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Paths
Paths system is the name we give to the
second morphological pattern presented here.
In this pattern, green areas are the ground on
which walkable and rest surfaces are drawn.
These paths are the figure, the design object,
and we can trace them through an orthogonal
rectilinear geometric base, an oblique
rectilinear one or a curvilinear one.
A magnificent example of a paths layout on a
ground of green meadow, with an orthogonal
rectilinear geometry design, is the Center for
Clinical Research Science garden in Stanford
University, by Peter Walker & Partners (Fig.
4A). The compositional elements used here
are few: two crossing paths, longitudinal and
transversal to the site, transversal lines of low
hedges placed at regular intervals, and some
square surfaces associated with existing oaks.
These elements are combined to create an
order that is not static, but varied and vibrant.
The resources to achieve this are, first, to avoid
a rigid symmetry in the main paths, displacing
them from the axes. Secondly, to break hedges´
lines at different points, staggered, making
them appear in a low view as a succession
of bands which slide over each other. Finally,
the design takes advantage of the random
position in the plot of existing large oak trees,
associating each of them to a paved square,
which is used as a rest area.
Paths may also be designed as straight lines
with a broken guideline, as in Tilburg Interpolis
garden, by West 8 (Fig. 14), in which a
geometry based on oblique lines dominates the
composition, and the background is a carefully
maintained lawn.
But just as the orthogonal rectilinear form of
the classic parterres is the typical layout in
carpets system, so the characteristic layout of
paths system is that of the English landscape
3
106 gardens, based on a curvilinear geometry, in dores rojos que esparcen las semillas, formas trapezoidales irregulares que
which paths draw smooth curves that ply the un parterre de bordado que en vez de flotan sobre un fondo de tierra. En
large meadow of grass that constitutes the arabescos dibuja con elementos vege- este caso, además, el sistema de com-
green ground. The trails and curvilinear paths tales un torso humano y sus órganos posición de alfombras no va asociado
organize the plan of Birkenhead Park by Paxton,
internos, o un parterre resuelto como a formas planas, sino que estas formas
and also the Central Park by Olmsted (Fig. 4C)
hortus conclusus, cuyo perímetro son tienen un cierto volumen, ya que son
and that of many other naturalist gardens,
large or small, that followed in its wake.
muros. La revisión del parterre se restos del terreno original, testimonio
This system of winding roads preconized by hace, como vemos, con ironía, con- de las rasantes previas a la nivelación
Olmsted is still valid in current landscape virtiendo la colección de alfombras en horizontal del jardín, sobre las que
design, and is still associated with the una colección de prototipos paisajísti- crecen masas arbustivas.
“natural”, although in many cases there are cos actualizados. La playa urbana HtO de Toronto,
no undulations or accidents on the ground Pero el sistema de alfombras de geo- obra de Janet Rosenberg y Claude
that justify it, but it is a purely formal project metría ortogonal puede asumir mayo- Cormier (Fig. 3C), es un ejemplo de
decision, as in the winding paths along St. res grados de libertad. Las alfombras composición basada en un sistema de
Lawrence River from the Promenade Samuel de o superficies verdes pueden extenderse alfombras de base geométrica curvi-
Champlain in Quebec (Fig. 4D).
sobre el fondo de un modo diferente al línea, en la que las superficies verdes,
Paths with curvilinear layout are, moreover, a
de los parterres clásicos, de modo que de formas elípticas, generan una tra-
key element in landscape intervention projects,
where the ground is not a maintained grass los caminos dejan de ser una cuadrícu- ma similar a la de las células de los
meadow as in public parks, but a natural wild la. La repetición y la simetría, ritmos tejidos orgánicos, que flota sobre un
plant mass in which the path merely penetrates estáticos, se pueden reemplazar por fondo de senderos que canalizan el
without altering it. ritmos más sincopados, que aportan paso sin necesidad de establecer reco-
This applies, among others, to interventions un mayor dinamismo, aun mantenien- rridos preferentes.
like the Stockbridge Boardwalk in Berkshire, by do la ortogonalidad.
Reed Hildebrand (Fig. 4E), a wooden walkway Estos ritmos, además, tienden a
that describes elegant curves and seems to evitar la jerarquización de recorridos Caminos
float on the shrub swamp, whose natural propia de la axialidad clásica, susti- El segundo sistema o patrón compo-
beauty remains intact. sitivo que hemos identificado es el de
tuyéndola por una concepción que
podríamos llamar deambulante, en caminos, en el que las superficies ver-
Mosaics la que las secuencias de recorridos no des son el fondo sobre el que se dibu-
We’ve seen hitherto two systems or están tan prefijadas. jan los recorridos o espacios de uso.
composition patterns, Carpets and Paths, which Así, en el Jardín botánico nacio- La figura, el objeto de proyecto, son
allow us to explain the two main historical nal de Chevreloup, de Dominique estos recorridos, y podemos trazarla
ways to design green spaces: the French formal Perrault, (Fig. 3A), las alfombras son a partir de bases geométricas rectilí-
garden and the English landscape garden. neas ortogonales, rectilíneas oblicuas
rectángulos alargados de dimensiones
We´ll add now to these systems another two
variables, dedicados a especies vege- o curvilíneas.
