Sense...ible - Parks and Gardens

Abstract

Historical parks and gardens are a physical record of history, culture, ecology, romance, art, design, past wealth of humankind and a climate recording. They are Kulturlandschaft and ‘cultured’ landscapes, artifacts of humanity’s past and progress, preserved and kept alive through careful and constant maintenance. They are sites of learning and recreation. They are -akin to the Egyptian’s pyramids— monuments of past generations.
Yet the continued survival of historic parks and gardens is endangered. Climate change, cultural shifts away from nature, and an increasing dependence on machines from smart phones to artificial intelligence distracts and reduces the focus of the public to care for these important testimonies of past cultures. Their significance is often not commonly understood. Gardens are some of the earliest architectural spaces in existence. To make more ‘sense’ of the preservation of historic parks and gardens and its importance for future generations the author suggests multi-sensorial engagement within these living artworks as one way to increase awareness. A multi-sensorial experience in this case means to heighten one’s observation, perception and sensational experience when visiting the park. This can be accomplished by adding sound, taste, smell, sight and touch walks to preexisting guided historic park and garden tours. In addition to exposing historic sensorial site information, sensual site tours could uncover present site information such as the impact of climate change on the gardens and parks. Flooding and drought, for example, can be sensed by smelling the humidity or dryness in the parks and gardens. A heightened awareness of site issues through sensorial observation may help visitors understand and foresee issues, and by extension enhance respect for the history, culture, beauty and wellbeing of the garden or park.
It is anticipated that this ‘corporal’ awareness through the senses, increases the understanding of the cultural significance of these landscapes, and may increase intellectual understanding of their protection and monetary support for their survival. Multi-sensorial engagement might also ignite behavioral change towards increased physical engagement with the landscape through actions such as gardening, organizing guided Sensewalks and encouraging the use of historic parks and gardens and public open spaces more frequently over the year for recreation and therapeutic purposes. Furthermore, it might entice the public to take ownership of their park and garden monuments for future generations. As experts in site observation, perception, and analysis, landscape architects are the profession to define strategies to protect historic parks and gardens in the future with the public being included through deep ‘park and garden immersion’.