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STORIES OF ERNE
@storiesoferne
Contributing Authors
CARLA LERION
@arkicarls
BENJAMIN SANCHEZ MUJICA
@besamu
CHERRY NG
@cherryng
Magazine Design
STORIES OF ERNE
@storiesoferne
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The Mirabell Gardens: Salzburg's Answer to Sustainable Habitats
By STORIES OF ERNE
@storiesoferne
Chief Editor
Published: July 1, 2022
The Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, Austria
In the Austrian city of Salzburg, the Mirabell Gardens is their responsive contribution to mankind's environmental consciousness ideal for the long-term growth of urban centers.
Just imagine a metropolis without the lush landscapes of Mother Nature. Wouldn't it be absolutely boring to experience a place built merely out of concrete, glass, and steel? What could the feeling be like? Now, why are gardens and their green cousins vital for the health, productivity, and well-being of cities?
The Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, Austria
The presence of various natural elements in an urban settlement escalates our chances as inhabitants to thrive for the better. An increasing number of scientific studies claim that our constant exposure to ecological spaces helps in our physical, mental, emotional, and most probably in our spiritual development. There are a fair amount of countries that have already been advocating the green revolution. A key international location is situated in Austria.
The Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, Austria
And one of this nation's best locations to demonstrate the effective power of environmental stewardship is the Mirabell Gardens, a piece of natural paradise incorporated with the majestic Mirabell Palace which was commissioned in 1606 by prince-archbishop Wolf Dietrich for Salome Alt, his dearest mistress. Not only is this landmark globally known as the prestigious setting where the Von Trapp children sang "Do-Re-Mi" in the famous movie "Sound of Music" (1965), but also is the city's breathing organism for healthier living standards.
The Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, Austria
I felt like a distinguished member of royalty in the presence of this UNESCO World Heritage Site - immensely captivated by the exquisite Baroque architecture of the Mirabell Palace, the accompanying estate, and its surrounding gardens. Well, who wouldn't? You need to be physically there to understand what I mean.
The Mirabell Gardens was implemented in 1687 and designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, also embodying a Baroque architectural signature. To enhance its beauty, function, and long-term survival, this green landmark was constantly redesigned over the years. Interestingly, some of its most distinctive characteristics include the incorporation of visual panoramas, the implementation of curved frameworks, plus the addition of walkways being lined up with trees.
The Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, Austria
I wouldn't hesitate to be reunited with this gorgeous paradise of nature on my next Austrian adventure. No wonder the Mirabell Gardens has not only provided the ecological balance required for the city of Salzburg but has also transformed it into an iconic destination for tourists, historians, photographers, filmmakers, wedding planners, landscape professionals, environmentalists, and most importantly for Architects like me.
In Volume 1 Issue 5 of A+DPOST™, the official magazine of the Architecture+Design Community on the Hive Blockchain, we are featuring "Greening the Metropolis: Nature's Impact on the Sustainability of Cities" with our Contributing Authors gladly celebrating the spectacular "natural landscapes of city centers" from their countries of origin.
Enjoy our remarkable stories about urban gardens and their tremendous benefits for a growing metropolis!
Sincerely,
ERNE
Architect | Environmentalist | Lifehacker | Adventurer
Creator of Architecture+Design Community
on the Hive Blockchain
OASIS IN THE DESERT: Al Bidda Park, Doha Qatar
CARLA LERION
@arkicarls
Contributing Author
Published: July 1, 2022
Al Bidda Park, Doha Qatar. Photo: © CARLA LERION @arkicarls
In the center of the Desert Metropolis, Doha, Qatar's Al Bidda Park is packed with lushes of green landscape and public activity areas for sports, theater, and gatherings, providing a calm getaway from the bustling city. This urban garden breathes life into the desert and provides a juxtaposition to the concrete jungle that dominates Doha's skyline.
