The project is surrounded by an open, gentle meadow valley and wooded, steep forest slopes in a characteristic way. The aim of the design is to highlight precisely this contrast. The spa park (“Kurpark”) is centrally located and includes direct access to a lake. It is surrounded by flat, blooming meadowlands featuring a barefoot trail and a beekeeper’s hive. In contrast to the wide meadows, the forest park (“Waldpark”) functions as its “introvert counterpoint”.
The highlight of the forest park is the „therapeutic walking loop“. Thirteen stations are associated with human moods such as clarity, overview, openness, harmony, confusion, attentiveness, contemplation, transparency and sublimity. A landscape window (“Landschaftsfenster”) serves as a prelude to the loop. A steel grotto bridge (“Grottensteg”) leads visitors past mystical caves and rock formations. Accompanied by the “fairy sounds” of an audio installation (“Feenklang”), the loop leads to five stances featuring a signature red paint finish. The view becomes even more impressive: a former ski jump was transformed into a spectacular viewpoint including a swing. Passing a vitalizing re-naturalized spring, visitors reach the path-spider (“Wegespinne”). This is a place for resting or contemplating the loop’s many twists and turns. The loop continues through a dense forest, past a red shimmering fairy wreath (“Feenkranz”) and a poet’s clearing (“Dichterlichtung”), perfect for deep thought and reflection. Comfortable hammocks invite visitors to rest their tired legs at the end of an inspiring hike.

© All images by Claudia Dreyße

Planergruppe Oberhausen: We design free and open spaces by making space perceptible and usable. We draw the attention to the existing qualities of (city) landscapes.
Our office was founded in Oberhausen (Germany) in 1973, and since the end of 2018 we are based in Essen and Hannover. Our focus is landscape architecture and we are active in all related contemporary topics. Our range of services extends from large-scale concepts to the planning of neighbourhoods or district parks.
Our main office in the Ruhr area is located in the midst of an industry and settlement area, which allows us a detailed view on potentials and issues of the Ruhr-Emscher region. Moreover, it raises awareness for projects in other domains and areas.
Working in the domain of designing industrial landscapes has shaped our work as these spaces have an unconventionally fascinating beauty which wants to be perceived and preserved. The appreciation of the existing is the principle of our work: we discern the patterns of the existing and use architectural elements and materials with restraint yet consciously, and always with respect to the space. Whenever we intervene with our work, we do so in a retained and dedicated manner.
We are a team of long-time, experienced and young landscape architects and architects. We develop draft designs in a group and together with those who move in these free and open spaces, as through different areas and domains of experience, the perspective broadens and the concept becomes more multifaceted. In many of our projects we work interdisciplinary with traffic planners, urban planners and architects, landscape architects, ecologists, as well as artists.
With the completion of the projects our work is not fully finished as it is our concern to continue to further accompany these by developing concepts for value-preserving maintenance, calculating lifecycle costs and planning the long-term maintenance management.
Potential influences of climate change, a change in mobility behaviour, and the preservation of biodiversity challenge open spaces. We consider and include these factors and plan accordingly to make free and open spaces available not only today but also in the future.

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ORIGINS — The Saxhóll Crater Walking Trail emerges at a crucial moment in Icelandic natural history, when environmental agencies are attempting to reconcile stewardship for Iceland’s natural landscape with the incursions of tourism, one of the primary pillars of the local economy. Since 2010, the number of visitors to Iceland has more than quadrupled (488,600 in 2010; 2,195,271 in 2017); those traveling specifically to Snæfellsnes National Park increased by 90,000 between 2016 and 2017.
Foot traffic is one of the principal causes of damage to the environment because of the creation of desire paths through unmarked areas. Iceland’s principal allure as a tourist destination lies in its natural wonders, which are often only reachable by foot, and its greatest challenge is to create an infrastructure that stems the flow of off-the-path traffic.
In 2014, the Environment Agency of Iceland invited Landslag ehf. to take preventative measures to halt further damage to Saxhóll crater, an oblong 45-meter scoria cone within the confines of Snæfellsnes National Park. Because of the crater’s proximity to the main road, its climability and scenic outlook, and a small parking lot created by quarry trucks before the National Park was demarcated, the foot traffic to the crater is exceptional.
The walk to the top of the crater follows a path carved out by a growing number hikers, who largely took a single ramplike route to the top; by 2014, the path had begun to atrophy, making it unsafe for walkers. Thus, divergent lanes began to form as visitors forged new paths alongside the eroded remains of the elder. At that point, Landslag ehf. was commissioned to undertake a project to prevent further damage to the vulnerable landscape that, at the same time, increased its potential as a tourism site.
In a simple gesture, Landslag’s Saxhóll Crater Walking Trail reconciled the ideals of land conservation with the pioneering spirit that underlies tourist visits to Iceland. Since the completion of the staircase in 2016, the path has become a safe and pleasant access point to an incomparable view of Snæfellsjökull, a 700,000 year-old glacier-capped volcano that will speculatively disappear within the next 200 years. The 1500 meter-high glacier is visible from up to 125 kilometers away, and can be seen from across the bay in Reykjavik.

