Design of a park in Wroclaw, where nature reigns supreme

Wiktor Bochenek

09 of June '23

...

+10

In the pages of A&B, we have more than once talked about the idea of fourth nature, leaving nature with minimal supervision in parks or moving away from the word „wasteland.” How do you bring these elements into design?

Designed by the Ikropka studio, the Gądowian park on Idzikowskiego Street in Wrocław is to be a natural habitat where residents can observe real nature. Nature, which is increasingly disappearing as a result of our interference.

Dominika Krop-Andrzejczuk, a landscape architect, talks about the idea of nature-based design, debetonation and the problem of combining third and fourth nature

park plan

Wiktor Bochenek: What is the „debetonation” after the former square in the Gądów housing estate in Wrocław supposed to consist of?

Dominika Krop-Andrzejczuk: The park on Idzikowskiego Street in Wroclaw is a huge, almost 9-hectare area of wasteland or, perhaps more nicely put, informal urban greenery, located near the city center. It once served as a construction site, providing facilities for builders of the Gądów housing estate. Up to now, traces of those events are visible in the area in the form of floors of former temporary buildings, elements of concrete slabs and spouts.

Implementation of the project on such an area was a challenge. This is an unusual area, because it has been overgrown for the last twenty, thirty years by lush pioneer vegetation on its own—poplars, birches are the main species composition as far as trees are concerned. Typical overgrown wilderness—an urban wasteland.

We as designers, in cooperation with the Board of Urban Greenery in Wroclaw, see the beauty and potential in it. Usually, when concrete elements are found in an area designated for investment, the approach of the investor and designers is traditional—demolish, haul away and dispose of. This approach generates a significant carbon footprint. In addition, if large concrete slabs were to be taken away, or even if they were to be stripped beforehand, dozens of years old trees growing in the area would undoubtedly be destroyed, as well as bushes and smaller plants, of which there are whole areas in the area at Idzikowskiego Street, such as perennials, which we have decided to take as a base for the future park and protect in the planned investment process. Therefore, in the case of the planned naturalistic park, because of precisely the existing vegetation overgrowing the existing concrete, we approached the subject differently. We began preparations for the project by performing analyses.

The park on Idzikowskiego street is to be a place of true nature

To begin with, we did a review of realizations in the world in a similar spirit. In recent years there has also been a lot of talk in Poland about artistic and educational interventions in the direction of debonairization, but they have usually been implemented on a small scale. We decided to use this line of thinking in a broader context, on a larger scale. During the project, I read and listened to a lot of podcasts on the topic of fourth nature—about a different approach to nature in the city, without destroying its value and uniqueness, and the enormous potential inherent in it. While exploring the topic, it became apparent that this approach was very close to our design style, which I had pushed with varying degrees of success in various previous park implementation projects.

In the end, the design of the naturalistic park on Idzikowskiego Street in Wroclaw involves debetonation in a two-pronged approach.

Concrete located in the park is to become its natural element

Wiktor: What does this dual-track approach consist of?

Dominika: First of all—due to theunsealing of the pavement. In the project we indicate places where the existing concrete pavement will be partially removed, thus creating places for designed, nature-inspired plant compositions.

Secondly, we make use of the existing vegetation and allow existing ruderal plants in the area to overgrow the cracks in the concrete.

Our project aims to achieve the effect of a spontaneous process of „absorption of concrete by nature.” This process occurs due to erosion, through the activity of plants—their roots will burst the concrete, causing it to crack and crumble. In addition, our project involves the realization of demolition of some of the concrete and its secondary use for use in art and nature installations, which we have named "ruderal hills."

The paths in the park are to be created on the site of the forecourts

Wiktor: What are "ruderal hills"?

