Despite its size, Anton Saefkow Park on the eastern edge of the Prenzlauer Berg urban development area was a little-used green space, with the exception of the two playgrounds, which were revamped in 2014 using urban redevelopment funds. The partly overgrown areas were also popular with sports enthusiasts and as an unofficial dog run. Given the large influx of young families in recent years, the potential of this green lung was to be better exploited. For this reason, the park was revitalised and spruced in three construction phases using urban redevelopment funding.
The client was the Berlin district office of Pankow (road and parks department). The overall planning was carried out by Henningsen Landschaftsarchitekten PartG mbH. TraceSpace supported their work in work stage III with the design engineering of a sub-area intended for parkour.
For the design, residents’ input, ideas and wishes were collected during neighbourhood walks and workshops and incorporated into the planning.
In order to better integrate the park into the urban fabric and to facilitate access for people from the high-density residential areas of Prenzlauer Berg, the park entrances on Anton-Saefkow-Straße were given a neater and more attractive design with easy access for people with disabilities in the first construction phase until autumn 2018. Paths, stairs and walls were rebuilt, trees and bushes were trimmed and pruned, benches and bicycle racks were added.
One measure that was particularly visible in the urban space was the redesign of the Brunnenplatz square and the adjacent park area on Greifswalder Straße. The “Knabe mit Fisch” (Boy with Fish) fountain, which was previously covered by dense trees and shrubs, is now once again visible in the urban space. Additional paths were laid out on the green space, following the wild paths that had been established for years.
The green pathway connecting Greifswalder Straße and Bötzowstraße was also rebuilt. Previously severely damaged paths were newly laid out and equipped with light-coloured, water-bound surfacing. In the last construction phase, the inner park area around the “Trümmerberg”, an artificial hill created from rubble, with its meadows, playground and circular flower bed was revamped. Rebuilding and designing pathways to be accessible was of particular importance.
Fitness equipment for abdominal and back exercises was installed near Kniprodestraße on the circular pathway around the central meadow. Further table tennis tables in the area of the children’s playground as well as benches and tables at its edge complement the range of amenities that add to the park’s appeal. An attractive parkour facility was created as a central element.
Parkour at Anton Saefkow Park
Why are there so few attractive spaces in the city that are explicitly designed to encourage physical activity and allow creative and versatile use? Are young people and adults not supposed to take an exploratory and playful approach to physical activity or to master physical challenges? Is “sport” with fixed rules and standardized spaces the only option? The newly opened TraceSpace parkour at Anton Saefkow public park has answers to these questions.
Parkour originated in the suburbs of Paris, also due to the lack of suitable spaces for movement, making direct use of the suburban architecture – the futuristic design elements of plateaus, concrete structures, winding levels, stairs and corridors offered some respite from the humdrum of suburban life. Thus, parkour developed as a creative adaptation to the lack of spaces for movement and at the same time it led to a radical new way of looking at the actual properties of objects and design elements, instead of their intended function.
“So what makes a good space for movement in Berlin? How can parkour parks be built that also attract other street acrobats, athletes and active people? What possibilities are there for designing playgrounds that cater not only to children, but to all age groups? How is it possible to design a varied, original and at the same time functional space for movement that largely dispenses with generic design elements and still meets the user groups’ expectations?” Martin Gessinger, founder of TraceSpace, asked himself before the planning.
The space for movement that was finally designed is shaped like a classic, rectangular play island and is surrounded by tall trees and shrubs on three sides. It can be accessed from one of the long sides, which has been fitted with a waist-high bar mat fence for visual separation.
Due to the isolated location, TraceSpace has opted for a gentle increase in elevation in the zonation of the space for movement, as well as the gradual increase in complexity in use and design, towards the centre of the square – the relief is therefore hilly and blends well into the surroundings. This type of composition makes it possible to work efficiently with the fall protection regulations, and it reduces the number of problems encountered when planning fall zones or the distances between individual obstacles and objects.
The design of this space for movement can be divided into four zones: outer zone, wooden frame, metal frame and central zone. Before briefly explaining the structure and application potential of the individual zones, let us talk about the overall design: all zones, segments and objects are interrelated in terms of planning and are unique structures in their design. They are interrelated both for reasons of safety and aesthetics, and above all because of the quality of their content. By quality we mean the application potential for the above-mentioned target groups, which often largely depends on choosing the correct spacing, differences and similarities, agglomeration and deglomeration of the structures used. We are able to guarantee this primarily through our own experience as traceurs and through intensive contact with various other user groups.
The outer zone encompasses the entire inner area of the square and consists of low objects such as scalable poles, boulders, robinia posts and small wall elements. These can be used for balancing, jumping and certain fitness exercises. The obstacles are designed to be connected and allow, for example, a “walk around” without touching the ground.
The wooden frame zone is primarily built from robinia wood and features integrated platforms in three places. On the outside, it is connected to the outer zone via individual, ever smaller palisades. This zone is mainly used for climbing and jumping and the complex design provides even experienced traceurs (parkour practitioners) with a variety of training possibilities.
The metal frame zone is probably the most unusual design element of the parkour facility, featuring bars sloping towards the ground, which are attached to a vertical framework, and numerous, seemingly random bends and arches made of galvanized steel tubing. This is exactly where functionality for outdoor fitness requirements, for instance, is combined with the creative approach of parkour.
The main part of the central zone consists of sand-coloured brick walls, which take up the colour scheme of the streetball court and blend into the overall concept by adopting wooden and tubular steel elements from the adjacent zones. This zone is the most spacious in terms of height and extent and, with its various types of wall elements, it meets the traceurs’ need for versatile spaces for movement, while being clear enough to provide physical challenges even for inexperienced visitors.
Conclusion
This project in Anton Saefkow Park helped to create an innovative and cross-target group space for movement. Covering an area of more than 400 square metres and embedded in a vast parkland, this TraceSpace parkour facility in the heart of Berlin offers children and young people, traceurs as well as calisthenics and outdoor fitness athletes unique opportunities to move and work out. It was planned and tested in accordance with the standard for parkour equipment (DIN EN 16899).
You can already see that this TraceSpace design is very popular. From groups of children and travellers who specifically come to this facility to exercise, to outdoor fitness teams and individual athletes, to traceurs who come from all over Germany to work out there – this TraceSpace parkour facility has struck a chord with more than just a few.
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