TRANSFORMATION — The apex of Saxhóll offers a panoramic outlook over the surrounding lava fields and the Atlantic Ocean, with an unparalleled view of the vulnerable Snæfellsjökull itself. A safe path to the top is both socially and environmentally momentous.
Saxhóll is a major stop-off in the area, but visits tend to be abrupt because it’s not one of Iceland’s “major attractions.” Maximizing travelers’ time at the destination is tantamount to building a minimally invasive tourism culture that recognizes the vulnerability of the landscape and respects the boundaries created to protect it. By installing a staircase, which clearly illustrates to visitors that the volcano is an accessible site, the project deters tourism to other vulnerable, but unmarked, areas in the National Park and in Iceland more broadly. The staircase incubates respectful tourism behaviors while maximizing visitors’ enjoyment.
By the same token, the view from the top of the hill raises awareness of the threat of climate change because of the outlook over Snæfellsjökull, but does not involve intervention at the actual site of the extinction event. In other words, the Saxhóll Crater Walking Trail creates access to a site where travelers can comprehend one of the world’s disappearing ice caps without causing damage to it. Plans are in progress to set up an informational sign that draws particular attention to the degeneration of the ice cap.
The crater at Snæfellsjökull is also the setting for Jules Verne‘s Journey to the Center of the Earth, an immense spectacle that ignites the imagination. And sublimity is at the heart of the project. A brief moment at the top of the crater is transcendent: the emotional world of the traveler makes contact with the natural world that surrounds them, and they are able to take in the intensity of Iceland’s varied landscape.
With the security of a stable staircase, visitors are able to focus on the world around them, rather than worry over unsure footing. Further, rest aids concentration; around half-way up the slope, the landscape architects installed a rest stop for visitors to catch their breath before continuing onto the top.

DESIGN — The staircase is minimally invasive and, notably, completely reversible.
In the conception phase of the project, the firm observed that the walking paths that had formed up the sides of the crater were at an average 1:3.5 gradient, which is far too steep for safe climbing. In response, Landslag made a stepping path out of black steel along the existent path.
The total length of the path is 160 meters, and the steps number nearly 400. Each unit is 3 meters in length and 1.5 meters wide (sufficient for tandem walking), and the steps are attached to vertical steel plates on each side. The vertical sides are then attached to one another to create a continuous chain-like structure all the way up the hillside.
In construction, the firm carved out and evened the ground traced by the existent trail. Otherwise, the firm made no incursions into the landscape. The individual steps in each 3 meter unit offset the gradient, easing the journey to the top of the crater with a gradient varying between 1:2.5 and 1:4. Each unit is secured to the earth without a concrete foundation, and can be easily removed without any damage to the land.
The Saxhóll staircase uses a single-material palette and simple gestures to combat the problem of land erosion while transforming a simple walk into a personal investment in the natural world. As planned, the black steel of the stairs rusted to the earthy red of lava stone, blending in with the natural colors of volcanic rock and alpine vegetation. The staircase seems to be an extension of the crater itself—in both color and in its organic sweep around the mountain.
As a traveler mounts the staircase, the slope of the stairs gives the impression of an infinity staircase; as they reach the summit, a magnificent view unfolds before them in an unanticipated surprise: they have arrived. In that way, the stairway is a living sculpture that protects the natural environment while ensuring travelers’ safety and escalating their enjoyment of the site.

OUTCOME — The addition of the stairs has made the climb to the top measurably safer, with fewer accidents as a result of slips and falls. The park’s staff have also commented that nearly everyone now remains on the path, instead of deviating onto desire paths, and that it the decrease in foot traffic has been of great benefit to the vulnerable landscape. The area is now able to recover, even amid an unprecedented influx of foot traffic.

All images by Landslag ehf.

Client: Umhverfisstofnun (the Environment Agency of Iceland)
Landscape architecture firm: Landslag ehf.
Landscape architects: Þráinn Hauksson and Jón Rafnar Benjamínsson
Contractor: Kvistfell

Landslag are consulting landscape architects and spatial planners with a broad range of experience in planning and design and are Iceland´s largest and leading studio in the field of landscape architecture. The practice, was founded in 1963 by one of Iceland’s first landscape architects Reynir Vilhjálms­son. It has grown gradually from the early days of private practice to its present level as a limited company.
Landslag is engaged in collaborative work with leading consultants from interdisciplinary professions in the design pro­cess such as architects, engineers and artists as well as international collaboration with architects from countries such as USA, England, Norway, Denmark and the Baltic countries. The company has participated in many winning proposals in architectural competitions throughout the years and has gained much experience in large-scale landscape design under the harsh Icelandic circumstances, as well as the more detailed smaller scale projects. A few projects have been in Norway and the Baltic countries in collaboration with Icelandic and local companies.
The staff of Landslag approach each task with great respect for the environment.