Dominika: "Ruderal hills" are structures made of concrete slabs mixed with fertile soil, laid loosely one on top of the other, creating space for spontaneous overgrowth by spontaneous greenery. We give space for natural succession and observation of fourth nature activities. We do not design additional impermeable surfaces, and we give a significant part of the area back to nature. The park, therefore, can be called a park of natural succession, fourth nature, urban nature or nature education, because the educational thread in our project has also received a lot of attention.

ruderal hill project

Wiktor: In one of your statements, I heard that you made the design of the naturalistic park on Idzikowskiego Street in a „mixx system”. What does that mean? What does it consist of ?

Dominika: Yes, that was my mental shortcut. Speaking of the mixx design system, I had in mind a way of thinking about design in park spaces already occupied by natural, spontaneous and wild nature. It was important for me to combine the unmanaged with the managed in this design. The unmanaged element is the existing nature overgrowing concrete remnants, which are witnesses to history, and the arranged one is the new infrastructure, identified by the residents themselves as a social need—a playground, a dog run or alleys with lighting.

Already at the beginning of the design process, we decided as a team that we wanted to do a different park design than the well-known parks in Poland, going in the direction of the well-known parks of urban nature or parks of succession in Europe, while it was also important for us to meet the needs of the local community and maintain a healthy proportion of this mix.

In the case of Gądowian Park, we have designated zones of interference with space, where we introduce infrastructure for people, and zones of non-interference with space, where we leave space for wild vegetation and natural succession with the possibility of observing it. Thus, the project does not include cutting trees for composition, we do not build space with them by removing them, we leave trees, shrubs, thickets and undergrowth as they are on the ground. Completely in contrast to how the spaces we usually know under the term „park” are designed, understood as the so-called third nature. We are taught to attach primary importance in the design process to the composition, which is derived from the laws of design art and garden art, where we build the park landscape by building green structures, landscaping and site furnishings, green planning, view axes and view windows.

inspirations for the park

Our design includes only the cutting of dry, dead trees that are dangerous to site users. We designed traffic routes along existing routes in the green area, the so-called forecourts, and left some as informal forecourts. We integrated infrastructure elements into the existing landscape, into spaces not yet overgrown with trees, not yet controlled by nature. We designed alleys and accesses to these spaces. Lighting is designed perfunctorily—only one of the main walking routes passing through the park as an important traffic route. In the end, the project achieved the effect of preserving the naturalness of the area at a level of about 90% against the interference in the green space of about 10%.

Wiktor: What is most interesting about the use of fourth nature in combination with other elements?

Dominika: The overriding value of the area, which is very impressive, is nature. The one that „entered” the area of the former construction storage yard, full of concrete slabs, concrete spouts, construction debris, and began to overgrow these elements on its own. One can't help but notice how this fourth nature, acting on its own, absorbs the concrete remnants. In the field we can observe pioneer plants—birches, poplars, but we can already see the next phases of succession in the form of the first young oaks, which in time will displace the pioneer species. We expose what nature itself creates.

In the project we leave significant areas without much interference, we designate places for „natural succession”, „weed” and „herbaceous” beds. We leave the concrete pavement of the „central square” without repair. Over time, the concrete pavement will erode under the influence of weather conditions, rain, wind, frost, which will lead to the appearance of cracks and fissures.

The work began with a field inspection

We create space for pioneer plants, i.e. those that enter the area first. Overgrowth processes positively influence natural soil-forming processes, in effect improving habitat conditions. Eventually, plants that are more demanding will emerge in an area managed in this way.

Wiktor: How do you reconcile the needs of nature with the needs of man? How much will this park be used by the residents of Wroclaw?

Dominika: We are talking about both the great need of man to commune with ever-shrinking green areas, and the problems of climate change. Our idea is to give back to nature an area transformed by man, degrading it to the role of a visitor, an observer. Properly exposed and presented to the user, it can give a great deal of satisfaction and experiences unavailable every day for the „bourgeois”. The opportunity to observe and interact with wildlife in the city can prove to be an undeniable attraction. We firmly believe that this will be the case.

meeting square

Wiktor: What is the issue of mowing in this area?

