From fascinating bridges, parks, gardens, ponds, and technical infrastructure, to designs of houses, hotels, museums, and offices that beautifully intertwine architecture with landscape design, STIR covered an array of contemporary projects this year where the resilience of nature elevated spatial experiences. We also discovered experimental practices and projects such as Ulf Mejergren’s Primitive Hut series where small-scale shelters were crafted using materials like grass and mushrooms. The design narratives, though boasting of landmark iconography, spectacular forms, multipurpose spatiality, eclectic materials, and elaborate soft scaping, presented a key focus on sensitivity for contexts and site histories, a need for circularity, and the pursuit of bringing people together. Here is a pick of seven projects that do just that, and more.

1. White Arkitekter’s stormwater pond Exercisfältet
A technical facility with a social heart

In the southern Swedish city of Uppsala, stormwater pond Exercisfältet designed by Scandinavian firm White Arkitekter hopes "to protect nature from the city’s polluted water and to protect the city from flooding as a result of reduced infiltration and climate change." A meandering bridge elevated above the pond situates a continuous south-facing seating for the public, whereas the curving stretch pulls those who cherish a serene walk along the water. The vegetation within and around the pond has been adapted to suit the natural features of the site. A robust flood protection system comes together in the form of a concrete wall barrier that follows the lines of the block division and further features a sharp edge of the pond closer to the city. The location of the pond on a low-lying terrain ensures it renders a discreet presence without disturbing the landscape, and its cultural and historical values. 

2. Cobe’s Opera Park in Copenhagen
A green escape in the middle of the city

The recently completed Opera Park by Danish architecture studio Cobe softens the glassy sharpness that permeates much of Copenhagen’s harbour front. A piece of land equivalent to the size of three soccer fields, the park consists of six gardens, a greenhouse, a café, an underground parking, and a landscaped bridge connecting the park to the adjacent Royal Danish Opera. The gardens—North American Forest, the Danish Oak Forest, the Nordic Forest, the Oriental Garden, the English Garden, and the Subtropical Garden, nestled within a greenhouse and atrium at its centre—feature a variety of local and exotic plant species from around the world. Over 600 trees, 80,000 herbaceous perennials and bushes, and 40,000 bulb plants sourced from different locations dot the site. The curation of plants allows the park to thrive all year round (serving as a counterpoint to the city’s parks that turn desolate in winter) and paint poetic palettes as seasons rise and wane.

3. ESJA Architecture and Arkibygg Arkitektar's Ring of Bjolfur 
Legacy meets landscape

The Ring of Bjolfur, a ring- shape lookout cradled in the embrace of Mount Bjolfur, is more than an architectural endeavour; it is envisioned as a living homage to Seydisfjordur's storied past and the enduring strength of its people. As the edifice seeks to find its place within the picturesque embrace of the Seydisfjordur in East Iceland, it becomes an integral part of a landscape that defies description. The fjords unfold a visual masterpiece, where nature sculpts towering peaks and meandering valleys, inviting a sense of tranquillity. The ring, with a diameter of 32 meters, offers a 360-degree experience with a walkway and bench spanning its entire 100-metre circumference. The slightly sloping structure, wheelchair accessible, invites visitors to explore the captivating views of the town, mountains, valley and the summit of Mount Bjolfur.

4. Studio Egret West’s Mayfield Garden in Manchester
Rewilding the industrial city 

Octagonal, hunkering chimney-like structures peek through the foliage at Mayfield Park in Manchester, inspired by the industrial heritage of the city. Open green lawns, meadows and play areas bring the park alive—with the buzz of activities mingled with birdsong—tied together by the restored river Medlock meandering through the site. The 6.5-acre green oasis (which is the first green space in Manchester in 100 years) was part of a larger development scheme which also includes planning of approximately 1,500 homes, one million square metres of office spaces, a 350-bedroom hotel, and retail and leisure facilities in the area. Victorian hog back beams were converted into bridges, all materials used in the landscaping were locally sourced, and any new elements such as the children’s play area were designed to reflect the industrial heritage permeating the terrain. The park feels like a factory overrun by natural elements as Mayfield’s design honours the site’s heritage while also critiquing the dichotomy of nature and industry through sensitive interventions.

5. MIA Design Studio’s Wyndham Clubhouse in Phú Quốc, Vietnam
A biophilic paradise

Located in a coastal resort on the island of Phú Quốc, the Wyndham Clubhouse was commissioned as part of an enormous hotel complex of private villas draped with plants, already steeped in the precedents of biophilic architecture. Thick blankets of vegetation drop down from the sides of a quasi-courtyard enclosing a pool, forming green curtains that liven up the space. The use of biophilic design in tandem with a water feature is also crucial in cooling the full-height volume, facilitating convection through stack ventilation, enhanced by the presence of these two elements. The building's top floor is replete with biophilic flourishes, carpeting the roof in an explosion of green. 

6. K Studio’s Liknon on Samos Island, Greece
Serendipitous encounters with submerged masses

Owing to a variety of wine regions, each with its own terroir and grape varieties, Greece celebrates this centuries old tradition of vine cultivation. In the Aegean Islands of Samos, the museum project Liknon showcases the origins of the Metaxa brand and its endemic sweet muscat grape variety. The project, designed by Athens-based K-Studio, ennobles the 100-year old vineyard it is located in. The landscape architecture evolves from the vine's habitat and is designed to be experienced as a walkthrough with serendipitous encounters with submerged masses, which emerge as if from the topography, and project the history of the Greek amber spirit. Embanked with dry-stone walls, the terraces evoke the dry-stone terraces where the vines grow and ascend and descend in keeping with the terrain it seemingly grows out of. The “architecture” itself, which constitutes a terroir room, a cellar, and a clubhouse, is designed as subterranean spaces, and appears as if it is carved into the terrain.

7. Ulf Mejergren’s ‘Primitive Hut Series’
The lightness of architecture

Primitive Huts by Swedish architect Ulf Mejergren consists of small-scale shelters across Sweden, built using locally available material and exceedingly simple construction techniques, beginning with the Snowball Hut, completed in 2021. With over 15 such structures completed so far, using materials that range from baked goods to balloons, grass, mushrooms, and even ice, the venture probes into how simple solutions expressed through low-tech building practices can yield results radiating an otherworldly beauty.

What's NEXT?

How is beauty connected to the built environment? Is it pure visual stimulation or something whose definition expands to encompass a larger and more meaningful experience? More than prettiness or aesthetic dusting, landscape architecture is as integral for people’s wellbeing as the edifices they spent their waking moments in. Despite its impact, it continues to find its positioning among niche disciplines. Where is the discipline headed next? What changes and explorations are on the horizon? Who are the creatives to look out for? Tell us in the comments!

STIRred 2023 wraps up the year with compilations of the best in architecture, art, and design from STIR. Did your favourites make the list? Tell us in the comments!