Tbilisi Dendrological Park

Project developed in collaboration with Unknown Studio

Ruderal's master plan for the Tbilisi Dendrological Park reengineers this historic Soviet-era park for a growing city. The park unites nature and culture via new park programs, state-of-the-art sustainable landscape technologies, and a forest management plan focused on biodiversity and climate adaptation. The park encourages immersion into the natural landscapes, whether you are catching butterflies, observing migratory birds, or exploring the park with friends and family.

The new park is organized around the Park Core, by the new Tbilisi Zoo. The Core has transportation links, a visitor’s center, new theme gardens of Caucasian endemic species, and a rehabilitated lake and island. Visitors can explore the large park on new trails for different users, including cyclists, the disabled, hikers, and runners. The new trails safely provide connections between the north park and the Tbilisi Sea.

The plan includes space for new educational and recreational programs, such as nature camps, bicycling skills, and arts festivals. These new programs will address issues of inequality in access to natural and outdoor activity and will include programming for women, children, and the socially vulnerable.

New construction within the park minimizes impermeable concrete and asphalt and provides groundwater recharge. Key site drainages are reengineered with check dams and relaxed slopes to capture rainwater and create ng new habitat links to the Tbilisi Sea. The key management concept is “adaptive ecological design”, using landscape laboratories to evaluate and monitor the success of different approaches to re-forestation.

Link to the article about Master Plan for Rehabilitating Tbilisi’s Dendrological Park