Csepely-Knorr Luca: Barren Places to Public Spaces. A History of Publick Park Design in Budapest 1867-1914 (Budapest, 2016)
Public Parks and Public Park design in the Second Half of the 19th Century
Public parks and public park design in the second half of the 19th century The effect of the changing use of public spaces on public park design The period of the turn of the 19th century brought significant changes in the use of public spaces in Europe.84 On the one hand, the setting for public and private life had started to be separated; on the other hand, more public spaces started to be created, and these became more specialised. While in earlier periods the street acted as the stage for community life, this started to decrease by the end of the 19th century. The major city renovations of the time - such as in Paris, Vienna and Berlin - changed the role of many urban design elements. The rebuilding of Paris was directed by Napoleon III and his Prefect, Georges-Eugène Haussmarm. Haussmann’s ideas were strongly connected to the traditions of French city planning, starting from the time of Henry IV and Louis XIV85 In his concept, the principles of safety and a rational infrastructural system opening up the city were equally important. Under his directions the creation of an avenue-system, the creation of views across the city and the placement of monuments and important architectural examples in focal points were crucial aims. In the case of the redevelopment of Vienna, it was not avenues but a circular system of ring roads which played an important role. The unification of the capital and its suburbs was decided on in 1850, and in 1857 an authorisation from the emperor permitted the demolition of the fortifications. The main idea of the urban plan - based on the entries submitted for an international competition - was the building of two concentric rings.86 The inner ring, the ‘Ringstrasse’, was built on the line of the previous fortifications, the city walls and the ramparts, while the outer ring, which was designed as a major traffic route, ran on the outer edges of the earlier Glacis (the open spaces for the defence system of the city). Along the Ringstrasse monumental private and public buildings were constructed; their building helped to finance the creation of the Ringstrasse. After the opening of the 4 kilometres long and 57 metres wide road it was - according to Peter Hanák - a “splendid work ofhistoricism'F’ In 1861 the Emperor, Franz Joseph approved the creation of another ring, even further out from the city centre, called the Gürtelstrasse. In 1894 another international competition was announced, to create the so called ‘Generalregulierungsplan’, which contained solutions for linking the city centre and the suburbs of Vienna together. The plan for the ‘Volksring’, which was published at the end of the 19th century, proposed a 750 metre wide green belt around the city. This became the basis of the establishment of the ‘Wald- und Wiesengürtel’, approved in 1905, which has been an important and valuable leisure area for the residents up until today. The first regulation plans for smaller districts of Berlin were already published in the 1830s. In 1840, Peter Joseph Lenné created the first comprehensive plan for the city, titled ‘Schmuck- und Grenzzüge von Berlin mit nächster Umgebung! Lenné, in his plan created a green belt, linking the newly built areas, designed a canal with promenades on its embankments, and planted trees next to the River Spree. He argued that the residents of Berlin could only go to the Tiergarten, which lay far from the city, therefore he recommended the construction of a new public park between the Königs- and the Landesberger Gate. The Friedrichshain was built between 1846 and 1848, according to the plans by Gustav Meyer. The 1858 urban plan is known as the ‘Hobrecht-Planj and was produced by James Hobrecht. The plan, officially accepted in 1861, was meant to guide the development of Berlin over the next 100 years. It also dealt with the questions of regulation of suburban areas, such as Charlottenburg and Schöneberg. It shows the impact of Haussmann’s Paris. Hobrecht designed wide boulevards and streets to divide the city, together with substantial squares. He created two green rings, planted with trees, to link together the existing parks and gardens. He did not suggest new green areas in the city centre.88 The redevelopment of Paris, Vienna and Berlin had a major effect on the development of other European cities, and also had an impact on the changing use of public spaces. During the city redevelopments, new circular and radial road systems evolved with major ring roads and avenues. As a consequence, the scale of streets changed, and they became primarily usedbyvehiclesratherthan pedestrians. Therefore public spaces, which could serve as spaces for community life and social interaction, became even more necessary. Small urban spaces obviously existed earlier: market squares, open spaces around churches or town halls had been influencing cityscapes for centuries. However, the growing demand for creating these spaces, and their separation according to a range of functions, started at the turn of the 19th century. It also resulted in the desire to emphasise buildings - important in preserving the characteristics of the area - by removing them from their surroundings, and placing them in new urban spaces. They therefore became focal points in the city, and became monuments!89 These changes not only altered the cityscape but also the way designers thought about the city, and parallel to that, various theories about public parks and gardens. The need for public spaces for communities and die changing role and physical structure of cities, meant that expectations appeared about the stylistic and formal layouts for open green areas. As Erzsébet Magyar argued: “The parks and private gardens, the creations of the ‘most effective art’ became primary places for social life due to the aim of seeing and being seen.’TMAs with advances elsewhere in Europe, the first Hungarian public parks were based on the stylistic solutions of private gardens. By the time Budapest’s parks started being created, many continental and English parks had been opened, especially as public spaces with special formal layouts, the effect of design theory for private gardens still had a very strong effect In the period under discussion, the evolution of special formal layouts, space structure and theoretical background which were peculiar to public parks, were seen. 27 “Longford” carpet bedding / A Kert, 1897. p. 404. / ADT
