Constitution Garden Kuwait City Landscape, Middle East Public Space Design, Public Realm Images
Constitution Garden Kuwait City
Park for Al Amiri Diwan, Middle East Landscape – design by SdARCH Trivelli&Associati and Alhadeff Architects
19 Sep 2016
Constitution Garden in Kuwait City Public Space
Design: SdARCH Trivelli&Associati, Milan, Italy with Alhadeff Architects
Location: Kuwait City
Middle East Landscape Architecture
Constitution Garden in Kuwait City – Park for Al Amiri Diwan
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Constitution of Kuwait, Al Amiri Diwan, the government agency, decided to build a park in Kuwait City to host “The Constitution”, a monument celebrating the path to democracy of the State of Kuwait.
photo : Mohamed Abd El-Maguid
In 2011 Al Amiri Diwan set up an invited competition for a site close to the sea; then in 2012 SdARCH Trivelli&Associati with Alhadeff Architects were commissioned to develop the competition design on another site called Martyrs’ Park, where a Museum is also under construction.
The garden is divided into two areas, “Old Age” and “New Age”.
The monument marks the transition from the old era that represents the pre-Constitution period and the new era, the period after the establishment of the State of Kuwait.
photo : Mohamed Abd El-Maguid
“Old Age” is represented by a messy landscape, arid and furious, where instability and insecurity reign. “New Age” is represented by an organized landscape, prosperous and orderly, dominated by security and calm. The garden is designed, according to Islamic tradition as a reflection of paradise, a place where one can linger and where time passes; a shaded space where water and vegetation abound, all interpreted in a new contemporary vision; a place where time is “in-between”, between the history of the State of Kuwait and its future; where the space is also “in-between”, between the garden and the new landscape of Kuwait City.
Photos: Nelson Garrido photographer
The paths in “Old Age” are not ordered; the landscape is rough, tough; trees and shrubs coexist with small rocky formations and struggle with a desert land, in an arid climate without water.
The monument is intended as a stepping stone to the future and is made with two large portals. On the side of “Old Age” they are made of brass and titanium while on the side of “New Age”, 183 blocks en relief highlight the articles of the Constitution.
The façade of brass on the side of “Old Age” is without lyrics or guidance: the difficulties of the past are resolved and overcome by the Constitution.
The Fountain, at the center of the park has the image of protection of the precious treasure. A water sprinkler system gives greater thermal comfort allowing visitors to rest in the shade of the park during the warmest periods.
In “New Age” the garden is made up of 183 olive trees and palm trees representing the individual articles of the Constitution. Dozens of species of shrubs represent different ethnic groups making up the people of Kuwait.
The landscape design of this project tells a story, a story of a Country with all the people that live in. It is a place where to stay and to find out a world a sense, the culture in a contemporary interpretation of a urban public garden in a strong arid climate. A place full of history but designed for the people.
SdARCH Trivelli&Associati choose symbolic trees, palms and olive trees, the first resistant to the climate the latter for their evocative power and the great resistance and adaptability to the context. Usually, we choose the local plants according to the hardiness zones, but in this case, with a radiation and a temperature so strong it would not be enough.
SdARCH Trivelli&Associatiwanted a great shady area, where people could sit, walk and stop, usually in these climatic area you do not do it because of the heat and the direct sun radiation. To improve the comfort feeling, with conditions of existing low humidity and high temperature, we used the sea water, filtered with a reverse osmosis system, a high technology water treatment which produces clear water for a series of jets of vaporized water spread among the shrubs and feeds a large mirror fountain, as reflection and connection with the sky. Water is precious. Normally the land is not a minor issue, and here it was not.
SdARCH Trivelli&Associati have used large amounts of fertilizer for the soil and the fertilizer slow-release place in depth, so that in time does not vanish the effect of improvement, but mainly we have covered large areas with shrubs, herbs and grasses, in order to reduce the effect of direct sun radiation which it acts as pauperization of the soil.
The great diversity of species of shrubs used in the project symbolically evokes the many ethnic groups that, today, inhabit the Kuwait. People spends their time here, in a public garden of meanings, finding the roots of the their citizen, enjoying with the tree shadow and the water amenities. The monument stands toweringly and eagerly towards the sky in a detached, but expressively symbolic, way that unequivocally shows impressiveness, strength and firmness.
The vegetation, with species suited to the hot climate that reaches 50 ° C, consists of shrubs, grasses and flowering succulents. A pattern is created by a mixture of species. Euphorbias, bougainvillea, plumeria, lantana, carisse alternate with grasses, ground cover and palmettos.
Around the fountain we placed three long benches made of resin. The ground is covered in large slabs of honed travertine.
SdARCH Trivelli&Associati made an extensive study of the characteristics of the soil in Kuwait. The soil is sandy with little organic matter and a scarcity of nutrients needed to support plant growth and development. Most of the soils are shallow due to the continued wind erosion and the strong sunshine that brings limestone layers to the surface. Furthermore, the water absorption capacity of the soil is low due to the presence of sand, little organic material and especially due to the presence of salinity.
To overcome these problems, we proposed a drastic preparation of the soil through leaching, by a subsequent rinse and through the use of humic acids and organic substances.
Aerial view:
photo : Michele D’Ottavio
Constitution Garden in Kuwait City – Project Information
Project Title: Constitution Garden
Site area: Kuwait, Kuwait City
Program: Landscape Public Space
Landscape architects: SdARCH Trivelli&Associati – Architect Alessandro Trivelli, Architect Silvia Calatroni
With: Alhadeff Architects – Architect Giancarlo Alhadeff
Collaborators:
Architect Antonella Rinaldi, Engineer Arda Beyleryan, Engineer Ettore Valentini
Project: 2012
Construction: 2012 by Cotham International Group LTD
Phase: built
Client: Public Administration; Al Amiri Al Diwan, Kuwait Government
Photo: Mohamed Abd El-Maguid
Cost and area: 6,000,000 USD area 7.000m²
Lights: iGuzzini
Fountains : WaterCube s.r.l. (Marano Vicentino -VI)
Vegetation: Janayen Nursery Company – Kuwait
Google coordinate: Kuwait City, Soor Street 29.370235, 47.994319
Photographers: Mohamed Abd El-Maguid, Nelson Garrido (www.ngphoto.com.pt)
Web information:
Constitution Garden Kuwait City Project
Constitution Garden in Kuwait City Film
Constitution Garden in Kuwait City images / information received from SdARCH Trivelli&Associati
SdARCH Trivelli&Associati | 15, Via Cosimo del Fante | 20122 Milano ITA | T. +390236514428 | www.sdarch.it
Location: Al Soor Gardens 3, Soor Street, Kuwait City, Kuwait
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Website: Kuwait City
