Rakova Jelša town park, Ljubljana, SI

The primary objective of Rakova Jelša town park was to host leisure activities and picnic spots, while the second phase would focus on creating space for self-sufficient farming and cultivation. The possibility of legal and arranged cultivation on the outskirts of the city centre meant a new interpretation of the traditional use of marshlands (barje). The new gardening areas required infrastructure, which had been sourced from existing elements in the area (the cast plates of demolished sheds, etc.). Instead of dispersed sheds, new common shelters were introduced to collect rainwater and serve as shades. Urban elements, wooden and reused, assembled prefabricated benches, bike stands and fences, were used in phase one and multiplied in phase two. A new walking path was established that follows the Ljubljanica from Špica past the highway overpass to the brink of Rakova Jelša town park. Didactical interventions and informative panels enrich the learning path by the river. Under the highway overpass, a boathouse with a bar inhabits the formerly unused space. A pulley crosses the Ljubljanica river at the endpoint of the park, completed in phase one, that takes visitors from Ljubljana to Plečniks’ Church of St. Michael in the Marsh in Črna Vas. North of the highway, by the new park and bicycle route and the new Fire Intervention Station at Barjanska Street, a nature-involving playground mimicking the moor landscape was built. A corridor next to Barjanska Street, now full of billboards is to be cleaned of all the clutter; info points about the Ljubljansko marshlands natural reserve will be placed into the newly opened space that will also serve as the only public space and playground for the residents of Rakova Jelša. The information pavilion hosts a variety of functions, from the marshlands’ farmer’s market to open air cinema…

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