The Impact of Chinese Culture on European Landscape Design

The English garden design style and the landscape garden movement became the most emblematic cultural achievement of England in the 18th-19th century. The natural garden style proved to be the symbol of the liberal philosophy and the enlightened way of thinking. But the English landscape garden, which can be seen as an idealized view of nature, is inspired by the classical landscape paintings and is also influenced by the classic Chinese gardens, which had recently been described by European travellers. The interest for Chinese culture, architecture and garden design spread around the British island and inspired the talented garden designers. The gardens of Chambers created a new section in the picturesque landscape gardens, the so called anglo-chinoiseric gardens where eastern, mainly Chinese architectural motives and garden elements have been used in most cases without integrating the Chinese nature philosophy. This first, more or less formal effects of Chinese garden design on European landscape architecture were overwritten by garden designers and horticulturalist during the gardenesque period of the early 19th century when great variety in plant design was taken into the focus of landscape architecture

Tér és idő a kertépítészeti örökségvédelemben

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Green Network in Urban Pressure

Budapest is a lucky city from an urban ecological point. Thanks to the Danube cutting through the middle of the city the ventilation of downtown is adequate. The existence of this natural waterflow offers a good possibility to create a green-blue infrastructure, which can be realized in the near future by turning the Pest side embankment partially into recreational open spaces. In spite of the favourable location the air quality of Budapest is often below the critical level, first of all in the city center. Though this unfavourable situation has numerous components- first of all the difficult traffic related problems and the national and international through-traffic in the downtown – in terms of landscape architecture the biggest problem is the isolated green surface system and the lack of linear connecting elements. Due to its morphology, the Buda mountain-chain and the tectonical valleys differing in size and running towards the city center, the Buda side is in a much better position. There are the three major green wedges protruding into the city fabric till the line of the Danube, among which Devil’s Ditch (Ördögárok Creek) is the most intact one and due to its central location and length, probably the most important as well. As north-western wind is prevailing in and around Budapest, this wedge plays an essential role in ventilating the air of the city and contributes to the acceptable air quality of Budapest. This paper aims to introduce the history of the green wedge and corridor along the Devil’s Ditch. The areas next to the creek and at the bottom of the hills - as military protection zone of the Castle- remained unbuilt till the end of 18th century except for the Gellért Hill foot hill and the Tabán area. In the next two centuries some development sites were cut out here and there from the characteristic green wedge. The importance of this ventilating green corridor, although not continuous any more, was realized by the urbanism of the 20th century

‘Brown’ is the New ‘Green’: Post-industrial Sites as Potential in the Development of the Green Infrastructure on the Riverfront of Budapest, Hungary

In Budapest, Hungary and all-around Europe in the capital cities, the sight of degraded, industrial landscapes in urban areas became usual during the last decades, due to the unexpected growth of cities. In the last 30 years, many sites have gained new functions and have been reused for different purposes, but still, huge areas remained unused and presumably polluted. According to my hypothesis the unutilized areas – especially in the riverside area - could potentially become the part of a new green infrastructure element, which could make the green infrastructure system of Budapest more complete, usable and ecologically valuable. For this paper we will analyze the existing research data, maps, concepts and plans for the Budapest riverside area from the past years, and among these especially the actual and planning state of the postindustrial brownfield areas. The research goal is to find out if these documents and plans adequately support the indicated goals and professional proposals of the concepts. Thereafter, the paper presents international examples and best practices, which may shape the green infrastructure development in Budapest in the future. In the second part, we will analyze and compare a post-industrial renewal residential area which is important for green infrastructure development, and the regulatory plan and design competition of an unused brownfield of Budapest, both in the riverside area and with lots of similarities, with the aim of developing a typology of different approaches, goals, and design means that have been applied, and distilling a set of guidelines for the design of future projects. This means not only comparing potentials and limitations of the site and of the future program but also investigating the different long-term strategies, for instance, a choice for a master plan. One of the conclusions from the analysis of the Hungarian capital and the international examples is that an integrated approach of the development documents and regulatory plans is needed to ensure the longterm development of the green-infrastructure of Budapest. From the second part, the case studies show the realization of the plans, and help to conclude the successful and failed acts on the riverside for the future real estate developments, and exact actions which would be able to promote the development of the riverside in the hope that future real estate development will deliver the new green infrastructure element of Budapest to adapt the city for the 21th century

