TERRA NOVA

a meditation on subjective experiences with the ecological landscape

PROCESS WORK

TACTILE DIAGRAM:

At the end of the collection process at Terra Nova this is what I wrote in my notebook:

“The openness, the blue, the spaces, the protection, temperature, touch, all of it feels larger than me. Not quite the sublime, but something softer, more comfortable. This is a sort of attainable wonder with different scales of accessibility and awe. There is the tangible, the material, which frames the distant and the picturesque. There is the individual, and there is the whole, the collective. An amalgamation of everything takes one out of them, but also makes one feel in the present. Observe, experience, feel, see, hear, and…forget.”

This diagram expresses a ‘field of vision’ via touch. The compiling and organization of materials in based on my subjective, yet abstracted memory of the site, and the relationships between the parts.

Finalized boxes with quotes, paper, and pens.

ORIENTING SELF

This project was created in collaboration with Devon Murtha. We created a series of 'Giving Boxes' where people could communicate and share ideas. This project was experimental, ephemeral, and open-ended. It was meant to be a conversation with the users of the park and how people orient themselves within Terra Nova. The quotes in purple are the notes that we left inside the boxes. Two of the boxes went missing and the other one was left open.

FORAGE

In collaboration with Lisa Ng

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATIVE HABITAT RESTORATION AND RECREATION THROUGH PLANTING DESIGN

Our design intervention at Terra Nova Rural Park builds on the existing heritage, community, and ecological systems and their temporal nature. Plants are the basis of any ecosystem, and for us, plants became the opportune connection between communities of people and fauna on the site. The plant list that we decided to build takes from native species from the Vancouver Region, as well as species that would have existed on the site prior to colonization. Once the dyke was built Terra Nova became inherently naturalized, and the landscape changed to meet the needs of humans through agriculture. We have decided to re-naturalize the already “naturalized” space through understanding aesthetic interests and productivity.

Understanding the ephemeral nature of the native plants that we introduce and how they will evolve throughout the year.

SECTIONS OF HABITAT AND FORAGING AREAS:

The research phase of our project included profiling over 50 (mostly native) species with their ecological benefits (nesting/foraging), ethno-botanical relevance, edibility, accessibility, and habitat, as well as their aesthetic qualities during the different seasons of the year. Plants, in this space, become the glue for understanding our dependency and relationship with the land, especially when it comes to valuing it, and respecting it. We also researched the existing typologies on the site, and figured out which areas were more/less productive than others, including the way inhabitant species would move through the sites. This means creating a variety of open/closed spaces, as well as more protected ones where humans cannot intervene. Through close examination and compiling research we came up with a general planting plan which separated the plants into zone typologies: red alder, riparian, meadow, edible/forage, shrub, and hedgerow. From this stage we were able to break down each zone into a more nuanced composition of species that brought it multiple features including timing (blooming and fruiting) as well as vertical striation and protecting certain nesting areas with plants that physically keep people from entering the area.

SEASONAL RENDERINGS OF A RENOVATED LANDSCAPE

A field guide for users for flora and fauna identification, as well as recipes, and ethno-botanical uses.