Design guidelines
5.3 SITE ASSESSMENT Based on the site analysis, I identified a list of opportunities and challenges for each aesthetic property in the context of the Park the Haupapa/Tasman Glacier site. For the Park, I only looked at the first two mental states, because the Park is considered to be the build up to the landscape experience at the site. At the site, all three mental states are explored.
5.3.1 AORAKI/MT. COOK NATIONAL PARK DESIRED MENTAL STATE
AESTHETIC PROPERTIES
OPPORTUNITIES
CHALLENGES
! Sublime qualities: huge scale, dramatic mountains, bright blue Lake Pukaki as glacier’s farthest extent Purpose, focus, purity of mind
Otherworldly space
! Turn off from highway 80 onto a single road that is in continual ascent ! Perception of a national park is to escape the everyday (possesses ‘otherworldly’ status)
Awareness
Concentration
Solemn tranquility
! Well-established visitor centre
! Foggy days and night are quiet
! Helicopters operate daily from 10am-4pm
! National Park as an escape from busy every day life
! Mass tourism
! Well-established trail network and hiking culture ! Newly-established bicycle route
DESIRED AESTHETIC Table 5-2. Opportunities and challenges for the aesthetic properties in OPPORTUNITIES MENTAL STATE PROPERTIES Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park. Purpose, focus, purity of mind
Awareness
Concentration
Solemn tranquility
Slowness
Melancholic contemplation
! Driving as primary mode of transportation mode until trailheads
CHALLENGES
! Moraine as natural enclosure Otherworldly space
! Official Aoraki/Mt. Cook Park boundary is arbitrary and not informed by the landscape
! Visitor centre is hidden and not enroute to attractions
! Culture of interpretive signage
! Long ascent up the mountain, linear Park Slowness
! Unclear signage from Highway 80
! Scale and expanse of rock field, lake, and glacier is unlike anything from everyday life
! All trails are treated the same, so the trails around Haupapa don’t feel unique ! Unclear trail starting points ! Blue Lakes Day Shelter only provides information about plants
! Blue Lakes Day Shelter ! Information board at the Viewpoint
! Limited information at the viewpoint that does not explain the glacier process or the colour of the lake
! Flowing river
! Helicopter noise
! Melting ice-bergs
! Limited designated seating
! Rocks everywhere to sit on
! Crowded viewpoint
! Off-peak hours and season are quiet ! Natural monochrome (grey, brown, white)
! Mass tourism, congestion on the trail, overcrowded car park
! Established trail network
! ‘On the way’ quick two-way trail
! Tiring ascent up the moraine
! Drive directly to the trailhead
! Landscape dynamism Temporality
! Feasibility is a concern
! Diurnal and seasonal rhythms ! Glacier retreat ! Available local materials – boulders
(Un)familiarity
! Almost scaleless landscape
! Ngãi Tahu creation stories ! Almost scaleless landscape
Landscape layers
! Natural layering – moraine, lake, glacier, mountains, sky
! Difficult to access each ‘layer’, because they are so large and terrain is unstable
64 Multi-sensory, immersive
! Cold water, ice
! Challenge to get to the water and ice ! Traditional trails are for ‘views’
