Contemporary and Historic Urban Parks

The city of Copenhagen is known for its very old historic sites as well as for its prevalent use of very modern contemporary design. Both of these styles are seen in the public urban parks, specifically in the historic Frederiksberg Park and in the extremely modern park known as Superkilen.

The parks both have similar functions in the sense that they both serve to provide users with a space for recreation in the middle of a busy city center, and in both people can be seen either in small groups sitting and relaxing, walking their dogs, riding bicycles, or playing sports (though the types of sports are quite different). For the most part, however, these parks are very different in atmosphere, aesthetics, use of plants/greenery, and the demographics of people who use them. At Superkilen, the atmosphere was quite urban, as busy streets and bike paths crossed directly through the park, and the small trees planted around the park did not block any views of traffic or buildings. Frederiksberg Park felt more like an escape into the countryside, with areas of woods, open fields and waterways.

The most obvious difference was in aesthetics, as the contemporary park seemed to use inspiration from modern art to create an interactive space of geometric shapes, bright colors, minimalistic use of organic shapes and material, distinct and intentional thick lines, as well as some modern sculpture. In contrast, Frederiksberg Park was full of organic material and shapes, as pathways followed the gentle curves of lakes and small channels, and many varieties of plants animals and wildlife could be observed.

In Frederiksberg Park, there were mostly couples without children, elderly people, and single people with dogs, and only a few groups of younger people, some of whom were in the field playing a game of Frisbee. In Superkilen, there were many adolescents playing basketball, a great deal of children and their parents (probably due to the presence of play facilities, which the historic park lacked), and some young adults sitting around on benches and at tables, talking and relaxing

Frederiksberg Park:

 Superkilen:

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