A linear composition. World's vanishing plants garden and Educational Pavilion by JRK72

Description of project by JRK72

The world’s vanishing plants garden is a new part of a SGGW Arboretum’s complex. We wanted to fit the design to the surroundings in an unobtrusively, intriguing and noticeably way. Adding a new enriched composition into a magnificent space with phenomenal landscape was particular challenge.

General description

The Arboretum is a part of a botanical garden which exhibits a collection of trees of different species. Our main task was to design a garden of world’s vanishing plants with an educational pavilion, which is a shelter for endangered species. We created a linear composition, which merges the garden with the pavilion. 

The main idea of our project is slowly and softly emergence of a garden and a pavilion. The pavilion penetrates the surrounding forest with a gently sloping roof. In that way, we are closing a perspective and defining the end of the pavilion. Moreover, the transparency of the pavilion makes the garden and architecture merged. On the one hand, as a garden architecture, pavilion is light but it also adds a function frame.

Concept / Context and strategy

The Arboretum is a part of the University of Live Sciences in Warsaw and has belonged to the University since 1925. Initially, it was focused on forestry as a scientific station. Then, in 1953 was built a new section with Alpine plants and open to the public as a park. The Arboretum is an unique place on a botanical map of Poland. The pavilion was added to the whole complex last year.

We were strongly focused on creating a composition which will be coherent with a long, linear and narrow garden. For this purpose, we wanted to create perfectly harmony between the pavilion and garden’s element such as an Alpine part, its waterways and a large pond. As a result, we clearly defined an unusual park interior (area).

What is more, the main idea of forming landscape architecture lean on trying to create an authorial interpretation of using classical landscaping models of flower pots, trellis, pergola and bower.

In the garden we design a hybrid of a classical bowling green with rockery. However, traditional flower beds are incrementally transforming into flower pots. The landscape is enclosed by a linear pavilion on an arch-like plan.

Construction / Materials and structure

Designed object, combined together into one complementary unity, has characteristic features of basic elements which we can find on a landscaping architecture. His horizontal and pavilion form is a connection between the trellis, the pergola and the bower. The pavilion rises slowly as a pergola to be at one point covered by a full roof. It forms a shelter for plants from the Red List of endangered species. They are perched in a glass-case with exhibition of exotic trunk slices. Some plants in the garden grow in large pots, but most flower beds are partly surrounded by belts of corten steel.