Garden Ring - RIA Linear Park

The “bigger frame” of the project and the remodelling of the street lanes of the Garden Ring aims at giving the public space back to the pedestrians. In front of the RIA-building the new wide linear park offers the possibility of a small detour into the garden of pine trees, maybe even a short break. The dream is to bring the “garden-feeling” back to the Garden Ring, and to re-introduce the human scale.

To re-introduce the human scale and a connection between the human body and the streetscape, the project introduces a new soft section. Raised plant beds with soft slopes create a varied and friendly landscape profile. These new ‘waves’ appear in different sizes, always allowing a free passage where this is needed for transit. The elevated plant beds lift up the low, bushy pine planting, to display the soft green cushion, and to bring the smell of the pines closer to the people passing. The waves introduce a soft and human feel to the site, while still respecting the scale and the geometry of the RIA building. As integrated parts of the soft waves a variation of wooden decks is introduced for sitting and relaxing in-between the pine-pillows. As a contrast to the low pine beds big pine trees is planted outside the plant beds, which in time will have a good size and scale related to the RIA building and to the street profile.

The geometry of new design pays tribute to the RIA building by using façade lines and proportions, to determinate the layout of the paving and the planting bed. At the same time, the design connects itself to the standard design of the Garden Ring, by using the same materials for paving, and by letting some of the main module lines run through the linear garden.