Entréträdgårdar : rumslighet, gestaltningselement, uttryck och sociala aspekter

Abstract: The BA thesis Front Yard Gardens – spatiality, design elements, expression and social aspects is a summary of the entrance and front yard garden phenomenon – where the entrance is the set design and the designer is the director. The thesis touches the social context of which entrances have been and still are shaped. The various appearance of the entrance and front yard gardens throughout the history, starting with the first entrance by the edge of the wood and coming up to the front yard gardens of today, is described. It touches the present day through an analysis of some entrances and front yard gardens of modern residential areas. The starting point of the analysis is the various spatial and structural components creating space and composition in the front yard gardens, which is described and illustrated in the thesis as well. It is obvious to see that the modern entrance has become more open to the urban surrounding – starting with enclosed gardens in medieval period having locked gates, to the completely open entrance of today having exposing glass walls and windows – and that the visual border between the private and the public more and more frequently is being erased – while the physical border indicating property still is important. The interaction between the private and the public becomes more and more important, and our front yard gardens somehow symbolize the modern exposed integrity in a more individualistic society – where we clearly display to other and remind ourselves of who we are.