Architects from the Kwadratura studio, in cooperation with Marek Piwowarski and Slawek Sendzielski, created a concept for a network of gardens in the Sluzewiecka Valley park for the tender for the design of natural playgrounds announced by the Warsaw Greenery Board in March this year. And although the concept was not selected for implementation, the authors are pleased with the high evaluation of its design qualities.
Thenatural playgrounds, as designed by the Kwadratura studio, are a network of gardens inspired by the place where they are created. Each of them is part of a larger whole - the individual squares are connected physically, through signposts and treasure exchange boxes, and digitally, through the inclusion of hidden treasure boxes in the Geocaching platform and the creation of a website with descriptions and photos of existing and newly created playgrounds.
The title of the task "in the old garden" was the best possible inspiration for us. Analyzing the existing state and historical sources, we paid attention to the wide park interior. In its center grows a solitary form of mirabelle. Our aspirations were to preserve the maximum open character of this space. In addition, we analyzed the historical layout of the village of Sluzew, which stretched along the nearby Tarnina Street, in order to relate to the old buildings as faithfully as possible," write the authors of the concept.
garden development concept
© Quadratura
The basic elements of the natural playground equipment, according to the designers, are: rich vegetation, the selection of which results from the nature and theme of the playground, diversification of the terrain in the form of hills or diversification of flat surfaces, diversification of the surface in the form of sensory paths, but also with the participation of walkways over natural elements, and equipment that makes it possible to spend many hours in the garden, thus ensuring the satisfaction of physiological needs: covered benches, places for common meals, etc.
The architects marked in the design important communication links - the entrance from Bach Street - on the east side by the parking lot, on the west side - by the pedestrian crossing, and a wide entrance to the bridge. There are also strings along the valley: an upper string on the north and a lower string on the south side of the development area. Along the lower string runs a canal connecting the park's pond.
The designers distinguished three zones of the garden: an intensive educational zone - within the enclosure, providing a transition to further parts, an arcade and exploration zone between the trees and, on the eastern side, an open part with a picnic character. The separate homestead zone was designed by the architects as a farm close in scale to the actual dimensions of the homestead buildings of the Mazovian village.
homestead zone
© Quadratura
We wanted to preserve the atmosphere of tranquility and openness to the landscape contained in the development. Therefore, we proposed a homestead layout including three main buildings. Thus, it consists of a cottage - a playhouse with a mud kitchen and climbing ladders. The barn is the outline of the silhouette of the barn building, which is the structure for swings and climbing ropes. The chicken coop and barn is a set of combinatorial toys in the vicinity of the dirty part - the compost (dung) where we propose a play zone with the ground. Next to it, dominating the view is a crane pump with water "drawn" from a well. In addition, in front of the cottage there is a flower front garden, and on the west side there are elevated vegetable beds. The whole is surrounded by a wicker fence, under which plants of the Mazovian countryside grow: mallows, asters and primroses, the authors of the concept write.
In the garden, the architects also planned a wonder zone - a place of contact with nature and village beliefs, where large insects, mice, snakes, as well as rural mythical creatures were hidden under huts or bushes in various places.
An important element of the garden is the existing plants left over from former gardens - plum trees, nuts, hawthorns, roses and the mirabelle growing in the center. In the western part of the membrane, the architects proposed additional plantings of a fruit orchard and, further away from the homestead, thickets of wicker and a biodiversity zone.
visualization of the park
© Quadratura
When designing the playgrounds, we think about the users: they are not only children and parents, but also young people for whom there is a lack of places to spend leisure time, as well as the elderly and those with mobility limitations. In our concept, we proposed to involve local leaders, residents of the neighborhoods of the playgrounds in question, in the process of detailing the program and design solutions, the project's authors write.
compiled by. ed.
Illustrations: Quadratura in cooperation with Slawek Sendzielski, Marek Piwowarski and Ewa Benkel
