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Conference paper2007Peer reviewed

Landscape and the senses : the scenography of the walk at Ronneby Spa

Jakobsson, Anna

Abstract

The main objective is to gain further knowledge of how information about the sensory experience can be interpreted in a historical material and furthermore how the sensory experience is governed by the design of the landscape. One purpose of the study is to reinforce that all senses are important in the design of parks in general and of spa parks in particular. The paper raises the question about the importance of dealing with all parts of the scenography in the landscape, such as the sound, the silence, the different scents, the light, the views and perhaps also the taste, when working with the history of landscape design, conservation plans and reconstructions. The spa park in the end of the 19th century was a very specific designed landscape where walking was obligatory and part of a treatment programme. The treatment at a spa included drinking of water as well as walking, listening to music and taking part in moderate exercise in the landscape. All our senses were included in the design of the spa park and this was thought to enhance the cure. The design of the scenography of the walk, by visual, auditive, emotional, tactile, scent and taste impressions along a path or a walk in a moderate pace was believed to affect the spa guest’s well-being. With the example of Ronneby Spa in Blekinge, this paper explores what sensory park- and garden experiences were included at a spa in the late 19th century, how the sensory impressions could be governed during a walk and how the movement itself contributes to space creation and the design of the scenography of the spa. The body in movement, such as taking a walk or sauntering, is deeply connected to the creation of space. When all our senses are in movement, when the body is walking and meets the landscape, the landscape becomes a scene with spatial qualities, to which you are no longer a spectator but a part of. The walk is essential to experience a landscape and therefore a study of the scenography in a Spa park, with the involved sensory experiences, on one hand and the scenography of the walk at the Spa on theother, it is possible to study how the sensory experience and the scenography interacts in the landscape while walking

Published in


Publisher: SLU

Conference

Landscape and Landscape Architecture