Planting Design 2013 Working Group 17 - Case Study B

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''Buxus Table in Monumental Ensemble of the Alhambra and the Generalife (Granada, Spain)

Name	Buxus Table
Location	Granada
Country	Spain
Authors	M. P.

Buxus Table is located in the Cypress Path, in the access to the Generalife. This space is integrated into the Monumental Ensemble of the Alhambra and the Generalife in Granada, as part of a cultural landscape of great value. However, this space is far from the main routes and recognizable marks. This is, therefore, a hidden area (practically unknown) and which has been transformed for reasons of utility. Its origin is in the old nursery for replacement of Buxus sempervirens of the Monumental Ensemble, abandoned in the last century. The site has changed to the forms that now characterize this space.

Buxus Table helps us understand the natural dynamics. The "balanced" states generated by human beings cannot hardly adquire permanence, because sometimes they require a high degree of intervention to maintain the characteristics for which they were created. In this case, this is an artificial system (man-made), its abandonment approaches it to a natural state, more resilient ...

Author's perspective

I started my professional career in the field of the study of historical gardens. I think it is very interesting the study of plant material in historical context, as project material in relation with its resilience, dynamic and versatility.

Landscape and/or urban context of your case

The Gardens of the Alhambra are the best examples of the medieval gardens of Al-Andalus; although we find interventions that were carried out in very different periods, as the green roof of the new theater of the Generalife (2012-2013). After the Generalife was definitively attached to the Alhambra, public opinion was mustered to build a public park. The area between the Alhambra and the Generalife Palace was built up and landscaped gardens were added.

In the Alhambra plant material is used in many different ways. The material is not only an essential component of forest and gardens, it is also used as a material for restoration (In the case of The Court of Machuca It has served to recover the reading of space, through walls of cypres that "close" the enclosure; this intervention was made by the architect Leopoldo Torres Balabas in 1926). But sometimes, the plant material hidden ruins and prevents the correct reading of space, as in the case of houses The Partal.

The Buxus Table in a small valley near the Promenade of the Cypress Trees, through which the Royal Canal (Acequia Real). This is a space not intervened, whose evolution is the result of the abandonment of its use as a nursery plant. In this case, the Buxus Table is a result of chance. The need of Buxus sempervirens for replacement in the garden was the origin of this nursery in the old orchard Fuentepeña. The plants were left to their free growth in the 60s of last century. As these plants were naturalized, the place came to be known as "Buxus Table".

• Landscape context
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  General map of the Historical-Artistic Monumental Complex of the Alhambra and the Generalife

• 

  Plant material in the Alhambra, The Court of Machuca (ca. 1926 and 2012-2013)

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  Plant material in the Alhambra, El Partal (2011-2012)

Analytical materials

• Analytical Materials
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  Aerial view 2012-2013

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  Aerial photographs 1925 and 1956-1957

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  Dehesa del Generalife. Project of park in the plant nurseries [1949]

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  Example of evolution of plant material - Myrtus communis in The Court of the Myrtles, 3 images: 1851, 1855 and 1862

Projective drawings and references

• Projective Drawings and references
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  What can we do now with Buxus Table?

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  Proposal 1 for Buxus Table: Apply sculptural cut to form topiaries [Garden Labyrinth – Erfurt by Mann Landschaftsarchitektur, an example of topiary wave]

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  Proposal 2 for Buxus Table: Non-intervention [Buxus sempervirens with tree form in Pazo de Oca (Galicia), an example of evolution of Buxus in an historical garden]

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  Proposal 3 for Buxus Table: Apply cut to shape and maintenance for preserving the current status and signal this area for visitors.

Summary and conclusion

This case is a paradox. The current status of Buxus plants is similar to the state that had hedges Myrtus communis (1851) after a period of abandonment of The Court of the Myrtles. Here the abandonment of the plant has been in the other direction, Buxus sempervirens nursery must provide for the replacement of plant specimens for topiaries of the gardens. Abandonment has resulted in a landscape with a more contemporary aesthetic, but what could we do now? We could have three ways to proceed: (1) regularize for forming a wave topiary, (2) non - intervention, plant material evolves according to its own dynamics and pattern, (3) maintain the current status by pruning operations.

We have chosen to maintain the current status. This is an arbitrary decision, we have decided to stop this "image of nature" by cultural pleasure that produce us discover this space. The proposal introduces only two elements: maintenance and increased the visibility. We want to show this site, remember why Buxus sempervirens are there and we do it from the perspective of our aesthetic reading.

Image Gallery

• Image Gallery
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  Current status Buxus Table 01

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  Current status Buxus Table 02

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  Current status Buxus Table 03

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  Current status Buxus Table 04

References

Patronato de La Alhambra y El Generalife, http://www.alhambra-patronato.es

General map of the Historical-Artistic Monumental Complex of the Alhambra and the Generalife, http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/index.php/Maps-downloads/651+M5d637b1e38d/0/

La restauración científica de Torres Balbás en la Alhambra, http://papeldeperiodico.com/2013/05/06/la-restauracion-cientifica-de-torres-balbas-en-la-alhambra/

Vista aérea de la Alhambra (ca.1925), del Fondo Fotográfico del Archivo del Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, http://hdl.handle.net/10514/13791

Ortofoto Digital Pancromática de Andalucía 1956-1957, http://hdl.handle.net/10514/1067, http://www.goolzoom.com/

Patronato de la Alhambra y el Generalife. Proyecto de ordenación de parque en los viveros del Generalife" del Archivo del Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, http://hdl.handle.net/10514/1067

Patio de la Alberca. Alhambra (1851) - Tenison, E. K. (Eduard King) de la Biblioteca Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliográfico, http://bvpb.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?interno=S&posicion=1&path=9762&presentacion=pagina

Patio de los Mirtos. Alhambra (ca. 1855) - Masson, Luis León del Fondo Fotográfico de la Universidad de Navarra, http://coleccionfff.unav.es/bvunav/i18n/consulta/busqueda_referencia.cmd?posicion=5&idValor=4761&forma=ficha&id=519836

La Alhambra. Patio de los Arrayanes (1862) - Clifford, Charles del Fondo Fotográfico del Archivo del Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, http://hdl.handle.net/10514/9956

Best Private Plots Competition: 1st prize for Mann Landschaftsarchitektur – Germany: Garden Labyrinth, Erfurt, http://www.privateplots.at/en/firstprize.html

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