A Trip to Egeskov Castle

Prompt
Does the historic and elitist institution of the country house estate have a role and purpose in Denmark's egalitarian society? Explain.

Today the class visited Egeskov Castle in Jutland, Denmark. There, we walked around the premises and within the castle itself. Because Denmark is an egalitarian society, where people are ensured equal rights and opportunities, the Egeskov Castle seems somewhat out of place and contradictory in terms of social values. The first striking observation that is likely to divide classes is the fact that visitors have to pay to get in—and it's not very cheap. The majority of people who visit this historic park tend to be middle to upper class. Lower-income families have a greater chance of being left out from enjoying this greenspace and other amenities the park has to offer.

Although the historic, elitist castle seems contradictory in an egalitarian society, it does some serve some functions that can be quite valuable to Denmark. One of the main important roles of the castle is to provide those who visit the park with greenspace. The premise consists of unique gardens, such as the fuchsia flower gardens, herb gardens, mazes, etc. They are also experimenting a lot with organic farming. Egeskov has some organic vegetable gardens, but they are planning to expand organic agriculture even more. The park also has ponds that surround the castle. While I was walking around, I felt very relaxed being surrounded by the greenspace, and the animals that inhabit them.

Another role of Egeskov is to provide education and history to its visitors. There are tours that are given around the castle, as well as in the castle. There are also signs in front of each item in the different exhibitions which provide the public with education on the history of the castle.

Egeskov Castle is great for Danish tourism. People from all over, including places throughout Denmark, come to visit. The park is very family oriented, and appeals to different demographics in different ways.

Danish vs. American National Parks

Prompt
Contrast today’s experiences of a Danish National Park with America’s National Parks.


Today the class visited Kongernes (soon to be) National Park in North Zealand, Denmark. Throughout the visit, I noticed many similarities but also many differences between this park and national parks throughout the United States. For example the flora and fauna which inhabit Kongernes National Park vary from U.S. national parks. The trees that make up this park are predominately beech trees. Although the main species of trees are beech, the park also consists of conifers from other Nordic countries. In addition, Kongernes has species only native to Europe, such as the European red deer and the European badger.


The biodiversity of species is very rich in this park because of the management practices. Since the 1800s, there has been an effort to restore trees. Most of the trees in the park have been replanted, and the bogs that are there today have been constructed. This differs from the forests of national parks in the United States, because the majority of them are old growth and have never been cut down. A great example is the Sequoia National Park in California. American national parks seem to be preserving what has already been there, whereas Kongernes is recreating what was once deforested. Recreational regulations within Kongernes also vary from national parks in the United States as well. For example, biking and bonfires are allowed, whereas most U.S. national parks have stricter recreation regulation.

Another prominent difference is the size of Kongernes. The Sequoia National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Yosemite National Park are examples of renowned U.S. national parks that are very large. Kongernes is only about 14,000 acres, whereas the Sequoia National Park is about 400,000 acres. Yosemite National Park is over 700,000 acres, and the world's first national park, Yellowstone National Park, is over an astounding 2,000,000 acres. 

Reforesting Denmark

Prompt
Why has so much valuable land close to Copenhagen been given over to forest?

Denmark has a history of deforestation, and much of that cleared land was turned into what is now new forest. For two centuries, Denmark has performed active reforestation procedures throughout the country. The main push for these reforestation projects was The Danish Forest Act of 2004. This act helped to conserve and protect Danish forests, increase the forest area, and promote sustainable forest management in terms of economic, ecological, and social values. Today, the class visited Store Hareskov, where we walked through the forest, took a boat tour, and saw how the area looks today. It is right outside of Copenhagen, full of lush greenery and a lake. If I didn't know it was manmade, I would have thought it's been this way forever.

This land was reforested instead of being developed upon because of the many functions this greenspace provides for not just the environment, but the people as well. Fresh water lakes, such as the one in Hareskov, is a source of recreation for kayaking and boating. They also provide habitat for flora and fauna.

The forests outside of Copenhagen help to create a biodiverse landscape and provide habitat as well. In terms of societal values, forests provide people with recreational uses such as trails for walking. They also provide overall aesthetics, which is valuable for people who want to get out in nature as an escape. Forests also help to purify our air, as they capture carbon dioxide emissions. Sustainable harvesting practices can also be used to provide a source of timber from these forests, which can be viewed as a benefit to society.

Danish Coastscape

Prompt

How has and does Denmark’s coastscape shaped life and identity in Denmark? 

