2 minute read
RAW NATURE: NATURAL PLAYGROUND
THE SITE
EL Mirador de Collserola Park is a very central location for adventure and nature lovers, with breathtaking views of the city and the mountains. It is located at the end of tree hiking paths, and some excellent routes for road and mountain bikers. We aimed with the natural structure to bring more families and kids to this beautiful place to reconnect with nature and take a break away from the city.
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PARC NATURAL DE LA SERRA DE COLLSEROLA
CHOOSING THE TREES
Parc Natural de la Serra de Collserola has a long-term forest management plan to reduce the amount of biomass in the park as a way of preventing fires and increasing the amount of biodiversity and the health of the forest. If biomass is reduced strategically in Valldaura, there is less risk of fires and gives other species the opportunity to thrive in the forest and a greater biodiversity of flora, which in turn increases the biodiversity of fauna.
The team learned about responsible forest management in order to select trees that gradually meet the 40% reduction of biomass that the park requires. The team decided to cut pines as these are a colonizing species that have long out-competed other species in the forest, considering it essential to increase the biodiversity in the park.
The criteria for choosing the trees was their structural stability and branching aesthetics to provide more opportunity to create movements across the structure. This assisted us in choosing four trees out of which three were used for the final structure.
PHOTOGRAMMETRY // DESIGN
Once we had the trees chosen, the next step was to digitally scan the trees using low-tech methods to extract a 3D model to create an accurate approximation for the purpose of designing the playground.
For this purpose close to a hundred photos were taken of each tree from all possible angles from the ground before cutting and then horizontally after tree felling. To create the scans we used a software called Agisoft Metashape that performs photogrammetric processing of digital images and generates 3D spatial data from which a close approximation mesh was generated for the trees. Further refining was done on 3D software to get a usable model for the design process.
Once the photogrammetry was complete we proceeded to design a structure with trees laid out horizontally and vertically making use of their natural structural shape to form the design. By forming an interlocking layout of trees we create a space for climbing ropes while the rest of the structure becomes a natural climbing structure assisted by ropes winding around branches.