Landscapes as Funscapes: Studio Dror’s Parkorman Forest, Istanbul

A visit to a forest would usually entail trekking or driving through it with a few stops inside for bird/ animal/ plant spotting/ observing – an almost tame, clinical venture, in all aspects, that would be occasionally undertaken. One could get a ropeway ride through the tree-tops at places or some extreme sports outfits at chosen locations. But, what if we could traipse among the tree-tops, bounce on trampolines mid-air, swing from the branches and lounge in hammocks in the thicket?! Whoa! That’s a whole new level that we would love experiencing every day!

Studio Dror’s landscape design for the Parkorman Forest in the north of Istanbul exploits the human attraction to relaxing and refreshing fun to involve citizens in the appreciation and preservation of their natural endowments. Many attractive methods by which the forest can be enjoyed are offered by the design, and what’s more? The interventions are as non-intrusive as they are exciting.

Dror have essentially divided the forest in five zones dedicated to different types of invocations of nature planned and facilitated in each. Visitors can gather at the Plaza, indulge in activities at the Loop, play at the Pool, take reflective walks along the Chords or explore the Grove.  At the Loop, swings suspended from tall and hammocks hung from low branches offer visitors a relaxing lounge in nature’s lap. Whereas, the pool is dotted with colourful ball pits to play in among the greens.

The Chords step up the excitement through the ribbon of a suspended pathway looping and winding its way amidst the tree-tops interspersed with huge trampolines that one can jump on in the forest sky. A maze of variant trails has been sculpted out within the Grove for reflective walks in the woods full of quaint surprises. The best surprise is the ‘Fountain of Clarity’ which one may walk into. A rectangular suspended frame pours down walls of water that create a water enclosed room which can be entered as the water walls part in response to provided sensors that sense visitors’ approach.

As visitors chart a path of their own choice from the available wide variety, walking, running, cycling, swinging, lounging or meandering and bouncing through tree tops, they chance upon huge installations tucked away in the thicket to wow them around the corner.

With so many experiences on offer a visit or two to Parkorman would never suffice, the forest would surely draw locals and tourists to come to it again and again. As the designers played around the idea of “love story between people and nature” they created this variety of refreshing and innovative interactions between the two that is sure to hit the target. “We set out to create a park that dissolves the anxiety and fear that often accompanies an unfamiliar environment through a network of conditions that fosters unconditional love.” In creating exemplary experiences through the ‘lightest touch’, they have preserved the pristine glory of the woods, leaving every tree untouched. Parkorman by Dror is the experience that proves that landscapes work when they are funscapes.