Dominika: The project does not plan to mow the lawn evenly in one height. Only selected areas are planned to be mowed, which will allow the meadow habitat to develop and the biological quality to increase beyond the mowed areas.

Glades, or more frequently mowed areas, were planned next to recreational areas. We divided the mowed areas into zones: those intended for more frequent and lower mowing (recreational clearings) and those mowed occasionally (buffers between clearings and areas set aside for „flowerbeds” and weed beds) or not at all (park undergrowth). Overgrowth processes in the area are expected to contribute to soil purification, soil-forming processes that will allow the enrichment of degraded habitat.

clearings

We designed the areas with different mowing heights of the grassy spaces by introducing separation in the form of brushwood fences—intertwined branches obtained from the park.These fences serve several functions—first of all, they are intended to provide a signal to the mowing contractor—where and to what height to mow, but they can also provide excellent habitats for insect species, small birds and mammals. The remaining area will be spontaneously overgrown with tall vegetation, thus creating an external isolation buffer for the park.

There will also be „flowerbed” borders, which have been designed using stacked small fragments of crushed concrete locally acquired from the site.

Wiktor: You mentioned the educational value in the area, what is it supposed to consist of?

Dominika: The innovative approach to park urban space in such a large area needs to be explained. We wanted to raise the public awareness of residents and users of the area by explaining the reasons for such design measures, which the vast majority of residents are not used to. Acceptance of changes requires time and understanding. Therefore, the investor—the Urban Greenery Board—rightly foresaw at the stage of creating the public order the need for educational boards. We approached them very ambitiously in terms of both content and graphic design. We included each of the distinctive features of the naturalistic park in a specially designed series of more than a dozen boards with authorial texts explaining the essence of the design assumptions, solutions adopted or natural themes undertaken.

Also important was the visual identification

For the boards we made an authorial visual identification, in which each symbol corresponds to one of the design themes undertaken, these include: natural succession, overgrowth art, ruderal hills, herbaceous weeds, weed bed, honey bed or mowing. Each of the author's names is described and explained.

The boards, as well as other design graphics, can be viewed on my studio's website (see here: educational boards).

On the website of the studio there are educational materials prepared on the occasion of the

Wiktor: Why should we pay more attention to Ecosystem Based Design or Natural Based Solution?

Dominika: Ecosystem Based Design or Natural Based Solution is important primarily for the sake of the necessary adaptation to climate change, but, as the name suggests, these are nature-based solutions that are economically viable, ecologically, but also bring social benefits.

The large mass of plant tissue contributes to more efficient water storage, has a positive effect on soil regeneration. The emphasis placed on the use of native, hardy species adapted to the habitat makes more plants likely to persist, and the sheer effort and cost of maintaining such vegetation is much lower.

By restoring natural ecosystems, biodiversity is promoted, and the abundance of herbaceous plants brings undeniable benefits for pollinators. In the end, such solutions bring a huge amount of ecological, but also economic benefits, which should be appreciated by city managers. No less hugely important is education and continuous raising of public awareness so that such solutions are understood and appreciated.

ruderal room

Wiktor: When will Wrocław citizens be able to use this space?

Dominika: This is a question for the Board of Urban Greenery in Wroclaw. However, I know that applications have been made for EU funding for this project. I have no knowledge whether the implementation will be carried out in one stage, or whether it will be divided into stages, as originally envisioned.

I have high hopes for the realization of our naturalistic park project—it seems to be the first such park in Poland on such a large acreage. I count on its warm reception by residents and supporters of Wroclaw. Perhaps the project will also inspire other cities to look at public areas in a different way and encourage new investments in the spirit of Natural Based Solution. I am open to discussing this topic, because I realize that innovative solutions need time to understand and get used to a different outlook. It is always necessary to talk a lot about the „new” in order to let a different approach and outlook on green spaces, especially public ones, „settle in”.

Wiktor: Thank you for the interview.