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The Wahlenpark is a public park in
New Oerlikon in the northern part of
Zurich. The park covers 139,931 ft². It was created in 2005 as part of the regional
development "Zentrum Zürich Nord", as the last of four parks. The
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
s envisaged a multi-functional space for play and movement to be used by local residents and young people from the nearby
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
.
[''Suzanne Kappeler: Zwei weitere Parks in Oerlikon: einer zum Spielen und einer zum Träumen. Der Wahlenpark für Sport und Spiel.'' ''Grünzeit'', 2005 (13), p. 7]
Development
The Wahlenpark was handed over to the
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
with an opening
ceremony
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secular) ...
in June 2005. The park’s name commemorates
Friedrich Traugott Wahlen (1899–1985), the agronomist and later federal councillor, who lived in Zurich’s Oerlikon
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
.
The
project
A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal.
An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...
, which was drafted by the planning company Dipol Landscape Architects, Basel / Christopher T. Hunziker, Zurich in cooperation with the engineering company Hans H. Moser, Zurich was selected in an internationally advertised
competition
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
.
[Office of Parks and Open Spaces of Zurich
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...]
, Wahlenpark, Zentrum Zürich Nord, Objektkredit. "> '' Weisung des Stadtrates an den Gemeinderat (GR Nr. 2003/413). Office of Parks and Open Spaces of Zurich, Wahlenpark, Zentrum Zürich Nord, Objektkredit.'' 21.01.2004
[Yvonne Aellen, Ella Kienast: ''Parkanlagen in Neu-Oerlikon. Oerliker Park, MFO-Park, Louis-Häfliger-Park, Wahlenpark, Gustav-Ammann-Park.'' 2. Auflage Zurich: Office of Parks and Open Spaces, 2005. 22 p.]
In 2004, the
construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
of the park started with a full clean-up of the contaminated sites.
Design
The park, which is part of the
urban and open space development in Oerlikon, consists of three areas: the trees, the playing field, and the promenade. The
volume
Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...
of the trees opposite the school and the promenade, which is lined with
linden trees
''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...
, define the elongated, wide space in the centre of the park. This size, which is unique in this
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
of the
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
, is accentuated by the flat playing field. Seven different
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
tree species are lined up to an alley in a manner reminiscent of ancient
British garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
.
The generous park lawns invite you to take part in
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
and games, to paddle in the
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
basin, and to take a stroll in the beech woods. The playing field, which is uncharacteristically open for the surrounding area, compromises four distinct functional elements: a vast sculpt-tural lighting mast, a robust ball stop net, a paddling pool with a wide concrete rim and a shade structure, all of which offer a contrast to the monochrome lawn. At night, the 160 m long seats are lit in a romantic blue colour with 7000
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
stones and change the park into a
fairytale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cul ...
place.
[''Erica Kunz: Parkanlagen – die trendige Art, Freizeit zu geniessen.'' der arbeitsmarkt, 2005.]
Notes
References
* Suzanne Kappeler: Zwei weitere Parks in Oerlikon: einer zum Spielen und einer zum Träumen. Der Wahlenpark für Sport und Spiel. Grünzeit, 2005 (13), p. 7
* Yvonne Aellen, Ella Kienast: Parkanlagen in Neu-Oerlikon.
Oerliker Park
The Oerliker Park is a public multi-purpose district park covering in Oerlikon, just to the north of Zürich. The Oerliker Park was created by the Grün Stadt Zürich in 2001 as part of the regional development project "Zentrum Zürich Nord" a ...
,
MFO-Park
The MFO-Park is a public park in the Oerlikon quarter of the Swiss city of Zürich. The area to the north of Zürich Oerlikon railway station was once home to the extensive works of ''Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon'' (MFO), as site that has now been ...
,
Louis-Häfliger-Park
The Louis-Häfliger-Park in Oerlikon, Zurich, covers and is embedded between the Regina-Kägi-Hof co-operative settlement, the existing production buildings for Oerlikon-Contraves AG, and new service buildings. It is a neighbourhood park allo ...
, Wahlenpark,
Gustav-Ammann-Park
The Gustav-Ammann-Park is a public park in Oerlikon, Zurich, is built on the former area of the Bürhle AG and covers 32,291 ft². In 1996, the privately owned park became a preserve. One year later, the formerly nameless facility was ha ...
. 2nd edition Zurich: Office of Parks and Open Spaces, 2005. 22 p.
* Weisung des Stadtrates an den Gemeinderat (GR Nr. 2003/413). Office of Parks and Open Spaces of Zurich, Wahlenpark, Zentrum Zürich Nord, Objektkredit. 21.01.2004
* Florian Riesen: Die Odysee für einen blauen Sitzbalken. Die Nordstadt, 10.12.2003. p. 3
* Erica Kunz: Parkanlagen – die trendige Art, Freizeit zu geniessen. ''der arbeitsmarkt'', 2005.
External links
Official website–
Office of Parks and Open Spaces of Zurich
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...
Neu-OerlikonkretDistrict Association Oerlikon
{{Parks in Zürich
Parks in Zürich