Above the design made by the landscape architects SLA, approved by the Municipality of Copenhagen as the plan for the new Green in 2023. The additions to this design, made by the art project, are marked in blue.
The visual art of Grønningen does not consist of eye-catching elements. Instead, it consists of a series of addition to the completed design, elaborated in dialogue with SLA , and realised in collaboration with Efterland,Kristian Rahbæk engineers, Hoager Byg and Hesselaa Smedie.
In her additions, Kerstin Bergendal sought to supplement the landscape design by adding a series of subtle physical structures and points of gathering. She calls this series a Meta Layer – as it refers back to the dialogue process by “translating” three main conclusions from these dialogues into physical form; Firstly- Grønningen is a public area.Secondly – it is a surface of touch between its neighbors. And thirdly – this opens for the possibility of co-ownership of the park, as an essential basic condition for its form. The park should thus be equipped to act a support for shared activities between neighbors to the park – as well as for parallel activities by different agents. The Meta Layer consists of a series of physical structures that are deliberately vague and fragmentary in their forms. They are not designed for one type of use – but for many. Each individual can inhabit them in his or her way. Thus, they give meaning only when used.
Foot-paths
Foot-paths built of oak wood, winds between trees, planted along the edges of the park. The construction is a loan from countless nature trails and parks in Northern Europe, where such paths support moving dry-shoed through high vegetation or across damp areas. A footpath is also an invitation to the body – no matter how old it might be. It simply calls for you to try it out, follow it on discovery or try balancing. And as these footpaths branch out, they subdivide the area under the trees, creating smaller spaces to “inhabit”.
As seen below, the footpaths can also be partially raised. This creates simple seating, interacting with the surrounding hollows retaining water during sky-falls.
Meeting spots
All the furnishings in the park, through form only, invite a visitor to sit down for a while. He/she will recognise tables and Copenhagen Benches. But also obvious locations for an gathering an audience or perform outdoor teaching. In their essence, these furnishings are built not to belong to any particular group or person – as public spaces in Denmark must aim to service a variety of parallel social activities.
Some of the meeting spots added by the artist, are known to respond to an impulse to play – both from children and adults. Others, through their open form, will stay open to interpretation – and might, just because of this, be useful as platforms for moments of sharing, or as tools for co-productions, meetings and outdoor teaching.
The Bunker Bench is installed as an physical addition of an existing bunker tower at Grønningen. An elliptical shape offers varying seat depths and seat heights and opens different modes of staying, on the top. This is a place a place for play, for a moment alone with someone, or just for overviewing Grønningen and Bispeparken all the way up to The Grundtvig Cathedral.
Footpaths lead you to the top. They lead up along the steep sides of the bunker hill, deep inside of the hill’s new planting. Entry and exit points of these footpaths are illuminated – a way to deter any shady activities.
The labyrinth is a well-known figure in public parks around the world. This particular labyrinth is placed inside one of the hollows, and appears as an extension and densification of the footpaths in the park. The edges of the recess, are mechanically part of the labyrinth. It also contains two minor platforms plus a central opening, where a thick rope offers a swing. Thus, it is ideal for playing games such as “Don’t touch the lava”. But in the very way it presents itself, it also constitutes a “weak architecture”: It stays open for re-interpretation – as a meeting point, an outdoor study room, a summer party place, or space for training.
A Double Platform spreads out over two hollows in the southern end of Grønningen – not far from a planned “pocket space” with benches and a table. As a new ensemble, they will offer the neighbors of the park a space to territorialise for hyper-local social activities. The Double Platform consists of two rectangular wooden platforms/decks, mounted inside the northern hollow. They are connected via a single step but otherwise separate from one another. Three thin bridges stretch in different directions to the surrounding park, crossing over the vegetation in the hollow. The Double Platforms will thus have the character of an island, inside the hollow. Decks and bridges will be built of oak tree planks and appear as an extension of the footpaths.
One of the bridges will lead into the southern hollow, where a large, dead tree will offer a space for small children to climb.
A blue square marks the location of an outdoor, sturdy workbench, in an opening in the northern part of the park.
A workbench is fixed to a “floor” of granite stones and surrounded by fruit trees and berry bushes. It is a solid, workshop-like steel table, approximately 130×130 cm. It will withstand being used for all sorts of processes, you would prefer to do outside your apartment; Repair your bike, make magic dough with the kids or paint a stool. In addition, it can be useful as outdoor teaching or meeting room. Below you see an image from an interdisciplinary conversation, in May 2022, concerning the proposal for art for Grønningen. It was held around a similar table, in the artist’s workshop.
