At new seaside park, landscaping becomes the playground

The undulating hills in a new seaside park in Koper, Slovenia, aren’t just pretty landscaping—they’re the infrastructure for the park itself.

Slovenian architecture studio Enota designed the 278,000-square-foot park as a sprawling recreation space for the old port city. Instead of programming the park with playgrounds and buildings, Enota embraced the land’s topography and constructed a series of undulating concrete structures that divide the park into different pockets.

Photo: Miran Kambič via Designboom

From above, the concrete forms almost look like Brutalist crop circles. They cut into the land creating amphitheater seating; they slope upwards, allowing space for raised planters that shield people from the noise and bustle of the city. Plants flank the concrete, creating a vivid contrast between nature and fabricated features.

Photo: Miran Kambič via Designboom

Paved pathways snake around the green space leading to a seaside bar and concert venue, but for the most part, the park’s man-made elements are remarkably, blissfully unprescribed and open to imagination.

Via: Designboom