Topos 89 - Creating Places

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89

2014

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Creating Places

New York Fin a l Ph a se of the High Line, Governors Isl a nd Pa rk · Toronto Sug a r Be ac h · Zurich Rene wa l of Sec hsel äu ten Squa re · Copenhagen Renovation of t he pede st ri a n a re a K øbm agerg a de · Ribe, Danmark C at hedr a l Squa re · Mänttä, Finland Gösta’s Pavilion · Thessaloniki, greece Green Rooms for t he waterfront · Póvoa de Santa Iria, Portugal Tagus Line a r Pa rk · Pamplona, spain A r a nz a di Pa rk · Topos Award 2014 LOLA l a ndsc a pe a rc hitec ts : A Ne w rom a ntic re volu tion

Cover: Sugar Beach, Toronto Design: Claude Cormier + AssociĂŠs Photo: Waterfront Toronto

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With the third part of the High Line in New York,

called At the Rail Yards, the linear and elevated park is

Iwan Baan

Ty Stange

completed.

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Carefully designed elements like a steel fountain characterize the

renovation of Kultorvet and the Købmagergade in Copenhagen.

The park on Governors Island in New York,

once a military area off limits for the public, has been transformed into a lively destination for New Yorkers

Timothy Schenck

and tourists.

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creating

Rob ert Schäf er

places

table

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contents

N atalia Pante lidou

6 ... and be done with it

62 Along the New Waterfront of Thessaloniki

22 Years of Topos – a farewell

“Green rooms” interpret the local context of the Greek town

Viriato Sorom e nho - M arq u e s

C hris T ramu tola

18 A Stroll Above the City

68 Four-Dimensional Landscape Architecture Tagus Linear Park near Lisbon, Portugal

Jens Lindhe

Last section of the High Line in New York opened

Eli z ab eth K . Me y e r

Al ex Ulam

24 Opening a Forbidden Land

76 River Park as a Place of Movement Aranzadi Park, Pamplona, Spain

Governors Island Park in New York

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The different sizes of the granite slabs on

Cathedral Square in Ribe, Denmark, merge with the

town’s characteristic cobblestone pattern.

30 Lure of the Water’s Edge

J am es Roche

Sugar Beach, Toronto, Canada

Topos L andscape Award 2 0 1 4 83 New Romantic Revolution

Award Winner LOLA landscape architects

H ayal Öz kan

36 A Parquet Stage for Zurich João Morgado Architectural Photography

Sechseläuten square, Zurich, Switzerland

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The Tagus Linear Park near Lisbon is connected

Svava R i esto, J an St øvring

42 Stories Under Your Feet

Currents 10 News, Projects, Obituary, Personalities

110 Authors

Renovation of Købmagergade in Copenhagen

111 Credits/Imprint

B ent e B ramming

50 Cathedral Square in Ribe, Denmark New surroundings for an outstanding monument

Tarja N u rmi

56 A Pavilion in the Lakeside Park

viewpoints.

Gösta Art Museum in Mänttä, Finland

LOLA

with the surrounding Tejo landscape via bridges and

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LOLA landscape architects received the 2014

Topos Landscape Award. Image: Model photo of the philosophical library’s garden in Amsterdam.

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currents

projects

Atelier Jacqueline Osty & Associés (3)

Paris Zoological Park: Meet the Animal

The Paris Zoological Park opened its doors again in April 2014 after 27 months of renovation work that completely transformed it while renewing the zoo’s existing strong points, most notably the gardens’ iconic Great Rock. The size of the grounds

has increased by 40 per cent compared the original zoo from 1934, but the biggest change is the evolving vision of the relationship between humans and animals, which has been completely revised.

This fundamental change is readily apparent in the new

zoo design for the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) by Atelier Jacqueline Osty & Associés. People can now meet with animals and nature in a peaceful relationship fostered by newly blurred boundaries and the principle of genuine change

brought about by altering the up-to-down views to more face-to-face encounters. Five “biozones” succeed one another along a four-kilometrelong track, starting with Patagonia, and then the Sudanese Sahel, Europe, Guyana and Madagascar. A sixth, Equato-

Atelier Jacqueline Osty & Associés ­redesigned the Paris Zoological Park, also known as the Zoo de Vincennes, with its iconic Great Rock. A four-­ kilometre-long track connects five biozones: Patagonia, the Sudanese Sahel, Europe, Guyana and Madagascar. The possibilities for the encounters between humans and animals have been completely revised.

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rial Africa, will be completed at a later date.

