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European Landscape Architecture This is an important new book about landscape con- Jens Balsby Nielsen was Associate Professor at the struction and good detailed design. It is not a book University of Copenhagen from 1998–2005 where of standard details in landscape architecture, nor his main subjects were landscape planning, manage- does it give the reader step-by-step instructions; ment, and landscape architectural detailing and con- instead it highlights how important it is to consider struction. In 2005 he became a landscape advisor in detail in the creative process, showing that good the Danish Palaces and Properties Agency. practice in detailing is as integral to successful design as an exciting concept or striking site plan. Torben Dam has been an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen since 1993. Torben is the The book features case studies of recent land- author of books about garden design, quality stand- scape architectural projects in nine European coun- ards and hard surfaces in landscape architecture. His tries, including the Peace Garden in Sheffield, the main areas of teaching and research are in detailing Harbour Park in Copenhagen, a motorway service and construction in landscape architecture. station in France, a guest house garden in Hungary, a cemetery in Munich and the new Botanic Gardens Ian Thompson is Reader in Landscape Architecture in Barcelona. Each project has been chosen for its at Newcastle University. A chartered landscape exemplary good practice in construction detailing architect and town-planner, he spent thirteen years and is demonstrative of how a strong overall con- in practice before joining the teaching staff in the cept can be expressed through well-designed detail School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape in to create convincing design. 1992. He is editor of the international peer-reviewed journal Landscape Research and the author of European Landscape Architecture draws together several books including Ecology, Community and a team of leading professionals and academics in Delight (Spon Press, 1999) which won a Landscape the field of landscape architecture. The case stud- Institute Award in 2001 and The Sun King’s Garden ies are well-illustrated with photographs and many (Bloomsbury, 2006), a narrative history of the crea- original construction drawings running alongside tion of the gardens of Versailles. the text. This will be a valuable source book for students and practitioners alike, as well as being of interest to researchers with an interest in the process of design. First published 2007 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2007 Jens Balsby Nielsen, Torben Dam and Ian Thompson, selection and editorial matter; individual chapters, the contributors This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library,2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permis- sion in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been applied for ISBN 0–203–62299–5 Mastere-bookISBN ISBN10 0-415-30736-8 (hbk) ISBN10 0-415-30737-6 (pbk) ISBN13 978-0-415-30736-9 (hbk) ISBN13 978-0-415-30737-6 (pbk) ISBN13 978-0-203-62299-5 (ebk) European Landscape Architecture Best practice in detailing Edited by Jens Balsby Nielsen, Torben Dam and Ian Thompson Contents vii Foreword ix Acknowledgements x Contributors xi Illustration credits 1 Introduction Jens Balsby Nielsen, Torben Dam and Ian Thompson 9 Denmark Torben Dam and Jens Balsby Nielsen 43 Ireland Sue Jackson 67 France Emma Jonasson 81 Germany Ingrid Schegk and Sabrina Wilk 119 Hungary Kinga Szilágyi 153 The Netherlands Boudewijn Almekinders and Ad Koolen 183 Spain Marti Franch 213 Sweden Ann Bergsjö 237 The United Kingdom Ian Thompson 263 Notes 267 Index Foreword Design proposes ideas but it is through the medium regrettably still not received adequate attention by of landscape detail that these ideas are projected landscape historians or theorists and still remains as a material reality on site. The art of this activity, a productive area of the landscape field in need of and I need to declare immediately that it is a very development. Finally, with this publication focusing inventive, subtle and robust art-form, lies in the on the European experience of landscape detail and processes of detail design – the act of detailing by detailing practices, the third area of work takes a the landscape architect and the subsequent evolu- significant step forward in addressing the issues of tion and elaboration over time and by others of the landscape detail across national and geographical resulting constructed landscape detail elements boundaries. In this book and in the cases studies and forms. If landscape architecture is to continue that are illustrated here, the European landscape to advance its knowledge base as a series of cul- design community has taken up the task of offering tural practices and a pragmatic art form of the high- critical commentary on contemporary detail prac- est level, design practitioners and teachers must tices and projects within their national