Austrian Architects Design Park for Social Distancing
As people around the world look for ways to enjoy the outdoors while keeping a safe distance from each other, Austria-based Studio Precht may have come up with a solution — Parc de la Distance.
Based on the rules of social distancing, architects from Studio Precht have designed a park in the shape of a human fingerprint.
The park consists of a number of parallel lanes or paths — separated by 90-centimetre-wide hedges — that guide visitors towards the center, and then back to the entrance.
Each lane, which takes around 20 minutes to walk, is about 600 meters long, and can be used by one person or family at a time. A gate at each entrance lets visitors know whether a path is occupied or not.
Although the park was designed in response to the ongoing pandemic, architects believe that the concept might be of use to city dwellers when life returns to normal as well.
“For now, the park is designed to create a safe physical distance between its visitors,” said Chris Precht, co-founder of Studio Precht. "After the pandemic, the park [could be] used to escape the noise … of the city."
Inspired by Japanese zen-gardens, Parc de la Distance has been proposed for the Austrian capital, Vienna, but the ideas used in its design could benefit many other cities around the world.
"I think this pandemic has taught us that we need more places to get away," Precht said.
