(1) Should or should not rock gardens be encouraged?
(2) Should or should not animal statues / animal shaped (eg giraffe, elephant etc) slips etc be encouraged in children park zone?
We decided to refer the issues to a third specialist.
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Here's what today's Bartaman carried:
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1. Rock garden is indeed a good idea.
ReplyDelete2. The animal shaped slips (going by what is there is the existing parks at NewTown and at several areas at Salt lake, Bangur etc) might look down-market or cheap. This should be kept in mind.
If I may suggest, New York city's Central Park could be a good case study when developing the amenities for our eco-park. Please see the below URL for details:
http://www.centralpark.com/guide/activities/children-s-activities.html
Probably world's biggest EcoPak work-in-progress:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.parquetexcoco.com/descargas/presentacion_en.pdf
excellent.....precedent...!
DeleteThe PPT was rather huge 28MB could be deterent to download....a brief text for overview is here (specailly, I like project's philosophy):
DeleteThe Park Texcoco project in Mexico
Stigmatized for more than 30 years, the basin of the Mexico City valley is now completely redeveloped. Lands formerly occupied by the Texcoco Lake can be reclaimed today as part of a new ecology that incorporates nature, culture and infrastructure. The project's philosophy is that:
"Parks are social catalysts; we need to reclaim parks as part of our essential urban architecture, as key features in functioning urban social systems. Parks are where we test the limits of our tolerance and our capacities for acknowledgement difference (differences of: ideas, creed, age, culture, etc.). We need to promote them neither simply nor primarily as revenue streams but as the vital laboratories of democracy
The strength of a park proposal is not based on its image design, but in the design of its adaptability, flexibility and performance, in how robust is its environmental foundation. This is why Lake Texcoco Ecological Park is not simply based on a park design but in the design of strategies for a park.
The Texcoco Lake Ecological Park will become a tangible symbol of how a society can become an integral part of natural processes and help the proper functioning of the landscape.
Lake Texcoco Park is a work in progress, a vision of a remarkable place conceived by a collaborative group of scientists, engineers, biologists, chemists, ecologists, architects, urban planners, landscapers, and politicians
For details, see: http://www.parquetexcoco.com/
Sir, i would request you to encourage modern/ urban park installation in the area so that it goes in harmony with the nearby KMOMA......to create an excellent urban park...
ReplyDeleteYes, Aritra, it will be.
ReplyDeleteSir,
ReplyDeleteNavi Mumbais golf course and Central Park Khargar is worth mentioning.Central Park Khargar is absed on New Yorks Central Park model .
http://cidcoindia.com/cidco/centpark.aspx
Sir,
ReplyDeleteNavi Mumbai's (New Mumbai)Centra Park Khargar(based on NY Central Park) has excellent plannings.There are children rides,toytrains,open theatre,landscaped gardens and fountains (man made)with rock gardens.I am hopeful we can boast of our own Eco Park in New Town too.
While we may take inspiration from others, we won't copy. And our eco-park will be great too. Mind you, Navi Mumbai Park will take 3-4 years for planning. We want to implement and innovate together.
ReplyDeleteSir
ReplyDeleteI think its best to make our own style.
Kolkata lacks real greenery.
So your plan of Rain forest seems to be the ideal things.
Rock garden and animal statues will hamper the beauty.
Just trees,simple roads, theme restaurants and lakefront tented accommodation may be suited for the area.
Sir,
ReplyDeleteMost of the park equipment that I see in Kolkata are all outdated and obsolete, like cement slides and iron structures.
The latest trend is to use ABS plastic. Kids love to play here with these equipment for hours and they are also durable and I presume, cheaper than concrete and metallic structures. Most of the equipment in Salt Lake parks lie in a state of disrepair soon after being built
Please have a look at this link to have an idea
http://www.parkequip.com.au/PLAY-LSI-EVOS-&-WEEVOS-PLAYBOOSTER-NET-CLIMBERS.html
@ArunM: Have you seen Shishu Tirtha in New Town?
ReplyDeleteSir,
ReplyDeleteI have not, as I last visited Kolkata in Jan-12. However, from the photos that I have seen, It looks nice (the one with the cartoon characters, animals) The landscaping is also excellent. I have some concerns about the animal shaped slides as they tend to deteriorate quickly making them useless. It also tends to cause injury to kids.
There is no doubt Newtown is shaping really well and AA-1 looks really nice.
However, in our quest to be at par with other world class cities, we must look at the modern urban architecture and incorporate them whenever possible.
I have personally seen how kids enjoy these activities/equipment, and so had decided to share my experiences. No offences meant to anyone.
Disney cartoon shaped characters in parks are excellent ...theme parks and waterfall surrounded by rocks in the middle of the park will give a peaceful ambience for the elders.
ReplyDeleteDisney is alien to Kolkata. Abol Tabol is cliche. So?
ReplyDeleteRock garden as felt by me is an old concept, but a small portion can be dedicated to it, or maybe lifelike rock statues can be installed. And a big no for animal statues, that would place the eco park at par with any next door play area. Children nowadays prefer more lively activities like Deer feeding, Aquariums, rock climbing, butterfly park, splash pools, etc.
ReplyDeleteDisney is truly alien to Kolkata, but its known to children of the whole world as we have seen Disneylands come up in different places of the globe. But even I feel that we can try to aquaint kids with our local characters like Hada-Bhoda, Batul,etc..but at the same time also think about characters like tintin, archie, asterisk, etc.
Rightly so, animal statues will be downright out-dated. As a kid I never liked these statues and replicas. I always preferred live interaction with animals (obv keeping the safety thing in mind) until now :-P.
ReplyDeleteAre Dinosaurs of Science city museums good?
ReplyDeleteSir,
ReplyDeleteWe are really excited to see a realy beautiful ECO Park in newtown. The greenary should be the main attractions with big trees, as we see in the proposed design the rainforest. To make it natural, the real trees should be choosen much against the show trees, and also it would give more long term stability against the nature. Too many full grown trees puting for the temporary buautification should not be prefered much. As we can see the adverse side of planing full grown trees between the streach from Tata Medicale Institute, and across Unitech and DLF II, to echospace, and now the heads are broken for many of them. It also lost the initial greenary, and it will never be as beautiful as a naturaly grown tree. Expecting a real nice park with natural touch, less concrit or metalic structurs. A nature park easily avod the structures and status.
We are trying. We are taking expert help.
ReplyDelete