Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This is a thesis about design of young stands of trees. A big source of inspiration has been Västerskog and Tor Nitzelius Park in Alnarp which both consists of a structure of squares. I wanted to examine if this type of planting could be valuable from an aesthetic and recreational point of view. One problem today is that many people believe that we have to wait for decades for a planting to grow up so that we can enjoy the "ready result". Instead we need to accept that vegetation is a dynamic material that never seizes to change and the "ready result" does not exist. This is by no means a disadvantage; on the contrary we ought to see the possibilities of the dynamics. Many young plantings today look very dull, but that can be avoided in the future if we instead of planting according to the final plan; implement a design for a place that is inviting, interesting and aesthetic from the beginning to the end. This work consists of two parts. The first part deals with how young stands can be formed so they become assets in parks and landscapes. The second part is a design proposal for the arboretum in the city park of Jönköping for which I use the conclusions I have drawn in the first part.

Part I
The first part consists of four chapters that discuss the questions that I believe are the most important when designing young plantings. The first is about the difference between young and older individuals and how it varies between the species. To make a planting obtain aesthetical qualities quickly, it can be good to know which species that develop such qualities already when they are young. The second chapter deals with the architecture of vegetation; that is how we can use vegetation to construct rooms.
The third chapter is about the shaping and the context of the place, which means design on a greater level than the room in itself.
The final chapter is about staging; how to by different means create
excitement and curiosity for the visitor, by working with contrasts and how the visitor is to move through the place.

Part II
Here, the theories have been applied to a real place, the arboretum of the city park in Jönköping. With the existing conditions I have tried to create a place as full of variation as possible. There are already quite many trees; some of them are of great size. It has been a part of my work to try to put my young stands together with the existing vegetation in a good way. The design of the place has been inspired by the design language of Västerskog and Tor Nitzelius Park in Alnarp. My aim was also that the arboretum of the city park, which is a public space, should attract both first time visitor and regulars.

Detta är ett examensarbete som handlar om gestaltning av unga
trädbestånd. En stor inspirationskälla har varit Västerskog och Tor
Nitzelius park i Alnarp som båda är uppbyggda i rutnätstrukturer.
Jag har velat undersöka om denna typ av plantering kan vara värdefull
ur en estetisk och rekreativ synvinkel. Ett problem är att många
idag tror att man måste vänta i decennier på att en plantering skall
växa upp innan man får ta del av ”det färdiga resultatet”. Istället
bör man acceptera att vegetation är ett dynamiskt byggmaterial som
aldrig slutar att förändras varför något ”färdigt resultat” inte existerar.
Detta är ingen nackdel, tvärtom bör man se möjligheterna med
dynamiken. Många unga planteringar ser idag väldigt trista ut, men
det kan undvikas i framtiden om man i stället för att plantera enligt
den slutgiltiga planen, planerar så att platsen i fråga blir inbjudande,
intressant, och estetisk från början till slut. Arbetet består av två delar
där den första delen tar upp hur man kan gestalta unga bestånd
så att de blir en tillgång i park- och landskap. Den andra delen är ett
gestaltningsförslag till Stadsparkens arboretum i Jönköping där jag
använder mig av de slutsatser jag kom fram till i den första delen.