Two formal terrains of play emerge from historical practice of landscape architecture including the regulated, demarcated field as a venue for sport, and the topiary garden as a playful expression of character. Ground Ball grafts these two static traditions in a proposal for dynamic topiary within a field of play.
/ Images
From afar, each ball appears as a topiary object with in a garden, while up close, inviting interaction through its tectonic materialization. Panels of field turf —a material conventionally used as ground cover on a sport’s field — is overlaid on low density geofoam insulation — typically employed as landform fill. Panels are seamed together through roped stitching akin to a baseball, football, or soccer ball. Each topiary sits and rolls within a curated landscape described by demarcation.
/ Drawings
The proposal establishes a new ground as a means of interplay between subject and object, sport and garden, participant and landscape. The result is a shifting territory of play, didactic and demonstrative of the active character of landscape currently absent in a static and pictorial aesthetic that defines the contemporary field. Let the lawn games begin!
/ Project Team
Jonathan A. Scelsa, Jennifer Birkeland, John Paul Rysavvy
/ Project Info
/ Type - Garden Competition, Les Jardins de Métis
/ Location - Quebec, Canada
/ Project Date - 2019