Today the class visited the town of Gillelej to study the coastal landscape. Denmark's coastscape has shaped life and identity in Denmark in many ways. One way is through the fishing industry. Fishing has always been a significant part of Danish history, and continues to be today. Today, Denmark is the world's fifth largest exporter of fish, and the largest in all of Europe. You can recognize fishing as a large part of coastal Danish culture when seeing all of the old fishing boats in the harbor, and by tasting Denmark's famous smoked herring.  

                             

Another way the coast has shaped life and identity in Denmark by creating the summerhouse trend for Danish residents. People began to enjoy summerhouses along the northern coasts of Zealand as well as in Jutland starting in the 19th century. During the summer months, people would escape the urban life and head for the coast. When summerhouses were first beginning to be established, they were only really affordable for the wealthy city-dwellers. Now, summerhouses have become very popular amongst Danes of all different incomes. It is quite common for someone within the city to have a coastal summerhouse. Gillelej is an example of a coastal town where people go to live in their summerhouses (as shown below).

Although Denmark's coastscape has reaped many benefits, it has faced some issues in the past, such as erosion from water and sand in Gillelej. This erosion essentially caused the dunes to creep. However, the town worked to stabilize the dunes by planting grasses and trees, starting as early as the 1660s. These reforesting efforts created a boom in Denmark's export of commercial lumber. The greenspace that surrounds Gillelej looks astonishingly natural, but it is actually manmade. 

Eliasson

Prompt

How does Eliasson discuss the relation of space, time, and the viewer?

Artist, Olafur Eliasson transforms spaces with his sculptures and installation art. By inserting natural elements, his installations make the space tangible, as you can see from his work shown in photo 1. In the TED talk we watched in class today, we saw how the viewers interacted with this particular space. A girl was laying down on the ground within this installation, and she noticed her own reflection in the mirrors above. 

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Eliasson believes that art is not just about decorating the world, but is also about making the space active, and having people react to it. The impact on the viewers is just as an important as the art itself. Creating an interactive, artistic space essentially forms relationships between space, time, and the viewer themselves.

Figure 2 represents time; the time that it takes for water to fall. It is inspired by the mountains in Iceland, where he learned that landscapes are defined not just by the size and view of it, but the time it takes to move place to place, or the time it takes for something within the landscape (such as water) to flow. Time is merely another way to measure space. You can understand the size of a landscape when taking into account time.

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Installing these creative pieces enhances public space, and make it easy for people to come together. These interactive spaces provide outlets for both individuality and collectivity.

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Danish Golden Age and Greenspace

Prompt
Describe the Danish Golden Age of painting and explain how the artists and their work helped shape the perception of the Danish landscape.

The Danish Golden Age of painting started during the 19th century. It began with the school of painting called Skain. The landscape was often a large subject in the paintings of this time, and was portrayed in a positive light. The paintings reflected the happiness of this time, for example, summer was the common season to paint as opposed to the colder, darker months of the wintertime. The pieces tend to have sun, blue skies, and vast, green land, which is likely depicting the economic prosperity of this time.

In this painting, the landscape is the majority of this picture, whereas the buildings and people are smaller. The image is portraying the significance of landscape.

The painting below portrays the vast greenspace and blue skies. The people in the photo are enjoying the nature that they are within.

In the next photo, a slightly different approach is used. An interior is painted, rather than the exterior. Although people are indoors, you can see the blue skies and greenery outside of the window.

This photo exposes the issues of gender roles, but there is still and emphasis on landscape.The water and the sand take up the majority of the photo, and a lot of detail is put into the organic landscape.

The final photo is a painting of the artist himself, and his wife. They are gazing out into the ocean, appreciating the nature around them. The moon is shining bright, and the landscape is still a large part of the painting.

Exploring Himmelhøj with Alfio Bonanno

Prompt
Describe your experience and interpretation of Himmelhøj in the light of visiting it with its creator.

Today we went to Himmelhøj with the artist himself, Alfio Bonanno. He walked us through the three different installations, starting with the the landlocked boat. Bonanno implemented the structure on land that was once under water. Bonanno wanted to create an interactive space that people of all ages can enjoy.

We walked through the ship, around the rocks and up the stairs that lie at both ends of the ship. I really enjoyed standing on the uppermost point of the rocks, because I was able to see the boat in its entirety at that point. I would have loved to hear him talk about this piece more, because it was the most interesting to me. Much of his style is seen in every one of his pieces, for example, his inspiration of snails was seen within the boat structure. The center rock piece that I love was designed in the shape of a snail shell. As you walk from the base up until you reach the top, you follow the spiral shape. I really admire his individual taste that permeates all of his work in some way.