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The Hvidovre beach area is created by landfill and has been developed over the past 100 years, first by waste dumping and later added with soil and beach sand. The orientation of the old beach caused a lot of seaweed to accumulate, and the sea was eroding the added sand, causing excavation and leaching of the landfill material into the water. The new project consists of an expansion of the beach, a new layout of the path system moving along the meadow, and a concrete edge between the beach and the meadow.

The project is a collaboration between VEGA landskab and sculptor Karin Lorentzen, who have made all basic concept decisions together. The project is unique, as the artist and the landscape architects have worked closely together since the very beginning, and hereby assured that artwork and landscape are completely integrated. For the technical detailing and the practical work, the responsibility has been distributed between the two parts: VEGA landskab has been in charge of the new topography, the path and the foundation of the concrete edge, whereas Karin Lorentzen has developed, shaped and detailed the concrete edge as well as coordinated the installation on site.

The new beach park project is expanding the beach so that the area with sand now stretches along the entire coastline between Hvidovre Harbor and the small channel ‘Mørtelrenden’ connecting north and south. The extension also assures a better slope and a re-orientation of the beach, to avoid seaweed and erosion of the sand. The new concrete edge is a poetic element that interprets nature’s properties in a new form, as well as a pragmatic element that solves the function of securing the grassy meadow from leaching and erosion from the water of the sea. The project is designed based on future water level rises, so that the shore is not affected by daily water fluctuations and can withstand the rise of sea level in case of extreme weather events.

The concrete edge serves as a terrain support wall and defines the boundary between the grassed meadow and the new beach area. At the same time, the artwork is what unites the beach and the meadow into a coherent beach park, as the necessary support wall is shaped into a beautiful and site-specific landscape artwork that provides space for recreational stays. It consists of a series of concrete elements, all of which have a unique shape inspired by some of nature’s own beautiful shapes. Karin Lorentzen often works with plant morphology and organic forms in her sculptures. At Hvidovre beach the shapes and forms of the concrete elements are a reinterpretation and geometry of white cabbage, where thin cuts of cabbage have been enlarged and designed into a concrete design. Many kinds of cabbage and geometries were tested throughout the process in order to create the best spaces, twists, and turns for the beach. The entire line of the sculpture has been tested by Karin Lorentzen and VEGA landskab on site, using rope and sticks to draw in full scale.

The project has been an exploration into the limits of large scale unique concrete elements. 64 elements were cast in 21 molds. Each element can be used in four different ways, which allows the concrete to be combined in many different ways, shapes, and forms. The elements create curves of different sizes, inviting guests to stay individually or in groups in the spaces created by the curves. On a smaller scale, the anatomy of the cabbage relates to the physiology of the human body, and on a larger scale, it reflects the characteristics of the surrounding landscape with its waves and interwoven shapes of beach and meadows. In this way, the project settles in the landscape and speaks to the human body. The Beach Park was inaugurated in June 2017. Hvidovre Municipality and VEGA landskab are very happy with the result and the beach has been very popular and densely populated during the summer.

All photos by Naja Viscor, except the main photo by Karin Lorentzen

Location: Hvidovre, Denmark

Year of construction: 2017 | Area: 1.900 m2 | Design year: 2014

Client: Hvidovre Municipality

The project was created in a close collaboration of VEGA landskab and visual artist Karin Lorentzen. Sharing an approach to sites and spaces with at the same time is experienced and designed ‘at eye level’ as understood within their context, their collaboration so far has included works at Glorup Mansion and Hvidovre Beach as well as non-built competition proposals.

VEGA landskab is founded by Anne Dorthe Vestergaard and Anne Galmar who have a common background as both architects and landscape architects.

VEGA landskab works with a wide range of projects, from nature-based design solutions and historical parks to multifunctional urban spaces and playgrounds for learning and playing. With more than 15 years of experience, the mission is to create involving and meaningful spaces for people. Sustainability is the starting point at every project, so that the good life for future generations is secured. Sustainability is viewed as a technical discipline as well as an aesthetic concept, and inspiration is drawn from an unspoiled biotope to a theoretical framework. The main goal for the office is the shaping of beautiful and well-proportioned shared spaces that unfolds both the local and historical context and the actual use of the site.

Karin Lorentzen, visual artist Classical sculptor education in Paris and subsequently trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Her approach to her works is man, the landscape and the sensation, as the starting point of recognition. She is forever concerned with man’s ”being in the world”. Lorentzen collaborates with the concrete industry and new robotics on developing unique large-scale concrete in an organic design language. Main works: Hvidovre Beach Park with VEGA Landscape, Botanical Garden in Aarhus, Glorup Estate, Court of Frb. in Copenhagen.

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