Bigger than a Model, Smaller than a Street
SUBSTRATES + STITCHES
VALECHE STUDIO
This installation was built for the Seoul International Garden Show and was intended as a showcase of an invisible urban and ecological resource. At the root of our settlements is soil. Soil determines ecosystem health and is the basis for the ecological and social benefits of urban nature. Our proposal brings soil to the surface, revealing its mass and weight, its smell, its warmth. It celebrates the processes of soil formation and educates visitors about the continuous exchanges between air, water, roots, microbes and humans in the soil cycle. Our garden matures as the soil is interpenetrated by roots, soil-invertebrates, and fungal hyphae, and while the geotextile wrappings are colonized by wild-dispersed seeds. When the exhibition is retired, the remediated soil is harvested for use in new planting works beyond the park.