The second structure that Bonanno brought us through was a sheltered area that is enclosed by reclaimed trees and has a fire pit in the center. He charred the wood to make them last longer within the space.While it added to the longevity of the piece, it also added to the aesthetics as well. The charred wood's influence on the aesthetics may have not been intentional, but I feel as though it very much added to the mystical appearance and remote feeling.

The last piece that Bonanno brought us through was a circular rock formation. Within the space is a lot of sitting room on the rocks surrounding a large fire pit with a grill. It felt the least sheltered out of all the structures, but seemed to be the most functional.

All of the structures are unique from one another in their own way, but they all are driven by similar style and taste. Bonanno has always been inspired by nature, and uses it as the basis of all his artwork. He represents the natural world and all of its abiotic and biotic components, such as "new landscapes" that are created on the sand after the tide goes out. In addition, all of his pieces are composed of found, natural materials. What's special about these three pieces is the fact that all of the rocks used were from the ice age.

Edible Denmark

Prompt
What insights did you gain from your visits?

Today, my class visited the Kolonihave Co-operative and Aarstiderne. It's really inspiring to see greenspaces be converted into functional vegetable gardens. The first farm was similar to the allotment gardens we've visited, except it was used entirely as a food garden. The co-operative consists of nine members from all around the world, so everyone has something unique to add to the garden. All of them connect to the garden differently. One woman said that she has always been interested in gardening and it has been a long-time passion for her. The woman from Portugal who bought the land said that it wasn't always a passion, but she respected co-operative gardening very much and decided to start one up. They have a relaxed, lenient attitude towards the co-op, which seems to work very well. They believe that failures are okay and only make them learn how to improve next season.

We had a great time helping with the garden

And we enjoyed delicious, organic, homemade lemon balm tea 

as well as bread with homemade spreads!

The second farm we visited, Aarstiderne, was outside of Copenhagen in a suburban town. It was on a larger scale than the Kolonihave Co-operative garden we visited, but it had a similar function. It produces organic vegetables like the Kolonihave Co-operative, but it also imports organic produce and products from other parts of the world. They have subscribers throughout the surrounding community, who can pick up weekly produce or get it delivered. They are currently operating as a carbon-neutral business, and do as much as they can to reduce their impact on the environment. It was also great to learn that they provide educational workshops for the local schools. It has become an integrated part of the education system in this part of town, where children learn about growing their own food and why organic is important.

We got to enjoy a delicious, organic lunch! 

Beets, mushroom and arugula, red cabbage, green and white asparagus, strawberries.. yum!

These types of co-operative farms are different in size and scale, but the message they deliver is the same. Organic food gardens and co-ops can truly empower communities and have a lot to offer to Copenhagen, and Denmark as a whole.

Historic vs. Contemporary

Prompt

Compare and contrast one of Copenhagen's contemporary public parks with one of its historic ones.

Copenhagen has a variety of different types of parks, from historic to contemporary. A great example of a historic public park is Frederiksberg Park, and a great example of a contemporary public park is Superkilen. Frederiksberg Park is different from Superkilen in that it has a lot more greenspace. There are large lawns for people to lay and play on, as well as preserved forest. It also provides ponds and lakes that people can enjoy. Being in this park is very much an escape from urban life. When you are within the park, it almost feels like you aren't in a city at all because of the great abundance of greenery and wildlife. 

Superkilen has more blacktop, and more room for different types of recreational activities such as biking, playing basketball, skateboarding, etc. It also seems to appeal to all demographics. Superkilen is multi-purpose in that there is something for all age groups there. For example, one woman today was working out, whereas a child was sliding down a slide that was part of a jungle gym. Also, a group of teenagers were playing basketball, while some older people were biking. There also seems to be a greater sense of community in contemporary urban parks, especially as seen between Frederiksberg Park and Superkilen. It seems that today, contemporary public parks are influenced by the surrounding area. Whereas, a historic park like Federiksberg influenced the area around it and what was built after its establishment.

While these parks are very different from one another, what they have in common are their overall functions. They provide people with a natural space, where they can come to relax and do recreational activities. Although they differ from one another, both serve as a spot to unwind and gather with one another.

Suburban Greenspace in Denmark

Prompt
Discuss the juxtaposition of the suburban garden as a space for personal individuality and the membership of a socio-cultural co-operative.

Suburban gardens in Denmark often provide personal space as well as space for community. For example, the suburban neighborhood in Fredensborg, designed by the architect, Jørn Utzon incorporates both aspects. The houses provide a private area for gardening, and are walled off from the rest of the houses and gardens. Although these personal spaces are a great expression of self, they are still regulated by the owners of the property. For example, if you have a house in the Fredensborg development, you can only plant ornamental plants, not edibles. The great thing about this complex is that you are able to be a part of a community greenspace as well. In Fredensborg, residents can leave their private spaces as they please, and enjoy the community space with others. For example, there is a large lawn in between the resident's homes where people can come together for activities. There is also a large patio space which incorporates the cooperative function as well.