The biozones are not a mere mimicry of idealised nature transposed into the heart of Paris. Atelier worked on suggestion, playing with visual references – colours, materials, levels and surfaces – to steep visitors in the appropriate ­atmosphere. Completely new landscapes have been developed that suggest the original sites’ essential features and ­relief. Thus, the expanses of the ­Sahel and the empty plains of Patagonia are evoked by folding the ground and deploying the colours and materials specific to each place, the forests of Madagascar by the density and height of its plant life.

This dissimulation of tracks has led to the design of unique places through their landscapes, their spaces and their diversity. With a 40 per cent increase in the planted area, the zoo now fully deserves its title as a Zoological Park.

projects

currents

The 45-hectare museum district is part of the former Soesterberg Airbase, which is being developed as a nature reserve. In the plan the new museum is surrounded by heath and forest, allowing the landscape to be seen from within the museum in every direction in relation to the collection. The whole museum district will be made publicly accessible during daytime. It is divided into three terraces, each with a dominant theme.

The top of the hill is a peaceful nature area with a heath valley. On the middle terrace – where visitors arrive – the history of the area is displayed.

Located near the runways, on the lowest level, is the museum complex with a 3,000-person arena on one side, and a memorial area with a garden and plaza on the other side of the museum.

Bringing together cultural heritage, recreation and natural development was a challenging task, for which a zoning plan was woven into the design. In order to develop a visually interesting and ecologically valuable forest, an ­innovative planting plan was put together in collaboration with forest ecologists, inspired by natural forest dynamics.

The use of gabions to create terrace edges, opening up WWII bomb craters and the restoration of representative buildings make the past visible again. Vistas provide a clear orientation and a varied experience of this new natural and narrative landscape.

H+N+S Landscape Architects

The Netherlands Army Museum and the Netherlands Air Force Museum have merged to form a new museum at the former Soesterberg Airbase.

On 11 December the new ­National Military Museum was officially opened by the Dutch King HRH Willem Alexander after a selection, design and construction period of four years. The team of Heijmans (contractor), Claus van Wageningen Architects, H+N+S Landscape Architects, and Kossmann.deJong Exhibition Architects won the original DBFMO tender.

The 45-hectare site was the birthplace of aviation in the Netherlands. It bears traces of WWII history and NATO use, and also has important natural qualities. The establishment of the new museum at the site is sized to let the landscape play an important role. The design team made a plan that excites, and invites the visitor to experience stories of the Dutch armed forces. The landscape forms the very real backdrop for the exhibition inside the museum, with its fully glazed facade.

The museum and its surroundings tell multiple stories: the history of the place, the geographic context of lines of defense and training areas in the surroundings, and the intense relationship of the military and its tactics with the landscape. The area has become an exciting landscape where open and secluded, and sturdy and sensitive qualities form a unity.

Anne Reitsma Fotografie

National Military Museum, The Netherlands

The National Military Museum in Soesterberg, The Netherlands, opened its doors on 11 December. The 45-hectare museum park designed by H+N+S Landscape Architects surrounds the museum and serves as a backdrop to the museum’s collection. The area is part of the former Soesterberg Airbase, which is being developed as a nature reserve.

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Chris Tramutola

A Stroll Above the City S

eptember 2014 marked the completion of the High Line in New York City, a public park with an unprecedented situation. Located on a superstructure of raised railroad lines, it weaves through the buildings of west-side Manhattan from 34th Street at the north end to Gansevoort Street in the West Village at the south. Given the history, surrounding population density, available budget, and creative freedom granted by the neighborhood culture, the project gained instant recognition by landscape architecture and architecture communities. With the last train on the tracks running in 1980, the site sat derelict for nearly 20 years before the Friends of the High Line campaigned to not demolish the structure but provide public ­access and space as a park.

After a decade of design and approvals, Phase One opened to the delight of New Yorkers and tourists alike. Its offer of a casual stroll above the city was a breath of fresh air, compared to the traffic-ridden struggle to evade cabs and bicyclists jetting in from the West Side Highway. The first area to open was the southernmost section – the most extravagant of the three phases. Given material selection and detailing, it was clear it had very few budgetary restrictions. From the custom concrete pavers, benches, and water features to the ­immaculate plantings, it instantly became an oasis for the West Side. While it made the space beautiful and accessible, it did, however, abandon much of its history with its aesthetic.

