Greenspace as a Garden

Green Space
 

Greenspace just north of Copenhagen. Courtesy of Bing Maps.

I think it is fascinating how political thought and culture influences the amount of green space in a certain area. For the sake of this post I will say that green space is anything from personal gardens to parks, nature preserves, forests and so on. I think that Copenhagen is especially good at preserving these spaces for people to enjoy and how it really reflects the nature of the government. Check out the map below to see how much visible green space there is that is open to the public at no cost! The further you zoom in on the map the more green space you can see. I tried to give the best scale to show you how many big parks there are but it’s important to note that there are little pockets of green tucked away all over Denmark.                              


 

“A Beech Wood in May near Iselingen Manor, Zealand” P.C. Skovgaard 1857. Courtesy of Google Art Project (which is so cool by the way!)

The 1857 painting titled “A Beech Wood in May near Iselingen Manor, Zealand” by Danish painter P.C. Skovgaard explores the idea of democratic nature and national identity. This Danish landscape shows an idealized beech tree forest which is the national tree of Denmark. This painting shows the importance of people being able to enjoy the benefits of nature regardless of class. The people in the forest is important because it shows people enjoying the Danish landscape which was, by this point much smaller than it once was.

 

The reason I am writing about parks and landscapes in a blog about gardens is because they serve very similar purposes. They are both planned out and serve can serve the function of a place to retreat. They are both considered forms of art. Parks and greenspaces in Denmark though are different from a garden like Versailles because Versailles was used as a display of power, whereas Danish greenspace is a display of commonwealth and democracy. Both of these places are a reflection of political systems. Check out the high level of order and the ridiculous expenses in maintaining Versailles. Compare it to the lake and path near my house Dyssegård (a suburb of Copenhagen).

 I took the picture of the lake and the image of Versailles is from http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/ARTH110/ARTH110_SL17.html




If you want to read more Greenspace in Denmark check out http://www.visitdenmark.com/east-jutland/nature/denmarks-national-parks-0 or look at a map and bike to the nearest green blob near you!

Check out http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/collection/statens-museum-for-kunst?projectId=art-project for more Danish Landscapes with little snippits about Danish National Identity!