Facilitate encounters between people, vegetation, wildlife to foster collectivity and care.
Urban life extracted wilderness to the edges. Aesthetic perception, agricultural supply chain needs, and curation of species advanced monocultures. Re-wilding urban streets will entail the use of diverse species, roles, time horizons, and uses. Dense urban streets across Tel Aviv lack shaded and cooled public spaces - this installation is an opportunity to add urban green infrastructure to address urban heat island and allow spaces to care for nature. One can draw a parallel between people coming back together in public space after the imposed isolation of covid to a flourishing garden. People reintroduce themselves to social interactions as shrubs, pollinators, wildflowers, herbs, fungi, bees, weeds, worms, and butterflies come together to serve their part in the ecosystem. This is an opportunity to build urban commons and seasonal food resources - making a way for the Biophilic City.
Each patch will hold a mix of species growing in symbiosis to exemplify how a micro-ecosystem can replace artificial and toxic practices. We will select native drought-resistant species to complement each other's needs and plant together. The micro gardens will allow the cultivation and foraging of herbs, medicinal plants, and foraging to foster care. The archipelago will be Tel Aviv’s collective balcony.
Collective Archipelago is a public installation made to raise awareness about nature, horticulture, and medicinal plants. The installation is completely made of layers of wood of different colors that create a stratified landscape. Some of the wooden layers are carved to host pots for different types of plants: wildflowers in the central part, herbs and edible plants in the right corner, and medicinal plants in the right corner. Tags accompany each plant and they allow users to learn more about the plants by scanning QR codes connected with an online platform where additional information is collected. Moreover, the online platform gives users the opportunity of creating their own profile and sharing gardening advice or recipes prepared using certain herbs and/or vegetables. Participation also happens on site where users can handwrite notes on the tags (or on their own paper sheet) and use the vertical perforated metal mesh wall to share herb planters and recipes. Several designs will be set in multiple locations across the city custom made to the streets. The platform will be connected or developed in collaboration with local community gardens and organic farmers.
