The Keukenhof Garden
The garden that I have taken an interest in is Keukenhof in Lisse, Netherlands. According to https://keukenhof.nl/en/about-keukenhof/ Countess Jacoba van Beieren [Jacqueline of Bavaria] (1401-1436) used 'Keukenduyn' [kitchen dunes] as hunting ground for the kitchen of Teylingen Castle. Keukenhof Castle was built in 1641 and the estate grew to encompass an area of over 200 hectares. In 1949 a group of 20 leading flower bulb growers and exporters came up with the plan to use the estate to exhibit spring-flowering bulbs, signaling the birth of Keukenhof as a spring park. The park opened its gates to the public in 1950 and was an instant success, with 236,000 visitors in the first year alone. 2024 will be the 75th edition of Keukenhof. During the past 74 years Keukenhof developed into a world-famous attraction. From late March to late May, visitors flock to view the colorful flower displays.
Cited from https://www.geograf.mk/en/interesting-items/400-story-of-keukenhof-the-decor-of-netherlands, Keukenhof or also known as the "Flower Garden of Europe" and is one of the most famous and second largest flower park in the world. Located near the town of Lisse (Lisse) - South Holland. The mayor of Lisse was involved with 20 growers of flowers in the gardens original founding. Today's shape and appearance of the park dates back to the distant 1857 and was created by the famous architect Jan David Zocher. In the park there is a fantastic collection of: tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, orchids, roses, carnations, irises, lilies and many other flowers. The park consists of many gardens and four pavilions where the whole history and tradition of Tulip cultivation in the Netherlands.
The site https://www.netherlands-tourism.com/keukenhof-the-garden-of-europe/ explained similar things as the other two links. Some new information included, that 7 million flower bulbs are plnated in the garden each year. Ingredients from the garden were used in the kitchen of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut’s castle. It is for this reason that the garden earned the name Keukenhof. The English garden features charming winding paths, while the Historical Garden is enclosed and features a variety of different bulbs. Many areas of the park also include water gardens, fountains and ponds. The 4 pavillions are The Juliana Pavilion, The Wilhelmina Pavilion, The Small Pancake Pavilion, The Tea Pavilion
https://goliveitblog.com/river-cruise/history-behind-keukenhof-gardens/ gave more history for the garden. Keukenhof translates to ‘kitchen courtyard’ or ‘kitchen garden.’ After Jacoba, the estate went through several different ownerships until the 19th century when Baron and Baroness Van Pallandt acquired the land. The Van Pallandts had a vision of a garden with better structure so brought in Architechts Zocher, a father and son duo (who had also designed the Vondelpark in Amsterdam).
Additionally, https://tulipfestivalamsterdam.com/keukenhof/ sited one more great aspect of the garden: it is the largest statue garden of the Netherlands, You can admire many statues made by national and international artist.
Pictures of the garden include great astetic aspects such as swans swimming in the rivers, a large windmill, and river boats and crusises (Avalon Waterways).
The Collage + Visual Research
This collage features images of the most popular aspects of the garden, as well as images of the colorful flowers, the natural wildlife, the beautiful structures, and the Castle located in the garden. As the collage shows, the windmill is a huge part of the garden as are tulips.
Notes of some of the significant objects, feelings, concepts, inspiration, and descriptive terminology:
Tulips
Daffodils
Crocuses
Hyacinths
Orchids
Roses
Carnations
Irises
Lilies
"Flower Garden of Europe”
7 million bulbs
Water fountains and waterfalls
Statues
Swans and ducks
Windmill
Symmetrical/uniform
Organized
Colorful
Charming
Spring
Peaceful
The visual research and collage affected the development of my project by simply inspiring me. Before the visual research all I knew was what the articles had told me. I knew no colors, no shapes, no architecture. So after my visual research was complete, I was able to grasp how truly beautiful the garden is and understand the value of the structures, the wildlife, the patterns of the flowers, and the theme of the garden itself. As soon as I saw images of Keukenhof I was inspired; to create icons that represented the beauty of the garden, its symmetry, and to use the architecture within my design.
The Icon Sketches
The feedback I received helped me decide which icons to choose. The class was in favor of the swans, the windmills, and the wishing well. The challenge would be the number of flowers, the size of them, and the location of them. The two buildings that I decided to go with each had multiple dimensions or aspects that were important to understanding what they were, however it became difficult to capture them 2-dimensionally. The tulip flower was working the best, it was the simplest and the most identifiable so I decided to use that flower in each of my designs. My original idea for the number of flowers each design was also not working, each flower took time to create and it became challenging to make them all fit.
The Digital Roughs
The roughs I created turned out better than I had imaged they would. However, the number of flowers I originally imagined in each icon was not working. I wanted a large amount of flowers to match the Keukenhof's Garden, but they made the designs look too cluttered. I was very happy with the shape and the look of each individual flower though. Additionally, the well was extremely hard to take from being 3D to 2D so I changed it all together (shown in the final icon). Each icon captured an aspect of the garden, the issue came when I had to decide on my favorites. Although they all had their flaws it was difficult to pick which icon I wanted to move forward with. The class liked the windmill with the flower fan, the well with the flowers inside of it, and swan with a full bouquet of flowers. One student said that the well would look cool with less and bigger flowers, that response sparked a great idea in my head and helped me create my final icon.
The Final Icons
Here are my final icons. Overall, I am very happy with how they turned out. The swan icon had the least changes made to it since my sketch. The other two however required many changes. They both had to be taken from 3D to 2D, so they do appear shaped different from the original photo. I am glad I changed them though, they look much simpler and easy to identify. Changing the contrast of the icons was an idea I took from a few of my classmates, it really helped my designs. The class liked the well most of the three, and I agree. I appreciated their feedback throughout the entire project.
The Final Printed Icon
The pink well filled with tulips was the icon I chose to print. I love the look of it and I think it well represents the garden. The flowers are symmetrical, as are the millions of flowers in the garden. The well is a structure from the garden and when combined with the flowers is truly does read The Keukenhof Garden. As for the color, pink is a color commonly associated with tulips and flowers in general so I felt that it was the best color to use to brighten my design.
