The impact of the natural environment on the design of infrastructure in national parks in terms of ergonomics, safety and accessibility

Abstract

National parks are located in naturally attractive areas. In practice, this means that these are the areas that are less accessible, legally protected, or where intense, violent, or even extreme climatic conditions occur. These problems significantly affect the design solutions of tourist infrastructure facilities such as pedestrian and access roads, parking lots, ticket offices, sanitary buildings, camping sites; elements of small architecture such as handrails, stairs, bridges, huts, and places to relax, information signs as well as extensive architectural facilities such as shelters and catering facilities. The article presents the problems of designing tourist infrastructure for tourists and disabled people in protected landscape areas with difficult environmental conditions, such as intense rain and snowfall, high humidity, violent wind, low or high temperatures, dangerous rock formations, wetlands or deserts, high mountain areas, wild animals, assuming that both the safety and comfort of users as well as maximum protection of nature are important. These factors are largely mutually exclusive, which is why the quality of the proposed architectural solutions and materials used is so important, so as not to have a destructive impact on the existing natural conditions with optimal accessibility. Design problems were discussed based on the analysis of existing solutions and divided into groups of factors affecting access, safety, comfort, design and implementation possibilities, and use.

Keywords: Hiking trails, Ergonomics in architecture, Accessibility in Tourism, Nature Protection, National Parks, Small Architecture

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005332