The role of woody plants in the formation of figurative and symbolic structure of memorial parks

The article presents the results of the research of the role of plants in the formation of the figurative and symbolic structure of the war memorial parks. It is determined that tree plants can play a role of the the indirect means of expressing the ideological load during different periods of the year. Some species of deciduous shrubs play this role only in autumn due to the red colour of not only fruits but also of foliage, in particular, the Viburnum opulus L., which is common in the war memorial parks in Kyiv, which emphasizes their ideological load due to the fruit and leaves in autumn colouring, as well as the symbolic meaning of this plant for Ukrainians. In winter, the plant act as the means of expressing the ideological load of the war memorial parks due to the shape and colour of the crown, branches, fruits (Rhus typhina L., Cornus mas 'Sibirica', Viburnum opulus L., Sorbus aucuparia 'Pendula'). Based on the results of an expert assessment of Kyiv memorial parks, the peculiarities of the use of woody plants in the formation of figurative and symbolic structure of the war memorial parks of Kyiv are revealed and a structural scheme is developed according to the semiotic levels of perception as per Barabanov (2002). It is discovered that using of plants is most widely represented in parks, which is based on the sign level of perception (collective unconscious) caused by the peculiarities of perception and interpretation of the lines, form and colour of the plant. In particular, within the researched parks, it was revealed that both the positive and the negative effects of the shape, size, colour and texture of the plants influence the perception of the memorial architectural components. When using symbols in the formation of figurative and symbolic structure of the park using plants two approaches to the formation of plant composition are revealed. The first is based on the use of symbolical for Ukrainian species of plants (Viburnum opulus L., Sorbus aucuparia L.), while plant groups are mono-species independent components of the composition. In the second approach, the matching of plants is based on the symbolic meaning of their morphological characteristics. In this case, the plants are located next to the memorial architectural objects as secondary components to enhance emotional influence and increase the information characteristics of the memorial. This approach to the use of plants for the formation of figurative and symbolic structure of the park is based on the symbolic level of semiotic units of perception, according to Barabanov (2002), which is determined by the sociocultural context that is formed within a certain social, historical period and territory.