Returning from summer break we were pleasantly surprised to find copies of the Large Urban parks issue of Scape waiting for us to digest. With anticipation we flicked through to the discussion article Is the future park punk? Written by Eleni Mente based on insights from four professionals – Dominika Tihanyi, Marti Franch Batllori, Martin Allik and David Gough.
There is beautiful rhetoric in the article that really delves into a somewhat simple question: what makes a park good? Is it a form of retreat from urbanity that is generally, historically human centred? Urban Parks today need to be multifunctional and faceted. In our eyes they should celebrate urban nature, wildlife, social inclusivity and climate adaptation. Martin and David provide insight to the methods and methodologies used in Jubileumsparken to challenge a number of park norms and provide radical, possibly punk, public park space.
The article eloquently and clearly presents a persuasive argument that future park should well be punk. Thank you, Eleni, and everyone at Scape
Ujirany (new Directions)
