A blooming garden with eco-trails filled with white quartz sand and terracotta gravel will appear in the Butyrsky district in the north-east of Moscow. One of the key roles in shaping the image of the future territory will be played by multi-level lighting, which will create a special atmosphere and will also become the hallmark of the park. The chief architect of Moscow, first deputy of the Committee on Architecture and Urban Planning (Moskomarkhitektura), which is part of the Complex of Urban Planning Policy and Capital Construction, Sergei Kuznetsov, spoke about this.
“The garden is being implemented in the concept of “natural nature in an urban environment.” This approach is due to the fact that recently, when creating landscape projects, more and more attention has been paid to creating spaces in which people can find completely different leisure scenarios and use different senses. Thus, surrounded by cereal plants there will be quiet areas for meditation. Sun loungers will be placed in the reading areas and spicy shrubs will be planted, and hypoallergenic perennials will appear along the walking paths with designer lighting,” noted Sergey Kuznetsov.
Several zones have been planned in the sensory garden where visitors can work with neuroplasticity techniques using different tools. For example, walk barefoot along eco-trails filled with white sand and gravel with a safe surface. Ornamental perennial plants will allow you to feel the coolness of the leaves: bush purple willows “Nana”, flower beds with openwork “clouds” of turfgrass and Stachys Monnier, hedges of thuja variety Brabant, which is distinguished by scarlet flowering in the autumn. All flora has hypoallergenic properties.
When selecting plants, landscape designers from the GAFA bureau studied the natural complexes of the central part of Russia. Experts analyzed the composition of the flora in order to plant plants in the future garden that would correspond to the surrounding ecosphere. The selected species are resistant to seasonal changes in the Moscow region, unpretentious and quickly adapt to extreme temperature changes. Landscape geoplastics will allow zoning the park spaces by creating natural hills.
Several types of equipment are used to illuminate pedestrian paths and green spaces. For tall plants, façade lamps will be provided, paths will be illuminated by spotlights in soft shades, and ground lamps will be directed at decorative hills. A bright touch in the light composition will be created by designer lamps, which are a thin body imitating tree branches, added Sergey Kuznetsov.
The uniqueness of the lighting devices is that they can be programmed for different light scenarios, due to which the sensory garden will regularly change its light color. Lamps located between low, dense bushes of lilac shades will create a single line in the landscape. Such integration will make it possible to embody the image of an endless fairy-tale path that will guide garden visitors from one zone to another.
The garden will become part of an all-season landscape park with an area of 2.5 hectares on the territory of the Upside Towers block in Ogorodny Proezd, which will feature looped routes for running and cycling, as well as workout areas. One of the main decorations of the territory will be a transforming meadow. In the summer, sports relay races, music and film festivals will be held here, and in the winter the meadow will be transformed into an ice skating rink. Once construction is completed, the park will be available to all residents of the area.
“Citizens are tired of the fast pace of the city and the overabundance of communication. Everyone sometimes wants to slow down, get in touch with nature, and be alone with themselves. It is for this purpose that we are creating a new green “universe” for contemplation, where residents of the area will be able to relax in nature without leaving the boundaries of the metropolis. I am confident that the future territory of the sensory garden will not only fit organically into the urban landscape, but will also become a new point in the summer list of activities in Moscow,” said Alexey Perlin, managing partner of Upside Development.
