Design, realization planning, and artistic direction
in cooperation with Atelier Loidl, Landscape architects
BDLA Landscape Architecture Prize 2001
Based on political specifications of the Berliner Senate, Schinkel's classical master plan was designated as the starting point for the new design of the Berliner Pleasure Garden. Although the design orientates itself towards Schinkel's 1829 plan, realized in 1835, it is not to be taken as an exact interpretation or replication of Schinkel's original design. Since the original substance is irretrievably lost, this would have been impossible and meaningless in the strictest sense of historical preservation.
The new interpretation of Schinkel's plan gives the Pleasure Garden a contemporary topography. While the pathways connect to the surrounding paved enclosures at the same elevation level, a flattened relief is created by slightly raising and modelling the lawn areas in between. The fountain is likewise raised up from the pathway surface as a low relief. Visitors are thus invited to occupy and inhabit the garden’s surfaces. Consequently, a fenced-in garden according to the original design is avoided.
The grading of the lawns, the accompanying stone benches, and the fountain relief articulate a connection between the Berliner Dom and the Spree channel. The dimensions and positioning of the stone benches and the shape of the graded lawns align with the facade of the old museum. Rows of lime blossom trees complete the edges of the Pleasure Garden, aligning themselves with the respective sight lines of the museum. This arrangement of trees creates a quiet, shady framework around the whole area.
While the layout and positioning of the lawn areas and the fountain are based on Schinkel's historical model, their spatial formulation allows for an present-day usage of the grounds. With the possibility of visitor occupancy, the area loses its representative character. This reinterpretation of functional meaning is achieved by a uniquely different articulation of ground plan and elevation. This is the intended goal of the design.
The project has been honoured with the BDLA Prize for Landscape Architecture in 2001.
The fountain assumes the focal centre of the round plaza at the crossing
point of the main axes of the old museum and the Berliner Dom. Based on
Schinkel's master plan, the fountain has a diameter of 15 meters. Wide
pathways frame the fountain on all sides.
Erected before the old museum in 1834, the spectacular massive bowl was
cut from a single block of granite. As the new fountain isn't designed
to compete with the historic granite bowl, a second object shall not inhabit
the plaza area. The fountain area is therefore developed as a flat yet
delicate bass relief out of fossilized limestone blocks. Thin plates are
stacked vertically in varying heights, complementing the texture of the
fossilized limestone. The fountain relief is embedded in the centre of
the plaza and should be taken as a complete composition, together with
the surrounding cobbled areas and curbstones of the garden’s pathways.
Like the lawn areas, the fountain is meant to be experienced and walked
upon.
A high water jet, swirling sprays and a gentle mist create the water-play
of the fountain. A suggested water arch instead of the present central
water jet was unfortunately rejected in the final realization. The arch
would have softened the focus on the middle point and emphasized the perpendicular
relationship to the main axes.
Construction
Supervision
Ausführung
Area
Gross expense
budget
Duration of
Construction
Photographs
The
State of Berlin,
Senate Administration for Urban Development,
Environmental Protection
and Technology,
Represented by „Grün Berlin“ Park and Garden GmbH
Willnecker und Siegmann,
Landscape Architects
Rüdiger Brandenburg GmbH
Combé GmbH & Co Rohrbau
Oberdorlaer Muschelkalk Traco
über Beso Baustoffvertrieb GmbH
EBB, Edelstahl und Blechbarbeitung GmbH
Berlin - Mitte,
between Karl-Liebknechtstraße
and Straße am Lustgarten,
am „Alten Museum“, dem Berliner Dom, dem Schloßplatz.
2,2 hectares
3,6 Million Euros
December 1997 Planned Starting Date
February 1998 - September 1999
Lars Dreppenstedt
Hans Loidl
Barbara Hutter
Ulrike Böhm
Cyrus Zahiri
landscapes urban design
www.bbzl.de
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