IFLA Europe Exhibition 'Re-considering Nature' project

IFLA Europe Exhibition 'Re-considering Nature' project

DKAS Slovenia entitled 'Švicarija terrace - A public garden in the Tivoli park'

Today we present a project from DKAS Slovenia entitled 'Švicarija terrace - A public garden in the Tivoli park'

Extensive terrace, placed at the point where the Tivoli Park meets the urban forest of Rožnik, creates an intriguingly large open space. Extending in front of the ornamented alpine architecture with great trees rising behind it, the terrace lies in bold contrast to its forest covered borders. The flowerbeds articulate and soften the openness of the terrace. In order to re-open the vista to the distant castle on top of Ljubljana, cuts were made in the overgrown edges. The reconstruction of the tall light posts was possible due to the postcards from Švicarija, preserved in the National and University Library. Six posts form an axis extending straight out of the building and colliding with the direction of the view towards the castle. This represented a formal problem of colliding geometries resolved by a juxtaposition of the axis and the flowerbeds. The renovated terrace partially revives the coffee-shop culture of the turn of the century Ljubljana which is part of Švicarija’s intangible cultural heritage.

The old building now hosts short-term artist residences and a small club restaurant which provides services for the walkers of the larger Tivoli park area and will use the terrace on the daily basis. At the same time, more intimate spaces behind the flowerbeds set a gentle reminder of the days before the renovation when the terrace was a picturesquely overgrown garden of the artists who, before the renovation, lived there permanently for quite some years.

A strolling over the terrace from the forest towards the city provides an interplay of the open bright space with a view towards the town and of the more enclosed perspectives between the flowerbeds and seating platforms. The later, combined with the thin metal railing delineating the terrace, turn the gaze back to the Švicarija and to the monumental forest rising behind it.

Authors: Landscape architecture: Studio AKKA: Ana Kučan, Ana Tepina, Mojca Kumer 

Photo Credit: Ana Tepina

Project and catalogue of IFLA Europe Exhibition Projects are available on IFLA Europe website https://iflaeurope.eu/index.php/site/exhibition-project