landscapes. pay due care and attention to advancing the practice This is both a timely and significant task as the of landscape detail as the core of contemporary development and implementation of contemporary landscape design. landscapes and conversely, it should be noted, the demolition and eradication of many more recent Three crucial areas of work need to be carried out by design works, continues with little pause. In addi- landscape researchers and academics regarding the tion, the geographical and cultural complexities of broader subject of landscape technology, construc- the national practices demonstrated here present tion and detail design. These are detail durability, an antidote to globalization, homogeneity and lack the preparation of a history of landscape technol- of specificity in detail design. This is therefore a ogy and, finally, regional case studies in landscape benchmark publication by the editors Jens Balsby design detail. The first area, durability, has become Nielsen, Torben Dam and Ian Thompson in the of increasing significance to the landscape architec- evolution of landscape architectural practice and ture profession as issues of sustainability, diminish- scholarship. ing natural material resources and accountability required by clients and municipalities for construct- The case studies that occupy the greater part of ed landscape design projects over time. The second this book illustratate landscape projects as living area, on the history of landscape technology, has dynamic processes of design, with their resultant vii Foreword dead-ends, backtracking, leaps of imagination and It is also a way of rediscovering what has already periods of creative design synthesis. been recognized in the landscape design work of previous historical periods, but today continues The case studies do not, as the editors point out, to elude our full appreciation. Making landscape resemble a set of guidelines or rules that will auto- detail form as a design activity requires a lifetime matically result in successful details in the future investment of energy, resources and patience from (we may, however, care to measure the notion any designer. The notion of commitment to serious of 'success'). That is not the nature of landscape detail investigation requires an obsessive mind, design or that of landscape detail. It still requires while also giving broad attention to the particular individuals to have developed individual design design challenges of landscape detailing, a clear talent with the capacity to work productively in intellectual focus, and a deep understanding of the landscape field in whatever country or coun- design history with as much practical site experi- tries they are commissioned to work. Nor do they ence in varied cultures and climates as any designer absolve the designer of having to grasp the total can muster in a professional life time. range of knowledge and skills in all other areas of landscape architecture design, technology and con- In return a built form is produced which is intricate struction practices. yet strong in its resolution and execution, an art form combining materials, ideas and meaning, which is Instead, they provide a way of understanding land- simultaneously poetic and pragmatic. In short, it scape design through its detail, and, at the same displays the practical dimensions and creative pos- time, a way of looking at landscape detail through sibilities of landscape design detail. It is hoped that design. In this, the purpose is to project landscape this publication will be the first of many. detail beyond its current role as a complement to other parts of the landscape design and planning processes, and to establish it as an identifiable Niall Kirkwood subject on its own. This is a subject deeply con- Professor of Landscape Architecture and cerned with the intellectual activity of design, both Technology Chair and Program Director, as a daily form of practice and a personal aesthetic Department of Landscape Architecture Director, language. Center for Technology and Environment at the Harvard Graduate School of Design viii Acknowledgements This book has been long in the making and has project to completion. Susan Dunsmore was an passed through many hands. The editors would like enthusiastic, entertaining and amazingly quick copy- to thank the authors of the various chapters and editor. Gavin Ambrose came up with a crisp design all of those practitioners who assisted by agreeing to complement the quality of the work portrayed. to be interviewed and by supplying drawings and The typesetter Alex Lazarou juggled the text and images of their work. captions around until it all seemed to work. Last, but by no means least, we would like to thank At Routledge we would like to thank Caroline Havekulturfonden, the Danish foundation which Mallinder for commissioning the book, Michelle made a generous contribution towards the cost of Green and Jules Mohm for their help along the the colour reproduction. Like a designed landscape, way and Katherine Morton for bringing a difficult this book is a collaborative effort. Credit to you all. ix