Germany
Evaluation
The construction of the landscape park in Riem
initially attracted much negative criticism from
Munich’s citizens. ‘A straight path cannot be an eco-
logical area’ was common opinion. Many citizens
were shocked at the park’s strong linearity and large
dimensions, since the term ‘landscape park’ had
evoked visions similar to Munich’s ‘English Garden’,
the Olympic park or the Westpark. Vexlard was also
widely criticized for having dissolved the oval plan of
the former airport, the remains of which can today
only be experienced around the protected observa-
tion platform. A large old hornbeam hedge also had
to be removed. His vision foresaw a park without
borders: ’the power of the Munich landscape is the
distance’.^16 The closed form and finished character
of the oval, a typical design form from the 1930s,
did not fit with his ideas of freedom and openness
in the landscape. The landscape park Riem is meant
to develop further south and is not yet finished. In
the meantime, the design is now better understood
by the citizens. The blooming of the extensive
grassy meadows in the spring has already con-
vinced many doubters.
A more serious criticism concerns the very dense
planting areas, some of which contain only one
species. Experts fear that these areas will com-
pletely collapse within a few years. As a result of
the close proximity, thinning out of single trees
may not be possible without causing great damage
to the rest. The issue of sustainability, otherwise
so consistently addressed, does not seem to have
been considered here. But despite this criticism,
this planting scheme allows the spatial effects of
the green elements to be experienced immediately
in this very young park.
Generally speaking, the park impresses through its
formality and its consistent design throughout. The
sharp clarity of the concept has produced a large,
ecologically-functioning landscape directly next to a
major city. The park’s ’genius loci’ can be clearly felt.
Its green structures are based on the boundaries of
the historic cultural landscape in east Munich and
the prevailing wind directions through the site. The
precise 2km long lines remind users of the former
airport’s runways. Yet despite these connotations
of the past, the landscape park Riem is also a park
for the future. Its independent character can exist
without quotations, symbols and images.
The innovative character of the park arises not
only through spatial definition, forms and usage,
nor through alienated elements, eye-catching fur-
nishings or trendy materials and details. For Gilles
Vexlard, the landscape park is a very special project.
For him it comprises the ’sum of many voices in the
landscape’ and the result of 30 years of work as a
landscape architect.^17
