Pulp Gardens
2019-current
2 Acres
Native and Non-Native-Adapted Ornamental and Edible Plant Species, Corten Steel Planting Terraces, Repurposed Corten Shipping Container Planters, Limestone, Handmade Steel and Terrazzo Furniture, Custom Pottery, Water Feature, Steel Pollinator Flight-Path Trellises, Public Programming
Pulp Gardens acts within the urban setting of Pulp Arts to create a unique sense of place that strengthens the biodiversity and ecological health of the landscape. My design philosophy grows out of my recent practice of interspecies collaboration. In harmony with Pulp Arts’ mission to provide interdisciplinary facilities for artists of various backgrounds, I focused my attention on the metaphorically rich, mutually beneficial relationships that exist between plants and pollinators. I made sketches from observation of pollinator insects flying from flower-to-flower at conservation parks in the area, and this archive of visual information-- ephemeral traces of collaboration among pollinators and plants-- became blueprints for composing landscape interventions. Most of the flight-paths delineate spaces for planting, dividing plant groups between the lines of flight. Other flight-paths serve as pathways for human movement. The bold circles in sketches-- where bees returned to the same flower multiple times-- become above-ground planters placed along the lines of flight that connect them. I also input pollinator flight-paths into digital cellular automata to obtain grid patterns that serve as another vehicle to embed pollination activity into the built environment.
While the main emphasis lies in adding biodiversity to the site, spaces are also intended for human use. Site-specific furniture was designed and placed drawing from the same process of using pollinator flight-paths to shape-find. The cast cement terrazzo surfaces with many holes reference plant cell structures known as xylem and phloem, while the heart-shaped stools reference the style and stigma parts of the locally native passion flower, Passiflora incarnata.
As the landscape comes into being, and local health conditions allow, I intend to organize public uses for the gardens outside of Pulp Arts’ normal activities, and develop interactive opportunities for visitors to connect with the interspecies design practice. I hope that while Pulp Gardens makes real positive outcomes for the ecological health of the site and the broader urban ecosystem, it will serve as a location for deepening appreciation for the environment and its diverse inhabitants.