Kvillepiren purifying park : exploring phytotechnology in site-specific landscape design

Abstract: In this master’s thesis I examine how phytotechnology can be used in a site-specifi c design at Kvillepiren. The pier was built in the river Göta Älv, to be one of Gothenburg’s ports. Today, the harbours have moved and the area where the Kvillepiren is part of a major urban development project. Like other older port areas, there are challenges in developing Kvillepiren. There is an on-going debate about sustainable landscape architecture where aesthetics is highlighted as an important, often neglected aspect to work with to create experiences that lead to understanding and concern for the environment. In this project the site-specifi c environmental problem of contaminated soil is dealt with by using phytotechnology, an ecotechnology where plants are used to cleanse the soil at Kvillepiren. Working with theories of aesthetics and site-specifics serves as a contrast to phytotechnology in order to develop the Kvillepiren into a park with experience values. The work uses theory and methods from authors Andrea Kahn, Carol Burns on site specifi city. Theories of aesthetics and sustainability are mainly addressed by Elizabeth Meyer’s texts. Basic facts are presented in this thesis on phytotechnology, as well as time aspects and educational aspects of the technique with facts mainly from Kate Kennen and Niel Kirkwood. During the project, several field visits were made to well-known projects in Europe that are using phytotechnology in an urban context. These visits have provided inspiration, knowledge and design tools to use for the design at Kvillepiren. In the case study section, the design proposal builds up to be a result of the methods I use to understand and read Kvillepiren as well as from tools found during field visits. The method and the theory part provide ways to anticipate and read Kvillepiren and its context. The technical nature of phytotechnology has challenged me to focus on site-specific values and aesthetics as important aspects of a versatile design. To capture aspects such as atmosphere, relationships and dynamics in the river landscape, the traveling transect method has been reversed, developed by Lisa Diedrich and Ginni Lee. I walked a line, documented and after the travel, worked with the gained material to crystallize site-specifics of Frihamnen. The site-specifi cs were used for design editing of the Kvillepiren and processed using tools found in field trips. The project is based on theories of site-specifi city, aesthetics in relation to sustainability and the technical solution phytotechnology, which uses plants and biological systems to clean land. The design editing in this project has generated a park with phytotechnology that also contains educational aspects and creates awareness for local environment as well as for sustainability on a more global level. In the concluding part, I reflect and discuss the methods used, the results, the possible future development and the application of the proposal. The design proposal, Purifying park of Kvillepiren is a result of a personal design process using known methods and theories. The proposal should be read as a comment in the debate on the development of Gothenburg’s port areas but the opportunity to be developed, realized and then reformed and developed again.