The long term preservation of an 18th century gene bank heritage

The allée is one of the oldest instruments and forms of landscape architecture, which has often been used from the Antiquity for the expression of visual and functional relationships, for the delimitation of space, or for the pictorial creation of movement. The several hundred years old allées of the late baroque age, which still live among us as the witnesses of bygone times, represent a special value throughout Europe. The longevity and the respectable size as such bestow a certain value upon the trees. However, the allées also stand for a garden art, landscape, culture historical and natural value, which in a summarized way are called cultural heritage. Furthermore, the gene pool of the proven longevous, high tolerance tree specimens is a natural and genetic heritage of scientific signification. The age of the trees and allées is finite. Even with a careful and professional care, the renewal is inevitable, which, beyond technical problems of landscape architecture might raise many scientific, nature conservation, yes, esthetical and ethical questions. This is why there is no universal methodology, but there are aspects and examination procedures of general validity with the help of which a renewal can be prepared. The renewal concept of the lime tree allée in Nagycenk aims at the protection and the transmission of the value-ensemble embodied in the allée. One part of the value-ensemble is the spiritual, cultural heritage, the extraordinary value of the landscape-scaled, landscape architectural creation planted and taken care of by the Széchenyis. On the other hand the two and a half centuries old trees represent an inestimable botanical and genetic wealth. Its transmission and preservation is a scientifically important program coming up to the Széchenyi heritage. After the registration of the originally planted old trees, the complete nursery material of the “Széchenyi limes” necessary for the replanting can be produced by vegetative propagation. The gradual replacement of the stand with its own propagation material, by the carefully raised nursery trees of the same age can be a model for the gene-authentic renewal method – a novelty even at an international level

Mikrobialitok jellegzetességei: a biofilmek szerepe a karbonátkiválásban = Characteristic features of microbialites: role of biofilms in the carbonate precipitation

A mikrobialit az üledékes kőzeteknek egy olyan típusa, ahol a mikrobák alkotta biofilm szerves anyagának jelenléte meghatározó a kőzetképződési folyamatokban. A jelen tanulmány a biofilmek elmeszesedésével létrejött mészkőfajták kutatástörténetét, szedimentológiai és petrográfiai sajátosságait, továbbá a karbonátkiválási folyamatokra vonatkozó kutatásokat tekinti át, emellett bemutat egy negyedidőszaki és néhány hazai esettanulmányt. A mészvázzal nem rendelkező mikrobák élettevékenysége közvetlen környezetükre jelentős befolyással van, ami ásványkicsapódási folyamatokat indíthat el. A kristálykiválás tehát biológiai folyamatok által kiváltott vagy befolyásolt, szemben a mészvázú élőlények csoportjára jellemző kiválasztásra, ami az élőlények metabolizmusa által szabályozott biomineralizáció, azaz biológiai folyamatok által kontrollált. A biofilmekben a karbonátkiválás az alkalinitás növekedéséhez és a Ca2+ ionok felszabadulásához, azaz összességében a karbonátásványokra a pórusvíz telítettségének növekedéséhez vagy a pH növekedéséhez kapcsolható. A megfigyelések szerint az ásványkiválás több lépésben történik, azaz lokális alkalinitás növekedés következik be a sejten kívüli polimer mátrixban, majd az amorf CaCO3 gél képződését követően nanoszférák jelennek meg, amiken kristálycsírák képződnek. A diagenezis tartományában képződött karbonátásványoknak sajátos petrográfiai megjelenése van. A csomós mikrit szövet, valamint a kalcimikrobák és a fenesztrális pórusok azok a mikroszkópban megfigyelhető definitív bélyegek, amelyek alapján a mikrobialitok felismerhetők. A szabad szemmel megfigyelhető szerkezeti jellegek alapján elkülöníthető a lemezes sztromatolit, a foltos trombolit, a bokorszerűen elágazó dendrolit és a szerkezet nélküli leiolit. Zátonytestek elzárt üregeiben is képződhetnek biofilm eredetű kérgek, amiket szintén a mikrobialitokhoz lehet sorolni. A kőzettestek alakja és fácieskapcsolatai alapján a mikrobialitok alkothatnak mikrobazátonyokat vagy rétegkötegekből álló sztratiform lepleket

A Method for Analyzing Open Space Improvements in Urban Environments: A Budapest Case Study

The structure of space and use of urban open spaces in Budapest’s city centre have been significantly transformed during the last decade. In the years of the millenary, vehicles dominated the historical streets and squares, but today it is possible and even desirable to walk along the central section of downtown. The area is liveable for the city users again. The inner parts of the capital have been renewed as part of the ‘Heart of Budapest Programme’, which aimed to strengthen the administrative, commercial and cultural role of the city centre. The Programme focused on the reduction of the transit traffic, while established the pedestrian-friend urban centre within the border of the Small Boulevard (Kiskörút), the József Attilla street and the Danube Boulevard (Duna korzó). (Podmaniczky Programme, 2005). The Heart of Budapest Programme consists of three interrelated projects7, one of which is the New Main Street in Budapest City Centre. The article highlights the impacts of public place renewal projects on the open space use, and simultaneously analyses the relations and correspondence between the green areas and the open space use in the densely populated historic urban centre. Our research focuses on the section of the Main street between the Kálvin Square and József Attila street (Erzsébet Square), with particular regard to the analysis of the Kálvin Square, Egyetem Square, Erzsébet Square and Károlyi Mihály utca. (Figure 1.