The abundance of starkly clean and linear concrete pavers, stainless steel components,

and immaculately planned and maintained plantings hardly made note of its industrial past. Hints of Cor-ten steel, diamond plate steel, and rusted train rails offered a glimpse of former purpose, but faded slightly upon further inspection, considering lack of material re-use. It was no shock, however, that the space was incredibly successful and heavily populated at all open hours. The unique experience of strolling effortlessly and uninterrupted above the traffic of 9th and 10th avenues was surreal for many New Yorkers. One particular area in Phase One, the theater seating with a view down to the intersection of 10th Avenue and 17th Street, is tremendously successful. Creating a connection between the real-life urban fabric and the fantasy cloud of the High Line drew people into simply sitting to watch the endless cycle of cars driving by and pedestrians crossing. It was a true embodiment of a theater for people-watching.

Venturing north, the second phase was likely the most challenging from the design end. Between 20th Street and 30th Street – the total length of the second phase – the structure stays perfectly straight and lacks the undulations of the sections both north and south ­of it. This resulted in a linear layout, with interesting pauses along the way. Each overpass of the east-west gridded streets has a place to stop, ­visually connect with the city underfoot, and relax. This connection breaks the monotony of the existing condition and forces patrons to recognize the landscape and city; it is impossible to walk a straight line mindlessly. As with the first phase, the materials, plantings, and

The third and final section of the High Line in New York City completes the iconic, linear city park. This latest section differentiates itself from previous sections not only in design, but in playfulness, ties to its history, and views.

The third and last section of the High Line stretches north from 30th Street, bending and turning around the Hudson Yards project, a master-planned development on Manhattan’s West Side that includes several skyscrapers.

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James Roche

Lure of the Water’s Edge Sugar Beach, set against the silhouette of enormous sugar boats and adjacent to a sugar refinery, is a link between the water and the former industrial sites of Toronto’s waterfront.

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vercoming the challenges of a large-scale, post-industrial site, Canada’s Sugar Beach has achieved a place on the world stage. Its ­international recognition is based on the park’s ability to defy its diminutive scale and create a larger-than-life spectacle along Toronto’s new waterfront. Inspired by the painting Bathing at Asnières by Georges Seurat, the design has redefined the public’s relationship to the water’s edge by opening views and vistas to the water and horizon beyond, creating a destination that allows reprieve from the stresses of urban life.

In 2007, Claude Cormier + Associés, together with The Planning Partnership, won an invited international design competition led by Waterfront Toronto. A signature urban public space was to be developed on just under

The sugar refinery adjacent to Sugar Beach is one of the few remaining industrial uses on Toronto’s waterfront. Large-scale sugar boats and the unloading of raw sugar can be viewed from the site.

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Svava Riesto, Jan Støvring

The new Købmagergade emphasizes the unity of Copen­ hagen’s busy shopping street. Special details and carefully hewn and sawn stones for the paving are the main elements of the design.

Stories under your feet R e n o v a t i o n

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New paving covers the centrally located shopping street Købmagergade from façade to façade. The colours of the small granite setts range from light grey to dark and black.

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K ø b m a g e r g a d e

i n

C o p e n h a g e n

Strolling through Copenhagen’s historic city centre, you will probably reach Købmagergade Street, which connects the main high street of Strøget with Denmark’s busiest train-station, Nørreport. Købmagergade is a curving street that dates back to medieval Copenhagen and is framed by continuous building façades. Its surface at once looks historical with its small granite setts, but is also situated in the digital age, as it appears pixelated. The pattern of setts, in colours ranging from light grey to dark and black, seemingly moves before your eyes. Walking down Købmagergade, you will see the mosaic of setts getting darker before ending in an enclosed square of different textures and shades of black. The surfaces of the pavers change from rough to smooth and the pavers are laid out in a pattern of polygons.

No matter how aware you have been of this differentiated floor pattern, or of all the people, shop façades and signs along the way, your straight path is interrupted at the square. You cannot just hurry from one shop to another. In the middle of the square, there is a large, circular fountain with a wooden edge around the circumference, meant to sit on.

You will probably hear people talking and the bench will probably not be empty – it never is. A large robinia reveals that this is an old square.

Leaving the square, the Købmagergade continues, curving slightly.

You might look up to see the Round Tower, a tourist attraction, or you might look down at the base of the Tower, to see the mosaic surface now dark, but with pixels of light granite stone. Nothing seems to break the continuity of this large, public surface that ties together all the disparate shops and people, historical monuments and the public fountain.

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Viriato Soromenho-Marques

Four-Dimensional Landscape Architecture The design for Tagus Linear Park at a former industrial site on the outskirts of Lisbon is based on ­connections between human communities and different land uses. It has a new spatial organisation that extends beyond the park itself and integrates the area’s past with a vision of its future.

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A bridge connects the Tagus Linear Park, designed by Topiaris Landscape Architecture, with trails and paths through an agricultural landscape and banks with restored vegetation.

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