Written by: D. Buckley on July 25, 2010 @ 4:11 pm
No, that title is not just to catch your attention. Although the summer heat in Dallas makes me thirsty, I have my water for now. I was just thinking about biergartens, or beer gardens, which my husband keeps telling me is sorely lacking in the Metroplex (I think the Gingerman in uptown comes close though). He is a German expat thanks to me. And he misses the experience of connecting with strangers while sipping a cold one under a full tree canopy. The biergartens he recalls fondly had outside seating where strangers join one another under giant chestnut trees.
Image by Jenn Vargas
We haven’t forayed into many biergartens in the U.S. The ones we have seen don’t offer those essential elements that make a classic biergarten space. The music, lederhosen, and gigantic beer mugs were all in place. But there were no trees, or the tables were all inside.
I went to an Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, Michigan where all the tables were located under a tent. We were in Munich over two years ago and we visited the “English Garden” biergarten, located next to the lake. It was not the only biergarten next to a natural feature that we visited. We went to one in Nurnberg, located next to a river. Both biergartens were packed with people, many of whom were on their way to or coming from the adjacent natural areas.
So what does all this have to do with landscape architects, apart from the thirsty ones? I think it serves as a reminder to us when planning public spaces. There is something to be said about emphasizing the connection with nature within the urban fabric, and not just with a few well-placed ornamental trees. How often do we interweave the community enterprises with a direct connection to a natural feature (lake, river, forest)? Provided we are not interfering with protected habitats, there is opportunity here.
Catogories: Community Spaces, Cultural Landscapes, Urban Spaces
love it. now I am thirsty!