In May 2015 an iconic artwork rose up on the dunes: the Zandwacht. Covering an area of 20 by 40 metres and rising to a height of 12 metres, it is an impressive structure. It marks the completion of the construction of Maasvlakte 2, a large land reclamation project in the North Sea adjacent to the port of Rotterdam.
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Developed by Observatorium, an international artists’ collective based in Rotterdam, Zandwacht shows how dunes are formed by sand being blown into the air by strong winds and then settling again when the wind drops, thus forming a small hill.
Photos: Hans Eberls
Read the full article in Topos 92 – Landscape Identity
Due to increasing requirements with regard to how animals are kept at zoos and the resultant breeding success, as well as visitors’ wishes to have a more interactive experience of nature, several new elephant enclosures have been built at zoos across Europe since the 1990s. Construction of one of these enclosures, the Kaeng Krachen Elephant Park at the Zurich Zoo, was completed in 2014. The zoo’s desire was not to build the biggest enclosure, but the best. For this reason, an international, two-stage competition was held in 2008, which was won by Lorenz Eugster Landscape Architects together with Markus Schietsch Architects and Walt + Galmarini civil engineers.
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The new enclosure is integrated into the surrounding mixed deciduous Züribergwald forest. Additional new vegetation conjures up associations with the rainforests of northern Thailand. When visitors approach the enclosure through the forest they are provided with views of a dried-up riverbed, which the elephants share with blackbucks, and the vaulted wooden roof shell of the elephant house. The atmosphere of the tropical plantings on the inside of the building is continued in the interim areas through the use of plants that will also survive Swiss climatic conditions, i.e. plants that will thrive both with and without a winter dormancy period.
Photos: Jean-Luc Grossmann
Read the full article in Topos 92 – Landscape Identity
The Aga Khan Park in Toronto was officially inaugurated at the end of May. The 6.8-hectare park, designed by Lebanon-based landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic, encompasses the area between and around the Aga Khan Museum and the Ismaili Centre. The park, the museum, and the centre together form Toronto’s newest cultural hub.
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In the Aga Khan Park, Djurovic aimed to recreate the sensory experience – namely sounds, aromas, textures and colours – he had while visiting traditional Islamic gardens at the Alhambra in Spain and Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, India, among other historic sites. The Ismaili Centre was designed by Indian architect Charles Correa, the Aga Khan Museum by Fumihiko Maki of Japan. Moriyama and Teshima are the Canadian architects of record for the entire project. These three projects are an initiative of the Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network.
Photos: Gary Otte
Read the full article in Topos 91 – Urban Projects, Squares and Promenades
