GULLY
Ravine park in Moscow region
Moscow region, 2024
Moscow region, 2024
A gully is a depression in the terrain that drains both rainwater and groundwater, and is – despite lacking a constant flow of its own – the initial element of a river system. In both agriculture and urban development gullies are preferably left untouched in order not to disrupt the natural land drainage. Being a picturesque feature of landscape in its own right, a gully in the context of monotonous high-rise blocks of Moscow’s periphery presents a stark spatial anomaly and a focus of attention. Its invisibility behind the walls of residential complexes right up to the moment of encounter adds much to its unexpectedness and incongruity in this setting. In stumbling over such blatant violation of the established order one gets a curious Alice in Wonderland sensation, an eerie feeling of shifting into alternative reality.
Landscape architects through the ages valued uneven relief highly as a means of creating varied spatial impressions. Aside from level differentiation, relief allows for significant visibility depth, placement of objects in opposition and vis-à-vis across a dividing stretch of space. In our interpretation the two levels of the park are conceptually different in their mood and functional content.
The upper park – a lively riverbank with pavilions on wooden decks moored to it – is entirely engaged with the surrounding street life. The decks and pavilions house all manner of public facilities and pastimes: cafés and bars, play-grounds and sports-grounds, sandpits and vegetable gardens. The decks with their connecting bridges constitute a zigzagging route and allow a pedestrian to cross the gully at street level.
The lower park with its flowing curvilinear path in longitudinal direction presupposes unhurried walks in quieter and more natural surroundings. This path along the gully’s bed does not quite have an ending – the gully naturally flows into the tiny river Ludovna which in turn flows into the Moskva. One may hope some day to see the entire river system turn into an extensive riverside park.
Landscape architects through the ages valued uneven relief highly as a means of creating varied spatial impressions. Aside from level differentiation, relief allows for significant visibility depth, placement of objects in opposition and vis-à-vis across a dividing stretch of space. In our interpretation the two levels of the park are conceptually different in their mood and functional content.
The upper park – a lively riverbank with pavilions on wooden decks moored to it – is entirely engaged with the surrounding street life. The decks and pavilions house all manner of public facilities and pastimes: cafés and bars, play-grounds and sports-grounds, sandpits and vegetable gardens. The decks with their connecting bridges constitute a zigzagging route and allow a pedestrian to cross the gully at street level.
The lower park with its flowing curvilinear path in longitudinal direction presupposes unhurried walks in quieter and more natural surroundings. This path along the gully’s bed does not quite have an ending – the gully naturally flows into the tiny river Ludovna which in turn flows into the Moskva. One may hope some day to see the entire river system turn into an extensive riverside park.