Form to Surface

The idea of a central garden or park for a city is not in any way new, but the qualities of this garden have developed new concepts from a form base to surface base design. In, Barcelona the Ciutadella Parka and Botanical Garden are the perfect demonstration of this because they share a duality with each other. Both were built on old military forts, and where also built for large expos. Plus the designs for these two parks use the different concepts. The Ciutadella park takes on form, where the Botanical garden takes on a surface. These two differences create different walking experiences.   

During time that the Ciutadella Park was built, the form of the garden was very import to the design. The park was base off of the French gardens, their designs come off more commanding, with use strong geometric shapes, and the agriculture on the same form, being perfectly trimmed. The new thought behind gardens today is shown in the Botanical Garden, of “landscape urbanism.” The use of territories defines the layout of the garden, and the plants are the focus behind the design. The plants are allowed to grow naturally, unlike in the Ciutadella park where the plants are forced to conform to the design. Ciutadella Park is organized a long a flat plan, which is broken up by the paths, compared to the Botanical Gardens which works on many different surfaces (organized the different territories); here the paths mark where the surfaces break. The play in surfaces creates a more dynamic feel while walking, where as the flat and form base design of the Ciutadella creates a more commanding feeling while walking.