Thursday, 23 February 2012

botanical gardens vs. Ciutadella park

The Ciutadella park located next to Barcelona’s gothic quarter is one of the largest parks within the city limits. Josep Fontsere designed this park in 1877.  While visiting the park I felt a sense of clearly defined circulation and order through out the interior. Even the pathways branching off have a clear function and layout. Since there are many buildings within the park, the pathways have been laid out strategically to support the building and the parks interior elements, such as Gaudi’s fountain. The gardens and trees seem to have also been planned along with the pathways.

While visiting the botanical gardens, I felt that these gardens and spaces had a less systematic ordering to their overall plan. The randomness of the pathways circulation gives a sense of removal from the city and immersion into the surrounding green space. Montjuic in general seems to have a less orderly lay out when compared to Ciutadella park. While the multiple elements on Montjuic flow together, they all seem to be their own separate entity to the area. The botanical gardens give a nice contrast to the very orderly and linear layouts of the castle and the Olympic complex.

Overall, I believe both of these places are enjoyable spots within the city. However, I believe the botanical gardens offer a superior feeling of tranquility from the everyday chaos of the city. The heavily ordered layout of vegetation and circulation within Ciutadella park does not remove one from the city as well as the botanical gardens on Montjuic.

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