Landscape Design Studio II

Natural Landscape of Golāb Darreh

Spring 2018

Golāb Darreh

is one of the old neighborhoods of Tehran in Shemiranat city, which in past together with Imamzadeh Ghasem used to be one neighborhood. In ancient times, the geographical area of this neighborhood extended north to the slopes and summer pastures of the Alborz mountain range, south to Tajrish and Dezashib roads, east to the Jay valley, and west to Golabdereh river. Now Golāb Darreh is the name of a valley and a neighborhood in the northeast of Tehran. It is one of the pleasant summer quarters in the northeast of Tehran. The beautiful mountainous nature of Golāb Darreh has several springs and rivers, and apart from the locals, its easy access has made many nature lovers visit it for mountaineering and nature tourism. This valley is very beautiful in all seasons; Spring with the revival of trees and the growth of rhubarb and the sound of birds, summer with its soothing coolness, pleasant and colorful autumn with azalea trees and rain and winter with snowy days that make being in this valley a pristine adventure.

Embracing the Nature

This stage begins by visiting the project site at different times of the day and in different seasons. Referral to works of art, literature and science related to the subject of the design to get the historical and cultural knowledge of human beings from it, is the next step. The output of this stage is to present the interpretation and introduction of the project landscape as a whole, through which its manifestations include objective and symbolic elements.

The existence of lines without geometry and in an organic form, the background colors indicate the main elements of the valley (mud-water-valley-tree).

Color analysis indicates the existence of close spectrums that make up a chromatic family.

Similar materials! Similar feelings! (Persepolis on the left)

In miniature, which is a semi-imaginary art, rocks were drawn like floating clouds. However, it has similarities to reality and even the photo on the left from Golab Darreh. (Persian Miniature – Shahnameh of Ferdowsi – Shah Tahmasebi version)

The collision of light with water (Impression Soleil Levant, Claude Monet, Impressionist painter, late 19th century)
The term Impressionism is derived from one of his paintings entitled “Impression, Sunrise”.

Merging the Layers

Layers are examined in comparison with other factors involved in the subject. Each layer is dedicated to recognizing and introducing a part of the shaping components of the natural landscape of the site. Given the complexity and multidimensionality of these components in dealing with the body, history, and society, one of the main steps is to determine which information and landscape features in terms of time and place should be considered. In this method, the layers are classified and then evaluated and synthesized.

The River: Flowing, Thrilling, and Tumultuous

Trees and rocks follow this flow and thrill

Calm and Quiet life of high lands

Physical Planning

Designing the beginning part of the route in order to properly connect the urban and natural landscape.
Designing a place early in the route to equip mountaineering groups.
Creating context-oriented platforms for embracing nature.
Revitalization and modification of built and existing places of the site.
Landscape communication design between the top and bottom of the valley.
Use land art to highlight elements of nature.
Primary service spaces without an additive effect on nature.

Fantasy Planning

At this stage, we are given the opportunity to escape from the attraction of the logical forces that influence creativity and to go beyond the framework of rules and regulations of the site. To reach a free space and to dream of creating the desired space outside the realm of logic. This stage of thinking and creating depicts the effects of the most imaginative landscapes and shows its impact in the next stage.

Design Process

Ideation and strategies for intervention in the environment and site design, which is based on the results of studies in previous stages, we express our ideas scientifically. This scientific expression indicates an overview of the interrelationship between the various factors of the site and the project, which is the organic schema of the draft design that leads the designer to the final lines of the design. The main idea or image of the design is obtained at this stage and is the basis for subsequent decisions.

Contextual platforms that gradually ascend to the sky and descend to the earth using height, density, and composition (evergreen and deciduous).

By changing the height of the platform in each stage, a part of this path from the earth to the sky is framed.

By changing the density of vegetation around the platforms, the audience’s attention gradually changes from the ground to the sky and vice versa.

By changing the composition of the vegetation next to the platforms in different seasons, different frames can be produced from this story.

Final Result

Creating a curtain of water and strengthening the sensation that the audience receives from the water and the waterfall.

Separating a path from the river and creating a pond with a natural appearance next to it in order to create pause, calmness, stillness, and contrast. A contradiction that finds meaning along the turbulent river.