Diana memorial designer under fire

She is receiving plaudits for the design, revealed last week, of the moat-withouta-castle memorial to Princess Diana in Hyde Park. Kathryn Gustafson's work as a "landscape artist" has, however, not been so enthusiastically received elsewhere in London.

Ten miles away - in another park location - the American designer's project employing her signature water channel concept is proving less than popular. Community groups and users of Crystal Palace Park consider her modern design out of kilter with its Victorian setting and period charm.

A stone cascade designed to link two lakes in the Grade II*-listed park bears more than a passing resemblance to her plans for the Diana memorial. Yet, almost two years after construction began, the stepped stone channel is filled not with clear flowing water but stagnant puddles and discarded polystyrene. Bemused passers-by say the feature has had to be laid two or three times after it failed to hold water.

Bromley council granted planning permission for the £3.5 million Gustafson redevelopment of Crystal Palace Park in May 1999. But the Heritage Lottery Fund rejected twothirds of the council's bid for money as it felt the design was too contemporary for the historic site.

The scheme was approved by the council in spite of Bromley's own Advisory Panel for Conservation Areas, which said: "Some of the detailed design was at best disappointing, and at worst harmful." Work began in late 2000 when more than 300 mature trees - including 160-year-old cedars, 120-year-old hollies and healthy yews and silver birch - were felled to make way for Gustafson's planting scheme.

Today, walkers in the park were bemused by the appearance of the empty stone trough that links the water lily-lined concert bowl lake and the fishing pond. Suzanne Elkin, secretary of Crystal Palace Community Association, said: "Nobody could understand what it was. Then we heard from Bromley it is a water feature and we thought, 'Why do we need a water feature?'"

Local children were upset when an urban farm was demolished. Gustafson replaced it with a utilitarian "farm building" with a metal roof which is too small to house any animals.

Community association chairman John Payne said: "Kathryn Gustafson's contemporary designs are totally inappropriate. Parks should provide essential green open spaces for rest and recreation. The lost trees and grass areas gave us exactly that."

When the designer, who lives in Seattle, visited Crystal Palace last September she never imagined that she would walk into a storm of protest. "She was very surprised that people did not like her ideas," Mrs Elkin said.

But Bromley council is extremely proud. Leisure director Robbie Stoakes denied any problems. He said: "Kathryn Gustafson won an international design competition. Her master plan to restore Joseph Paxton's original vision for the park received acclaim because of her ability to reflect the park's unique heritage while bringing it up to date for the needs of today's visitor."

But Mr Payne, who attended a meeting with Gustafson last September, recalls a designer who was concerned only with her own project: "She actually suggested closing the dinosaur area, which is the park's unique and most popular feature, for three years so that her plants can get established. She also suggested charging admission.

"Her 'soft' paths are proving difficult for prams, wheelchairs, and children on roller skates as the surface is uneven and loose."

Gustafson's proposed Hyde Park scheme was warmly received by Princes William and Harry, and by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. However architect Lord Rogers has said the design "lacks spirit".

Gustafson's business partner, Neil Porter, said: "As with most landscapes under construction, people are best advised to wait until it's finished to give a sensible judgment."