Al Bidda Park is without a doubt the go-to place for relaxation not only for Arabs but also for tourists like me. This 200-hectare park in the heart of Doha is indeed an "oasis in the desert," overlooking the city's towering buildings. It simply promotes wellbeing, inclusivity, cultural sensitivity, and the value of community by providing a variety of unique features that anyone can enjoy, and, yes, there is no admission fee!
Al Bidda Park, Doha Qatar. Photo: © CARLA LERION @arkicarls
The park offers a wide variety of activities. Walking and jogging tracks, bicycle paths, and even camel trails! Sports facilities such as outdoor fitness areas, gymnasiums, and courts are even free to use. All of the playgrounds scattered throughout the park have fun themes that children will adore. Picnics on grass or kiosks are also available for families, and there is a barbecue or cooking area stationed in the park. Above all, the way all of these features were in sync and harmony with the surrounding landscape was truly exceptional.
Al Bidda Park, Doha Qatar. Photo: © CARLA LERION @arkicarls
For better info you can check Al Bidda Park’s wayfinding map:
Source: https://albiddapark.com/park-wayfinding-map/
Al Bidda Park, Doha Qatar. Photo: © CARLA LERION @arkicarls
When I visited the park couple of years ago, I did not expect that this country has this kind of “garden thing”. All I knew was that it's a deserted country and there's a lot of great architecture and that’s it. Surprisingly, the country has this urban park that is brimming with greenery, with various types of trees, shrubs, water features, and flower gardens. The park's topography is also promising. It boasts mountain-like mounds and river-like water features. Fantastic is an understatement. This park's beauty truly astounds me.
Al Bidda Park, Doha Qatar. Photo: © CARLA LERION @arkicarls
I had a great time walking in the park and, of course, taking pictures! I didn't get many photos because I was having so much fun in the park that I forgot to document everything. I suppose that's how parks should be. You disconnect from the online world, but you reconnect with nature and recharge because of its therapeutic powers.
Urban Gardens are something that many cities overlook and neglect to develop. Most urban developments are purely market-driven, and areas such as parks have little value. Despite its desert location, Qatar demonstrates that it is possible to create stunning urban parks and gardens in the heart of a desert city.
BARARIDA URBAN PARK in Barquisimeto, Venezuela
BENJAMIN SANCHEZ MUJICA
@besamu
Contributing Author
Published: July 1, 2022
Bararida Urban Park in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Photo: © BENJAMIN SANCHEZ MUJICA @besamu
Bararida Park, whose name derives from the indigenous Caribbean word "Vararida" which means "Valley of the Ladies", is a recreational park, green lung of the city of Barquisimeto, State of Lara, where fauna, a zoo and the exuberant wealth of tropical nature coexist in total harmony.
In the park, you can enjoy cultural and educational spaces through a zoo, a serpentarium, playgrounds, and adventure farms with poultry.
The Central Lagoon, which can be explored in pedal boats, is full of fish and turtles. Inside the lagoon, there is an island where the main restaurant of the zoo is, where typical Larense food is offered.
Bararida Urban Park in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Photo: © BENJAMIN SANCHEZ MUJICA @besamu
In 2001, “El Mirador de la Ciencia” was inaugurated, where the study of science and technology is encouraged for the enjoyment of children. It has a passage dedicated to amphibians and a planetarium where a virtual walk through the Universe is shown. It is planned to build an internet browsing center.
Bararida Urban Park in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Photo: © BENJAMIN SANCHEZ MUJICA @besamu
The park has a collection of approximately 150 species of native trees and trees from other tropical regions is exhibited, accompanied by a population of animals that is around 185 species and 2175 individuals, many of them in danger of extinction, which is why captive breeding of these species has been promoted.
Bararida Urban Park in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Photo: © BENJAMIN SANCHEZ MUJICA @besamu
The park covers an area of 18.5 hectares. Its construction was decreed in 1939, but it was not until 1964 when 22 hectares of the original area were fenced off and the central lagoon was built at its highest point, the entrance and the paths surrounded by chaguaramos. In 1967 the Bararida Zoological and Botanical Park was inaugurated.
