, Green Expo Park, and onward to the Ecological Technology Island.
The establishment of Nanjing Constitution Park within Green Expo Park enriches the cultural identity of this urban living room, serving as a platform to promote and showcase the spirit of the rule of law. It complements the urban living room’s service capabilities and enhances public facilities, creating a versatile venue for education, innovation, exhibitions, sightseeing, leisure, and community activities that reflect the city’s history, development, and culture.
The cultural and sports axis of Nanjing Hexi New City has evolved from the 2004 New City Century Axis. Starting from the New City Building, it connects key public buildings such as the Olympic Sports Center and Jiangsu Grand Theater to the west and extends approximately 3 kilometers to the flower sea on the left bank of Jiajiang River.
Across Jiajiang River, the Ecological Technology Island reserves landmark urban space, emphasizing the axis’s importance in urban public space development. Surrounding the axis are significant cultural institutions, including Jinling Library, Nanjing Women and Children’s Activity Center, and Christian Hadith Church, forming an integral part of Hexi New City’s urban layout.
From the beginning, the creation of high-quality urban public spaces along the Hexi Cultural and Sports Axis has been a priority. Residents can stroll from the Olympic Sports Center’s West Square through Yinxingli block, cross the Jiangsu Grand Theater and Yangtze River Expressway, reach the lush Green Expo Park, and continue to the Flower Sea on the Yangtze’s left bank to enjoy riverside views.
Located at the intersection of the Hexi Cultural and Sports Axis and the Binjiang Scenic Belt, Green Expo Park City Living Room benefits from a ceremonial axis and ecological advantages, providing ideal conditions for Constitution Park’s development.
The park adds diversity and experiential richness to the cultural and sports axis, enhancing its cultural significance and establishing it as a landmark urban public cultural corridor in Nanjing. This greatly boosts the vibrancy of the Hexi Riverside Scenic Belt.
Notably, the Olympic Sports Center features two massive arches spanning nearly 400 meters above its main stadium, draped in “Jinling Red” symbolizing sports passion. Jiangsu Grand Theater’s design, inspired by “lotus leaves and water droplets,” features four petal-like “water droplets” that exude artistic elegance.
Constitution Park offers a complementary spatial layout connecting city and nature, harmonizing with the theater’s form. Its construction reflects constitutional themes and embodies the spirit of the Constitution through a unique, contemporary architectural language, enhancing the city’s iconic cultural and sports axis.
Integrating individual cultural buildings with urban public spaces and blending environmental resources and spatial elements at the urban scale is an effective strategy to create memorable city landmarks. Constitution Park, surrounded by superior natural and public spaces, is designed not only as a standalone park but as part of a 1.8-kilometer axis extending from Gingko Lane to the Ecological Technology Island.
This axis connects urban space with natural landscapes, complements Jiangsu Grand Theater architecturally, and enriches the Hexi cultural and sports axis with increased business vitality.
The design of Constitution Park employs square and circular forms to symbolize the Constitution’s spirit, combining these shapes with numeric metaphors. The circular sky and square earth reflect traditional Chinese philosophy, while spatial elements like purity, foundation, core, cohesion, inclusiveness, and completeness express the Constitution’s fundamental nature.
The spatial flow begins at Gingko Lane, passes Jiangsu Grand Theater, and leads to a circular entrance plaza featuring a national flag formation and sunken water features. Crossing Wanjingyuan Road, visitors enter the central Constitution Park area.
The main structure is a circular Constitution Education Exhibition Hall, 100 meters in diameter, encircling a nearly 1,000-square-meter square Constitution-themed plaza designed for major events such as constitutional oath ceremonies and youth coming-of-age celebrations.
The surrounding relief landscape walls depict themes including the national flag, emblem, and anthem to the north; “All power belongs to the people” facing the main entrance to the west; and the Constitution’s highest, people-centered ideals to the south. An electronic screen on the east wall plays educational videos about the Constitution.
Green valleys lie on the north and south sides of the exhibition hall, forming gently sloped lawns that emphasize the main building as a landmark. Supporting facilities including commercial spaces, parking, and activity areas are located underground, directly connected to Jiangsu Grand Theater Nanjing Constitution Park Station on Metro Line 9 for convenient access.
Four circular sunken plazas link the green slopes to the underground space, creating seamless integration between above-ground and subterranean elements. The spatial flow continues westward through a waterscape courtyard to the preserved pavilion roof with a waterfall feature.
The axis extends beyond Jiajiang River to the Ecological Technology Island, where the Phase II landscape landmark tower of Constitution Park is planned. This creates a complete three-kilometer urban public space axis from New City Building to the landmark tower.