Another great example of a suburban community which incorporates personal individuality and
cooperative function are the oval gardens in Nærum designed by landscape architect, C Th Sørensen. These oval gardens include a small house for day use, and lay near one another but are also quite spaced out.The oval design that incorporates the small house and garden follow the contour of the rolling hills that make up the landscape.On the contrary to the Fredensborg gardens, the oval gardens allow for the planting of vegetables and other edibles. But similar to Fredensborg, the ovals still have some regulation. But overall, the personal spaces allow for individual expression. The socio-cultural cooperative aspect includes the spaces in between each of the ovals. Each oval garden is contained and walled-off by hedges, but right outside the gates to these gardens are open spaces which provide paths for walking about the complex. There are also larger greenspaces within the community which bring people together.

Having a personal garden is beneficial because it allows for someone to have a sense of individuality and privacy. Having a cooperative is also beneficial because it brings people together. It's great to see two different communities incorporate these two really important aspects.

Public vs. Private

Prompt
Based on your experiences, describe the differences identities of Copenhagen’s public and private greenspaces.

Both public and private greenspaces provide similar benefits, but differ in how they are managed. Ørstedsparken as seen yesterday is a great example of a public park. This park has no entrance fee, and anyone can come and spend time in this space. People of all different social statuses and demographics are welcome to access the park. It is an environmentally just establishment, because it does not discriminate against members of society. Everyone should be able to access nature when they please, no matter what their background is. Public parks allow people to do exactly that, which then creates a sense of community within a city. 


                                 
                                                          Ørstedsparken                        

In comparison, private parks may lack the same sense of community found in public parks. Owning or accessing a private park can be quite restrictive for people of lower income and social statues. Everyone should be able to access nature if they please, and if all greenspaces were private parks, many people would be left out.


However, a drawback of public parks is that they have the ability to become polluted, vandalized, and not taken care of well with lack of restriction and infrequent routine maintenance, for example, Østre Aniceg. Private parks on the other hand, such as the allotment gardens of Frederiksberg, are maintained and taken care of by the individual owner. 

Østre Aniceg

Frederiksberg Allotment Garden

But what both public and private parks have in common are their functions—health, recreation, and environmental stewardship. Urban greenspaces, whether public or private, sequester airborne pollutants and improve air quality, provide habitat for flora and fauna, and improve our overall well-being. 


  

Urban Greenspace in Copenhagen

Prompt
What functions does public urban greenspace perform in a city in general, and specifically in Copenhagen?

Public urban greenspace has been revitalizing cities since the 1830's, when the park movement was created. Some of the earliest greenspaces were designed by John Claudis Loudon, such as the Derby Arboretum. In addition, Sir Joseph Paxton facilitated the process of people being able to access the Chatsworth gardens and see its grounds. He was also a notable figure in designing the Great Stove greenhouse, and later another greenhouse called the Crystal Palace and Birkenhead Park. Many of the early parks were private or for those of a high social standing, but through time, parks expanded throughout the public sector. Many of these early greenspaces such as Derby influenced other designs such as Central Park, and even Botanisk Haven which the class visited today.

The idea of "greening" Copenhagen began in 1888, when there was a decommission of the existing medieval fortifications. Inspired by the early parks as well, Henrik August Flindt designed much of the early urban greenspace found today in Denmark. This idea of improving quality of life for city dwellers was on the rise, and public parks expanded throughout Denmark, and more specifically, Copenhagen.

The Fingers Plan of Copenhagen was established in 1947, and greenspace filled in the spaces between urban areas and transit routes, essentially "between the fingers." The main drive behind this design was the idea of people being able to be near greenspaces in close proximity. Now, people don't have to travel outside of Copenhagen to be within nature. Everyone should be able to access a park or other greenspace within 15 minutes.

As we see today in Copenhagen, the people are put first. Public urban greenspaces will provide urban dwellers will improved quality of life. These spaces also provide a sense of community, as people of different cultures, demographics, and backgrounds are brought together.

In addition to these social aspects, the environment is a driving force being greenspaces as well. Today, Copenhagen is often referred to as the "Greenest City in Europe." The city aims to be carbon neutral by 2025, and at this rate with the expansion of urban greenspaces in conjunction with energy innovations, I believe the city will reach its goal.



                                                                Ørstedsparken

Botanisk Have

                                                                   Østre Aniceg

                                                                    Kastellet