Bararida Urban Park in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Photo: © BENJAMIN SANCHEZ MUJICA @besamu
Thirty years later, the exhibition of bears (Andean, brown, and Tibetan), Andean condor, manatees with underwater viewers were put into operation, in addition to the inauguration of the serpentarium and the contact-farm, on the other hand, the drilling of the well that supplies water to the institution.
All the photos were taken by my family in Barquisimeto, my hometown.
URBAN GARDEN: Bringing Nature Back to the City
CHERRY NG
@cherryng
Contributing Author
Published: July 1, 2022
Urban Gardens in Singapore. Photo: © CHERRY NG @cherryng
Nowadays the furious development in an urban area has been slowed down by the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic is a sign to warn all of us about our Earth already seriously sick. We have to be more considerate not to destroy nature, but to respect and learn to live with the natural environment.
As a result, the pandemic has changed the world, our life, our thinking, and our mind-set to be more eco-friendly and concerned about our natural environment.
Jewel Changi Airport. The Waterfall Rain Vortex is surrounded by the Shiseido Forest Valley, which is the largest indoor botanical garden in Singapore. Photo: © CHERRY NG @cherryng
Jewel Changi Airport. Layers of planters with the lush greenery of trees, palms, shrubs, ferns, and creepers that creating a spectacular indoor botanical garden. Photo: © CHERRY NG @cherryng
SINGAPORE A “GARDEN CITY”
Singapore is called the “Garden City” with its lush greenery and clean urban areas in order to create a pleasant living environment for the people. In more recent years, Singapore has adopted the biophilic design in restoring habitats and greening efforts to fight climate change brought about by extreme weather and increasing urbanization.
The creation of more urban gardens is a key pillar of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, a program where residents will be able to enjoy a liveable, sustainable, and climate-resilient country.
One of the well-known urban gardens in Singapore and also the most popular tourist spot is GARDENS BY THE BAY. This popular landmark combines nature and high-tech environmental facilities that are attracting millions of visitors to visit this great leisure spot.
Common seems plants in Garden by the Bay, Bromeliad Aechmea plants, and Agave species. Photo: © CHERRY NG @cherryng
Sungei Buloh Wetland. The Visitor Centre with modern architectural concept surrounded by wetland greenery. Photo: © CHERRY NG @cherryng
Sungei Buloh Wetland. The stepping stones link the swamp area to the Visitor Centre. Photo: © CHERRY NG @cherryng
The landmark of Garden by The Bay, Super Groves, and The Tree Trunks are surrounded by the tall green walls. Photo: © CHERRY NG @cherryng
Why is an Urban Garden Important in the Urbanization of the City?
The existence of urban gardens provides the ecosystem with clean air and water as well as cools down our surroundings and climate. The increasing implementation of skyrise greenery, such as vertical green walls and green roofs, creates a more soothing and comfortable urban area to live, work, and play in.
An Urban Garden is also home to a wide range of biodiversity and habitats for native flora and fauna. It is associated with benefits for health and well-being.
There are many different design themes of urban gardens that have been developed, such as therapeutic gardens specially designed for the elderly and patients, nature play gardens designed for children and youth, naturalized waterbodies in gardens with nature-based solutions for flood control, and the enhancement of the rich biodiversity, restoration of mangroves in urban gardens and parks in riverside and coastal areas to protect land use against the issue of rising sea levels.
Petra, also known as the "Rose City" in the country of Jordan is one of the world's most visited archaeological sites in terms of its historic architecture and unique infrastructural makeup.
The Colosseum in the Italian city of Rome is our planet's largest amphitheater and is also one of the finest examples of Roman engineering genius existing today.
The Notre Dame Cathedral in the French capital of Paris is the most famous tourist landmark in the entire country of France, even exceeding the popularity of the Eiffel Tower due to its staggering number of daily visitors.
