Gardens are often designed with the final product in mind, a pictorial vision that the gardener tries to implement and control in order to prevent deterioration.
The current environmental crisis is the result of a similar way of thinking, the human attempt to impose control over the environment without recognizing and working with the natural systems underlying our landscape. How can the challenges of global climate change push landscape architects to rethink the function of the garden? This is the question at the core of the project, an approach that consciously reduces the designer’s control over the garden and questions the causes and possible solutions to climate change.
The garden is created by enhancing the land where the Radicepura site lies, at the foot of Mount Etna, combining new soil and alternating local basalt, a reference to the geological material characteristic of the Anthropocene. This results in an abstraction of the mountain landscape, where variability in appearance, height, and exposure to the elements creates a dynamic morphology. Over the six months of exhibition, the seed mixtures have grown unpredictably, and the soil contained in the boxes has also spread into unusual forms.
As visitors walk through the installation, they can observe the changing appearance of the garden. The project itself is an experiment in loosening control over the life and durability of a garden, celebrating its spontaneity and randomness. The passage through the installation nodes and the seating made with Etna basalt slabs offers a more intimate contemplation of the concept.
The three designers, Katy Rennie, Amber Myers, and Josie Dalberg – graduates from the University of Cape Town – grew up in South Africa, a country rich in diverse natural landscapes. The young team offers a shared vision of landscape architecture, seen as a useful tool for solving complex urban problems. The installation presented at the festival reflects this interest by asking visitors to be curious about the latent elements lying dormant and to reconsider the role and control of humanity.