The design incorporates transparent concrete and stainless steel paving with integrated lighting on the first and second floor active paths, presenting a modern architectural language illuminated by a red “constitutional light.” At night, LED lights beneath the concrete glow, and the exhibition hall’s exterior resembles a “red lantern” outlined by a continuous red constitutional light, symbolizing vibrant China.
During the first site survey, climbing onto the roof of the preserved building “Bieguan Tingpu,” visitors face east towards the Jiangsu Grand Theater with its “lotus leaves and water droplets” design. A leisurely walk to the riverbank at roof level offers panoramic views of the flower sea on the left bank. Looking west towards the Ecological Technology Island, visitors can enjoy stunning sunsets.
The main visitor route in Constitution Park is elevated to the second floor, aligned with riverbank level. Visitors pass through Jiangsu Grand Theater via “Gingko Lane” to enter Constitution Park and stroll directly to the riverbank. Elevating the exhibition hall’s ground floor frees up more public space, enriching Green Expo Park’s urban living room.
Digital metaphor design plays a key role in embodying constitutional themes through spatial narratives. Commemorating significant milestones—such as the first Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, the 1954 Constitution (“54 Constitution”), the current 1982 Constitution (“82 Constitution”), National Constitution Day on December 4, and the two centenary goals—the design incorporates numeric symbolism within architectural geometry and composition to highlight the uniqueness of the Nanjing Constitution Park.
The entrance square sits at an elevation of 8.2 meters, with a circular space 82 meters in diameter enclosed by two curved landscape walls. A flag array of 100 red flags, each 12.4 meters tall with 50 flags on either side of a reflecting pool, flutters in the breeze.
The main Constitution Exhibition Hall measures 100 meters in outer diameter and 82 meters inner diameter. The Oath Square’s relief sculpture backdrop rises 8.2 meters in length and 5.4 meters in height. The landscape landmark tower planned for the ecological technology island at the axis end measures 8.2 meters in diameter and 82 meters in height, continuing this numeric theme.
Set within a lush natural environment, Constitution Park’s landscape design emphasizes the Hexi New City cultural and sports axis while enhancing the park’s ceremonial atmosphere. The design utilizes characteristic Nanjing-style ball-less plane trees to outline the outer perimeter, creating a dense, colorful, and leafy enclosure that ensures Constitution Park’s distinct presence year-round amid Green Expo Park’s ambiance.
Gingko biloba trees are planted strategically at the entrance to reinforce the sense of ritual along the axis. The central axis’s flanking ginkgo arrays align with those inside the Jiangsu Grand Theater’s east side, achieving a harmonious blend of function and aesthetic appeal.
Open lawns prominently highlight the main building and provide ample recreational space for children and families. Play areas with lawns and sand pits encourage joyful play, reflecting the vibrant and open democratic spirit embodied by Constitution Park.
Project Drawings
△ Model diagram
△ Model diagram
△ General layout plan
△ General layout plan
△ First floor plan
△ Second floor plan
△ Underground Floor Plan
△ Elevation drawing
△ Elevation drawing
△ Section diagram
Project Information
Architect: AzLa
Area: 31,162 m²
Year: 2022
Photographer: Hou Bowen
Lead Architects: Zhang Lei, Lei Xiaohua, Li Chenxing (Project Leader)
Design Team: Gu Zhenyi, Zhang Jian, Yang Liuxin (Architecture); Zhao Min, Chang Cheng, Chen Yufei, Lian Hao (Landscape); Ma Haiyi, Sun Ming, Cao Yi, Luo Tiantian, Peng Mingxing, Pu Sirui, Jiang Hui, Fang Shuying (Interior)
Construction Drawing Team: Qi Wei, Fang Yong, Li Xin, Yang Yihui, Zhang Chi, Fu Xiaoxuan, Sun Tingting, Zhang Yu, Zhu Xurong, Li Jun, Guo Zhen, Zhu Ziyang, Li Zhendan, Yao Yongsheng, Zhu Bin, Liu Caiqin, Hu Yan, Gu Jialei, Wu Tian
Constitutional Park Construction Office: Xia Dezhi, He Qing, Xu Mingyao, He Jun, Hong Youliang, Cai Guojun, Xu Ruquan
Construction Agency: Nanjing Hexi New City District State-Owned Assets Management Holdings (Group) Co., Ltd.
EPC Engineering General Contractor: China Construction Eighth Engineering Bureau Cultural Tourism Expo Investment Development Co., Ltd.
Exhibition Design and Construction of Constitutional Education Exhibition Hall: Jiangsu Aitao Cultural Industry Co., Ltd.
Partners: Nanjing Changjiang Urban Architecture Design Co., Ltd., Nanjing University Architectural Planning and Design Institute Co., Ltd.
Owners: Nanjing Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee, Nanjing Hexi New City Development and Construction Management Committee
Location: Nanjing
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