The A+DPOST™ community magazine is open to proposals, ideas, suggestions, and submissions geared towards its content theme and production calendar. To be qualified, Hive authors who are willing to participate as Contributing Authors are required to fulfill the following:
Subscribed to the Architecture+Design Community
Maintained an excellent track record, performance, and reputation within the Hive Blockchain
Published consistently in the community (at least) for the last 3 months
Engaged/interacted actively with other community authors by upvoting, reblogging, commenting, replying, etc. on their publications
If you are one of those who completed the above essentials, please let us know by expressing your interest in the comments below. We look forward to your remarkable contributions! Thank you!
Hello good morning. Welcome the month of July; seventh month of the year which we have started very well because we reached Number 5 of our A+DPOST™ Magazine of the Architecture and Design Community, What a Success! Congratulations to the creator of this wonderful project and to all those who have contributed with their different posts since the beginning. This time we congratulate our colleagues: ERNE @storiesoferne; CARLA LERION @arkicarls ; BENJAMIN SANCHEZ MUJICA @besamu ; CHERRY NG @cherryng Let's keep going, creating quality content. Receive a strong and warm spiritual hug full of blessings, positive energy and lots of light.
Greetings dear friend Marcos @marcosmilano71. Always a great pleasure to read your heartwarming comments - highly appreciated indeed. Thank you for your continuous patronage of A+DPOST™, our community magazine, and for your relentless admiration and support for our beloved community in general. We look forward to your next awesome publication about architecture and design in our remarkable tribe. Best of health and more blessings! 🙏😊
Dear friend and colleague marcosmilano, thank you for your congratulations to all the contributors to number 5 of A+DPOST magazine, directed by our common friend Erne. Receive a fraternal greeting
Estimado amigo y colega marcosmilano, gracias por sus felicitaciones a todos los colaboradores del número 5 de la revista A+DPOST, dirigida por nuestro común amigo Erne. Reciba un fraternal saludo
Congratulations to Erne for such wonderful publish for current edition of the architecture magazine, A+DPOST, the cover photo of "Garden By The Bay" is so beautiful. And congrats to dear authors, @arkicarls, and @besamu for such great posts for Urban Parks.
I am very honored to have the opportunity to participate in as the author of this magazine A+DPOST during busy work schedule. Thank you my dear friend Erne for inviting me to participate, and thanks to @soulsdetour and @marcosmilano71 for your kind comments and encouragement.
Hello friend Cherryng, it has been a pleasure and an honor to write a post and share with you the publication of this issue of A+DPOST magazine, directed and created by our good friend Erne. Congratulations also to you and the rest of those who participated in this beautiful virtual publication.
Thank you dear friend Cherry @cherryng for the outstanding publication you've contributed to our community magazine. With your professional background as a Landscape Architect, the theme of "Urban Gardens" was definitely the perfect fit for this issue. And of course, you live in Singapore, the most beautiful "Garden City" in the world showcasing the health benefits of nature in a metropolis. Keep up the excellent content. And until next time, all the best! 😊
Greetings friends @aplusd, @storiesoferne, @soulsdetour and everyone who participated in this magnificent edition of the magazine. It's good that I'm enjoying it because you have touched on a topic that for me is of great value, the presence of green in cities not only gives beauty but is vital for life. The big cities would cease to be without the presence of people in them, then we must have urban and environmental designs thinking about the healthy life of its inhabitants. Thanks and congratulations to our friends who collaborated in this edition @arkicarls, @besamu and @cherryng. Blessings to all and let's bet on natural spaces 😊
Hello, friend @sorprendente. We're glad to know of your sincere interest in the current magazine theme of "Greening the Metropolis as you are a serious nature-lover as well. As always, we're also grateful for your valuable contributions but most especially, for your continuous support. Have lots of fun! Cheers! 😊
Sure friend @storiesoferne! Here we are for good fun 👍😊 A hug my friend.
Another awesome and creative publication by A+D community. Sorry was very late to comment (I was having work transitions now) but I personally look forward whenever new magazine edition will be released. Kudos to @storiesoferne for this great idea and theme about Urban Gardens, you're such an inspiration to aspiring architect/blogger like me who is just new to this platform. I can't even believe that I was one of the contributing authors. My gosh. Thank you so much for the trust and support @storiesoferne @aplusd and team.
