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Thursday, October 4, 2007

The Return of the Natives

posted by on October 4 at 9:30 AM

Jim Demetre writes critically in the piping hot new Stranger about the landscape design of the Olympic Sculpture Park:

(Landscape designer Charles) Anderson’s impulse toward restoration leaves us with a design that is literal rather than aesthetic, pedagogical where it should be sensual, and—worst of all—idealized instead of pragmatic. The tendency among contemporary landscape architects to use native plants may be rooted in sound principles of sustainability, but efforts to return sites to their “natural” states by using such species often reflects a sentimental romanticism and can lead, as it does here, to ill-conceived and unappealing public spaces.

doughty.jpg
Photograph by Curt Doughty


RSS icon Comments

1

I really like that picture. Great composition.

Posted by Chris B | October 4, 2007 10:05 AM
2

Ditto, that's a clever shot.

Posted by Carollani | October 4, 2007 10:21 AM
3

I really enjoyed this piece.

As a gardener, I have tried the native route as a way to keep my mini ecosystem happy and reduce the need for upkeep and water. And you know what, it's really really tough and doesn't always work. You need to think in terms of layers, not just plopping plants in the ground and hope they can fend for themselves. It seemed so contrary, but I found I had to use non natives to really complete "the picture" and make the setting more natural looking.

I was pleased to hear that only natives would be used in the park, but it is no easy task to make a "natural" setting without being stylized. The article touched on the problems with native gardening, and while I encourage people to look to natives in their own yard, something like the sculpture park could really benefit from something with a little more thought. And referencing Japanese gardening was a great example of the beautiful possibilities of mimicking the natural world.

Thank you for this article!

Posted by rubyred | October 4, 2007 10:24 AM
4

I think we are little bit early in making a serious critical review of the sculpture park's grounds. The majority of the effects of the landscape design will not be truly realized until several years from now.

As a designer in a landscape/architecture/exhibit firm here in Seattle, I can attest to the frequency in which plants do not establish well during their first year--it is customary for a project to have a one year warranty on major plantings, where specimens that unfortunately do not survive are replaced. Often times, these poor plants that do not survive succomb to the forces of man and maintenance just as often as they do to site conditions.

I believe that one of the primary goals of Anderson's design is to be a teaching garden, or a curatorial exercise, much in the same way the museum curates the sculptures in the garden. I think that its success or failure is something that will take much longer to play out, and we should allow it the time to do so. Unfortunately, the news cycle doesn't really permit us to "wait and see."

Additionally, some aspects of the native plant choices may have been related to regulatory issues--not just the designers preferences. This is often the case in 'redevelopment' areas and environmentally sensitive habitats.
Many of Anderson's plant choices may have been limited by a series of design reviews by several environmental regulatory agencies at both the city, county and state levels.

I say -- "wait and see" --we might be more than pleasantly surprised in 5 years.

Posted by brian_ | October 4, 2007 10:41 AM
5

Brian's right. You have to wait and see. The region is littered with landscaping that may have been well-intentioned when it was put in but was never maintained; just drive up Aurora sometime. Ten or twenty years from now it may not resemble the current site and plantings at all.

As for "natural", there is NOTHING more unnatural than a garden. A garden is less natural than a stretch of blacktop. "Naturalistic" perhaps. The "natural" state of that site is as an abandoned refinery or whatever the hell it was, not a carefully carved and planted garden requiring constant tending.

If by "natural" you mean "pre-human" the whole project is insane. Gardens are wholly human projects, as are sculptures. Usually what people mean when they say "natural" is "lush with plants that soothe my city brain", even if they don't know WHY they soothe it.

Posted by Fnarf | October 4, 2007 11:38 AM
6

Focused by keeping the credit card line weight is as important to warrant.

Posted by Margaret R. Lim | October 17, 2007 11:49 AM

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