ones, Mosaics and Strata, which are more
strongly linked to contemporary visual arts. tales diferentes, que se disponen des- Un magnífico ejemplo de trazado
In the Mosaics system, as already noted, the plazados entre sí en el sentido de su de caminos sobre un fondo de prade-
design of horizontal surfaces does not consist eje mayor, con lo cual se consigue una ra verde, con una geometría rectilínea
on drawing a figure on a ground, but in cutting gran variedad dimensional en los re- ortogonal, es el diseño de Peter Walker
or chopping the ground. The pieces or tiles of corridos que integran el fondo. & Partners para los jardines del Cen-
this mosaic, which are subdivisions resulting Las alfombras pueden adoptar tam- ter for Clinical Research Science de la
from such cutting, although diverse in shape, bién formas no ortogonales, como las Universidad de Stanford (Fig. 4A). Los
are consistent with each other: they fit when
resultantes de geometrías rectilíneas elementos de composición empleados
juxtaposed, and all together fill the projected
surface, like pieces of a puzzle. oblicuas o las asociadas a geometrías son pocos: dos caminos, uno longitu-
The geometry according to which cutting is curvilíneas. En la zona oeste del Jar- dinal y otro transversal, que se cruzan,
performed to design the mosaic can be of an dín botánico de Burdeos de Catherine unos setos transversales, dispuestos a
orthogonal rectilinear type, as in the noted Mosbach (Fig. 3B) podemos ver unas intervalos regulares y unos cuadrados
expresión gráfica arquitectónica
4. Sistema de caminos.
A. Peter Walker & Partners. Center for Clinical
Cience Research Gardens, Stanford University,
California.
B. West 8. Interpolis, Tilburg.
C. F.L. Olmsted. Central Park, New York.
D. Daoust Lestage + Williams Asselin Ackaoui
+ Option aménagement. Promenade Samuel-de-
Champlain, Quebec. 107
E. Reed Hildebrand. Berkshire Boardwalk,
Stockbridge, Massachussets.
4. Paths system.
A. Peter Walker & Partners. Center for Clinical
Cience Research Gardens, Stanford University,
California.
B. West 8. Interpolis, Tilburg.
C. F.L. Olmsted. Central Park, New York.
D. Daoust Lestage + Williams Asselin Ackaoui +
Option Aménagement. Promenade Samuel-de-
Champlain, Quebec.
E. Reed Hildebrand. Berkshire Boardwalk,
Stockbridge, Massachussets.
Strata 109
The Strata system is the last of the four
morphological patterns presented here. As noted,
in this system horizontal surface is the result of
the superposition of layers and different forms
are interspersed in such a manner that it´s not
possible to make a clear distinction between
figure and ground.
The result of the superposition is what
differentiates strata pieces from mosaic tiles.
In the Strata pattern a certain figure-ground
ambiguity occurs as the eye surveys the surface,
as long as the same forms can be perceived
sometimes as figure and sometimes as ground.
All mosaic pieces are, instead, both figure and
ground.
To illustrate the Strata system we can refer
to Roberto Burle-Marx, a key figure in the
renovation of contemporary landscape design,
since he first managed to integrate it into
the artistic avant-garde of the 20th centxury
and also took the first steps for its ecological
foundamentation.
Like other systems, strata may have a rectilinear
geometric basis -orthogonal or oblique- or a
curvilinear geometric basis. The unrealized Burle
Marx design for a geometric garden (Fig. 6A) is a
brilliant example of composition developed with
superposed strata, using orthogonal rectilinear
forms that sometimes assume the role of figure
and some other times the role of ground.
At the Ministry of the Army Gardens in Brasilia
(Fig. 6B), on the other hand, overlapping shapes
have an oblique rectilinear base, while in the
noted project for Odette Monteiro´s Residence
gardens (Fig. 6C), these forms are arranged in
curvilinear strata, and could easily be mistaken
for a painting by Joan Miró.
In all cases, regardless of its basic geometry, the
level of complexity and richness we can observe
in the surfaces organization of these projects by
Burle Marx is noticeably higher than the one we
could achieve with Carpets or Paths systems.
Patterns described herein may be used, of
course, in a mixed or a combined manner 2.
Moreover, these patterns do not necessarily refer
to a static conception of green spaces, but can
be instead understood in a dynamic way, as a
crystallization of forms in a particular moment
in a process, the configuration of landscape, in
which time is one more composition material. n
5
6. Sistema de estratos. 6. Strata system.
A. R. Burle Marx. Proyecto de jardín geométrico. A. R. Burle Marx. Design for a geometric garden.
B. R. Burle Marx. Jardines del Ministerio del B. R. Burle Marx. Ministry of the Army gardens,
Ejército, Brasilia. Brasilia.
C. R. Burle Marx. Jardines de la residencia de C. R. Burle Marx. Odette Monteiro state gardens, Río
Odette Monteiro, Río de Janeiro. de Janeiro.