Would like to commend also other contributing authors who also added value to the Magazine. You guys are awesome! @besamu @cherryng . Hope I could personally feel and experience the Urban Gardens in you area.
Keep it coming!👌
Always a great pleasure Carla @arkicarls. It was an honor to request you to be one of our community magazine's contributing authors. I trust that with your talents, skills, and above all, you being an Architect, your publication will be a breeze for you. Until our future issues, thank you for your constant support and valuable admiration. 😊
beautiful story. thank you for writing and sharing this beautiful thing @arkicarls @besamu @cherryng
Dear friend Erne, my congratulations for this new installment of A+DPOST. All the articles, in my opinion, show the beauty and need for urban parks and/or green areas beyond the spaces that nature gives us. My words of encouragement and fraternal greetings go out to those who contributed to this issue,apart from myself, especially to you who have made this project a reality. Congratulations to all.
Thank you, dear friend, Benjamin @besamu, for your constant appreciation and encouragement! That's right, green spaces aside from the beautiful ornamentations they provide to built environments, also render healthy benefits for their occupants and visitors. Nature will always be one of the greatest benefits of mankind for many generations to come. Have a safe, enjoyable, and productive week. Cheers! 👍 😊
Congratulations @arkicarls we are proud of you, congratulations also to the others.
Good afternoon friend intoy-bugoy, thank you very much for your congratulations to the group of friends who have collaborated with number 5 of A+DPOST magazine. Happy day for you.
Wow!Thanks to you @intoy.bugoy ☺️👌
This wouldn't be possible without ur support to team hiventure/mcc extension😂
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people( @aplusd ) sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
Thank you dear @soulsdetour for the excellent compliments! The greening of cities is certainly one of the world's most critically crucial issues nowadays as it targets the lifeline, long-term survival, and sustainability of our planet. 😀
On a similar note, we are also not surprised when you mentioned that one of your country's most polluted and industrialized urban centers have advocated the green revolution. Trees, for instance, will absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide and will release oxygen in exchange - absolutely vital for the continuously habitable conditions required for human populations. They definitely made the best move to control the ultimate deterioration of their metropolis. 👍
Hope all cities around the globe will embrace more of Mother Nature's undeniable benefits. 😎
Indeed dear @soulsdetour. Ancient civilizations and their builders I believe have deliberately incorporated gardens and other green spaces into their majestic estates not only for aesthetic and prestigious purposes but also for general health standards. As primitive as their construction technologies might be, they already understood our innate connection to Mother Nature as human beings, plus the numerous advantages they enjoyed by patronizing her. 👍
On the flip side, if they were not yet aware of the positive results gardens offer to humanity and to the environment, they probably must have discovered it by accident - through the obvious manifestations of people's well-being who have cultivated these wondrous landscapes of nature. 😊
Hello Soulsdetour, I appreciate your words of encouragement to all of us who have participated in this magazine directed and created by our great friend storiesoferne. Regarding the Bararida Park, I can only tell you that I lived very close to the space where the first trees were planted that today make up the Bararida Park. In fact, the neighborhood where I lived had the same name and the children used to play on those lands. As the story tells us, originally it had been decided to use 110 hectares of the zoma to build a vegetable lung for the city that was already beginning to grow; however, the dictatorial government of the 1950s allowed the use of less than 20 hectares. Let's just imagine if this park had the original dimensions, if with only those 20 hectares so much vital space has been built for our city, not only of vegetation, but a zoo that is well recognized for dedicating itself to the protection and reproduction of endangered species of extinction and for helping to raise awareness of the need to protect our mother nature. Receive a fraternal greeting.
Hi @soulsdetour ☺️
I totally agree with you! This country totally proved me wrong about desert cities. Of course with help of new technologies and innovations everything seemed to be possible. For sure it would take a lot of cost and risk but the long term effect is much more valuable🧡