JAVIER MOSQUERA GONZALEZ Architects
COZINESS VALLEY PARK
Type: Open international competition.
Location: Murmansk, Russia
Year: 2020
Program: Landscape and public spaces
Size: 233,800m2
1. THE EDGE AND THE CITY
The existing public space between the area reserved for the park and the encounter with the urban environment in which it is inserted defines an edge that must be adapted to the needs of the pedestrian. It is a place where a change of scale takes place in which road traffic precedes the human scale surrounded by nature. It is a welcoming space, in which areas are created to park vehicles and buses, acting as a separation from the rest of the vehicles. The broken geometry projected to establish the general contour of the park aims to favor the appearance of living areas, children's games, and green spaces, in which to be able to socialize without having to access the park, enjoying the visual connections to it.
2. NEW PATHS
The proposed connections respond to two different levels according to the expected frequency of use and the way in which the park can be used by the residents. Two main roads run through the park from north to south, connecting the residential areas closest to the competition area. It is an urban connector that intends to continue with the pedestrian area of the city. In parallel, there are a series of internal paths, of a second-order, which connect with the perimeter of the park and which also allows wandering inside it in a different way. They connect the park's green areas, resting areas, and singular uses and allow the establishment of different pedestrian and cycling circuits, of variable length, producing a complex network that ensures the good connection of the park with the city.
3. LANDSCAPE FOLLIES
The park as a whole must be understood as a great sensory and experience field, in which different spaces are located, designated with the term Landscape follies, and which imply the perception of the place through the use of the visitor's senses, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. Based on the thought and games devised by Hugo Kükelhaus, each of these experiential stations is made up of a physical installation made with biodegradable materials, as a complement to the paths and green spaces defined throughout the park. These are unique places in which it is sought to connect the individual with the ability to perceive an environment not only through rational elements but also through those sensory variables that enhance more intuitive aspects inherent to the human being.
4. URBAN FOREST
The plant species that organize the proposal correspond to those of boreal forests. The trees chosen to repopulate the new park área are of two species, one evergreen and the other deciduous. The first, the Siberian fir (Abies sibirica) is placed on the perimeter constantly delimiting the green space within the urban area. The second, the poplar (Populus), is distributed in a second ring towards the interior of the park, generating a changing set throughout the year that, on a green background, provides different shades in an interior conceived as a singular space within the own park. There are only two species, able to easily adapt to the singular climate of the environment, in contrast to each other, making the green edge that protects and frames the interior of the park vibrate.
5. FLORAL MEDOWS
The third ring of vegetation that articulates the park, is made up of different plants and small shrubs. The creation of a plant plane that extends to the trees that define the edge, aims to expand the visual limits of the users, producing an island far from the urban environment. A resting place where moss (Sphagnum), berrys (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), bog Rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) and labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum), are combined with large extensions of fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia) and alders (Alnus viridis). Organized according to different geometric patterns, their objective is to show the visitor the diversity of the flora of the taiga.
6. WATER, SPORTS AND WELL-BEING
The central position of the lake in the park makes water a fundamental element to organize around it various activities related to sports, health, and well-being of the neighbors. The proposed paths define a new geometry that delimits the zones in which these activities are carried out, establishing primary and other secondary areas. Depending on the time of year and on the climate of the area, the surface will become another canvas on which to perform winter sports. It is proposed to create a single service building, close to the area for the new football field, which will serve as a meeting point, training center, warehouse, and administrative and leisure hub for residents and other residents who wish to carry out sports activities the park.