YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
The Theodor-Körner Park is situated in the centre of Vienna’s Meidling district and is bordered by the heavily used traffic lines Südbahn and Breitenfurter Strasse. A 1950s-style recreational green area has been developed in the course of building work. The new investment in this recreation location was for the purposes of appealing to the teenage user group. The regenerative planning by the landscape architect firm Karl Grimm from Vienna comprised fostering greater participation in the 7th form of a local school, which was carried out in four workshops. The end result of the process was elements which went beyond the standard equipment: Water play area for young people, tree house for climbing up to, dance floor, weather-proof shelter.
The redesign is based on qualities of the location: The urban space unfurls to the north over the low-lying railway system. This rarity - a vast open space in a densely built-up urban area - is achieved by the trees which have been discreetly cut back and stretch to the trees on the opposite side of the street. Access to the park is gained by walking edgeways through small passages. In the centre of the location is the striking Theodor-Körner oak tree which was planted in 1913. This is a popular meeting and activities point. The concentration of people using the park should increase gradually from the entrances, reaching its peak in the middle. The ground surface is divided into various sections giving it a refined appearance around the central tree. The furrow slices are formed out of interconnected, orthogonal squares in different surface colours and intermediately-arranged, polygonal lawn plateaux. The earth bodies create areas arranged in the form of strings of pearls along the thoroughfare areas. Upbeat colours with bright red furniture and rainbow-bright waves of seats indicate that it is to be used as a youth park.
The tree house was realised inside a pre-existing tree group as a mounted playhouse. The tree house has a recreation room measuring about 3 x 3 metres and on the two sides facing the central park area, a balcony serves as the observation platform. Access can only be gained using a vertical ladder and over a rope bridge of the adjacent crag; it is also possible to descend on a fireman’s pole. As a weather-proof, but visible, seating area, a tyre swing is hooked on under the tree house.
The dance floor is a flat, tarmac, square area measuring 8 x 8 metres which is framed by stand benches. A power connector for music and lightening is available. The dance floor is adjoined to a piazza with further seating.
The fountain was developed as a resource with high playability using simple, solid components. For the builder, priority is given to sturdiness and a cost-effective realisation. The fountain is built on - seemingly accidental - subsiding water effects which make you want to run about and splash around: On a paved area, two rows of floor nozzles and five pillars made from brushed steel are arranged in a block around a higher central pillar. In the bordering pillars, towards the centre, fan nozzles and individual jet nozzles have been installed, and in the central pillar there are several fan nozzles and in the upper pillar cover there’s a spray nozzle. The nozzles are derived from sprinkling and fountain technology. The feed is from a utility shaft which is laterally concealed in a furrow slice of grass.
The water forest is operated using drinking water from the mains without increased pressure. The nozzles are merged into control system groups with a magnetic valve which is activated individually and in alternation by a programmable logic controller (PLC). In the standard programme the nozzle groups put the floor nozzle groups into action in the vertical pillars repeatedly in turn and in succession.
The mechanism is ready for operation at 20°C daily from 8.00am to 8.00pm and can be switched on at the touch of a button.
Active spraying is made possible with a couple of fountains – even outwith hours of operation. It is drained via a central in-feed to a canal percolation.
Other play items in the park are: a turning platform, a high swing and a volleyball court. The park has been in operation since December 2006, and the fountain since June 2007.
Over the last few years in Vienna, landscape architect Karl Grimm also planned, among other things, the parkway “Generationenspielpark Meissnergasse” (Meissnergasse Generational Play Park), presented in Playground-Landscape 03/2009, as well as the Ingeborg-Bachmann Park, the Wieland Park and the Fritz-Imhoff Park which opened in June 2009.
Project data:
Theodor-Körner Park
Builder: Stadt Wien, Wiener Stadtgärten (City of Vienna, City Gardens of Vienna)
Landscape architect: Karl Grimm, Vienna
Associate: Erika M. Klosterhuber
Year of construction: 2006
Area: 6,485 m2
Cost (gross): € 620,000
