Kensington Garden
Past, Present, Future
Date: 2019 December
Instructor: Sonja Vangjeli
University of Toronto
Pedestrian Bridge: The wooden pedestrian bridge provided a community-friendly platform to have close access to the ecology zone and separated from the car circulation.
Kensington garden is a royal park in London. As the “Green Lung” in London’s urban landscape, we can imagine a city without the aristocrat, but not without this park.This project investigates different landscape strategies throughout history and proposes a visionary solution with sophisticated consideration of indigenous culture, history, and society.
PAST
The Long River: In 1726, the long river is built as moat that sepereate two gardens for royal residence.
Ha-ha: A dig-in boundary separate two parks without interrupting the continious view.
Before Kensington garden is established, It was originally part of Hyde Park, used as the hunting ground of Henry VIII. In 1689, the Kensington garden was separated from Hyde Park and became the royal family’s private residence, while Hyde park remains public. Many landscape techniques had been used to separate the Kensington garden(private) and Hyde Park(public). The diagram below shows the two most important strategies throughout history.
PRESENT
Present
Nowadays, the Kensington garden is a dynamic and vibrant public park that provides relief for the bustling London citizens. My study explores how water is used as a landscape tool to shape the garden design. There three main body of waters in Kensington garden, and each water had a distinct function:
Diana Memorial Garden: is built for ornamental and as a botanical garden, so the pedestrian pathway is deliberated design, and the movement of the visitor is limited. Round pound: serves as the center of the garden. It is an attraction that gathering people from all around the garden. The Serpentine: separate the pedestrian flow of Hyde Park and Kensington garden. It plays the role of a soft boundary for the division.
FUTURE
Planting Strategy : Planting local species at the appropriate zone in order to create a suitable habitat for the local animal.
Plan A: The proposed edges of the garden. The wetland become a soft boundary while create an ecology area for the local species.
A-Auquatic Bed Habitat : The place close to the water is used for aquatic bed habitant, where the plant is mostly underwater and won’t block the view.
B-Wetland Habitat: The project takes advantage of the descending slope to create a wetland. Each area will plant the appropriate species that list above.
Pedestrian Bridge: The wooden pedestrian bridge provided a community-friendly platform to have close access to the ecology zone and separated from the car circulation.