*애버딘 시티 가든 프로젝트 [ Diller Scofidio + Renfro ] Aberdeen City Garden Project

어반 퍼블릭 스페이스는 도시가 지켜온 시간과 컨텐츠를 반영하여
도시거주인들에게 생활의 활력과 쉼, 그리고 다양한 접점을 만들어
각각의 개인들의 생활을 연결하여 주는 중요한 역활을 수행한다.
3차원 아치곡선으로 들려진 랜드스케이프는 에버딘의 덴번 밸리 토폴로지를 형상화하여
도심에 드라마틱한 폭포와 같은 유니온 테라스 가든을 형성한다.
테라스 가든을 형성하는 아치형태의 스트럭쳐는 우아한 공간을 생성시키는데
이것은 기념비적인 역사공간을 현대적인 감각의 디자인으로
구획하는 것에서 부터 시작한다.
이렇게 형성된 퍼블릭 스페이스는 유용한 가든 스페이스와
도시문화를 대표하는 랜드마크로 자리 잡는 동시에
에버딘의 유산을 승계하는 거리로 연계되어
도시 속의 퍼블릭 스페이스로 자리 잡게 된다.

어떤 무엇보다 중요한 것은 아름다운 아치 스트럭쳐가 만들어 내는 다양한 공간의
심미적인 아름다움이 아니라 퍼블릭 스페이스로써 도시공간에서
다양한 접점들을 잘 연결하는가 이다. 그것이 이번 프로젝트를 읽는 중요한 포인트 이다.

reviewed by SJ

The successful proposal, popularly known as the Granite Web, celebrates the three-dimensional aspects of Aberdeen, reinterpreting the topography of the Denburn Valley and the dramatic cascade of the existing Union Terrace Gardens while creating graceful new spaces and structures that contribute to a memorable and thrilling contemporary design.

It provides additional usable garden space, a landmark cultural and arts center, and promotes the City’s historic streets, revealing the arches, vaults and bridge on Union Street and retaining the balustrades and statues which are part of Aberdeen’s legacy.

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The Jury’s decision represents a breakthrough for DS+R giving them their first major European design competition win. DS+R Partner, Charles Renfro said the practice was very excited about ‘jumping across the pond’, commenting:

‘The steep competition drove us that much harder to do more research, to understand the site more thoroughly, to dig deeper into our creative reserve and our technical expertise to find a daring, thoughtful and beautiful solution.

‘While the City Garden is at the heart of Aberdeen, the heart has little pulse…we feel that we can make that heart throb and bring life and energy into the center of town. By making the park greener, more accommodating to passive and active uses, more engaged at its edges, the gardens can become a magnet for this otherwise youthful and energetic city. We feel particularly well- suited to this challenge – the project reflects an integration of landscape design, museum design and design for the performing arts, the primary focuses of our practice.’

The Jury weighed information from a technical panel, face-to-face discussions with the respective teams, public and stakeholder feedback; the two finalists’ schemes being those most popular in a public exhibition held in the city in the autumn. The winning design scored higher in all key areas of the brief including, creation of more new space, cost and viability in construction and on-going maintenance, environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.

Malcolm Reading, the competition organizer, commented:

‘This is such an exciting outcome and a great coup for the city. This ingenious and inspiring design for Aberdeen’s key public space gives the city a new social landscape but one rooted in its extraordinarily rich heritage and natural assets.

‘The runner-up concept, by Foster and Partners was outstanding, elegant and thoughtful, but did not, in the end, persuade the Jury that it could match the promise of connectivity, excitement and spatial diversity of the winning scheme.’

Sir Duncan Rice, former Principal of Aberdeen University and Chair of the Jury said:

‘The Diller Scofidio team had thought long and hard about Aberdeen's special history and unique needs. Answer by answer, they overwhelmed the jury with their vision and their sensitivity to the whole downtown context. They are flexible and responsive, and the thrilling concept they have offered will continue to adapt and evolve as discussion proceeds. I'm proud that our city has been able to attract a team which combines distinction, creativity and urban experience.’

Charles Landry, author of The Creative City and a member of the Jury added:

‘This is a design that can act as the catalyst to regenerate the whole of Aberdeen’s city center with significant economic impacts for the entire city. Truly inspiring, it can put Aberdeen onto the global radar screen - very, very few designs can do this. In time it will be surely loved by locals and visitors alike. Without this type of transformational change, Aberdeen will struggle to meet the challenges it will inevitably face in the future.’

John Stewart, Chairman of the City Garden Project management board said:

‘We promised the public we would deliver an exceptional design and then produce a detailed economic assessment. This will be announced shortly so that the public know what the project could look like, how it will be funded and the economic benefits it will bring before making their decision in the referendum.’

from  bustler