Paradise
(click to view installation-in-progress)
Site-specific installation with minivans and ethnobotanica,
Graduate School of Design, Harvard, 2000
Paradise is a solar powered temporary site installation commissioned by Harvard University's Graduate School of Design of for the Centennial Celebration of the establishment of the Landscape Architecture Department. The three salvaged minivans are planted with several different ethnobotanical plant species which are native to the coastal regions of the Eastern United States and have proven capable of providing excellent nutrition for human beings, as well as supplying other substances and materials useful to our species. These plants are considered "heirloom" varieties because of their long history of usefulness to humans, but they are currently threatened with extinction. Major seed companies prefer varieties which are easier to grow, better looking, and in some cases, lend themselves more readily to genetic engineering of plant stock.
the minivan gardens are planted with several varieties of
peas, beans, squash, and cabbage as well as medicinal herbs
solar powered grow lights illuminate the minivans at night
