Boston Botony Bay

The Boston Botany Bay studio will re-define the concept of the botanical garden for the 21st century. The archipelago of islands in the Boston Harbor will become the field of experiment and a testing ground for new and stimulating ideas of how to celebrate, utilize and research the wonders of plants. Nature activation, instead of nature conservation, will be focus of the studio. How can the botanic garden of the 21st century contribute towards new economical, environmental, aesthetic and scientific demand? Can the botanic garden, the metropolis of plants, become a pretext for future urbanization? The aim of this interdisciplinary studio will be to generate, test and document contemporary notions of the botanic garden of the future. We will focus on three complementary activities; research, strategy and design. The strategy focuses upon a long term botanic vision for the entire Boston Bay which will be regarded as an integrated coastal zone; a unique morphology based upon a combination of natural phenomena and the interaction of man. As part of the strategy a series of prototypes will be developed and tested as representative of the overall approach. These prototype projects should operate as \”agent provocateur\” to initiate change. Finally, for the design stage each student will address one selected island and will produce detailed resolutions representing the botanic garden of the 21st century. Both research and strategy are envisaged as group work of the entire class whilst the subsequent design of prototypes and separate islands are undertaken as individual assignments. Class Schedule:September: 1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th,30thOctober:1st, 7th, 8th, 15th, 21st, 22nd, 28th, 29thNovember: 4th, 5th, 11th, 12th, 18th, 19th,December: 2nd, 3rd, 9th