A Visit to Michele's Farm

Post date: Oct 26, 2017 10:48:13 PM

Today we went down to Michele's place of work and explored his garden. He told us about what it means to have an ideal garden, and then explained how he was trying to reproduce his garden behind the Cipriani Hotel at a different location.

We helped prepare a meal, and then discussed how the project could become an experience for the user. Perhaps instead of staring at a screen all day, the user could hear audio cues about the green spaces they are approaching through headphones. As GPS is weak in Venice due to tall buildings and narrow streets, using GPS navigation to help the user interact with green spaces wouldn't be the right approach. An idea came to mind where the user could scan QR Codes located in green spaces to tell the user about the surrounding spaces and point them to areas nearby. We came to the conclusion that it's a topic of interest, but it perhaps out of the scope of this project.

After our meal, we went and explored some green spaces. It was clear that they were in need of restoration. One of the areas had a small portion of land that was up-kept and secluded from the rest of the public space. Walking around that space with Michele really made us think about a different way to classify land. Instead of classifying land by its land condition and size, it is important to look at surrounding buildings and life.

For example, one of the areas we looked at was a piece of land that was in poor condition, and inhabited by cats. Perhaps a good re-utilization of the land is to create a haven, or garden, designed specifically for these cats that is correctly maintained. This will be pleasant ascetically, and will improve the conditions of life for these cats.

Another example was a small park behind a school of music. One possible plan for this unused space could be to create a small musical garden where students could sit and study, or perhaps play music. Another idea could be to propose a sculpture park in this area that had sculptures that interacted with the wind to create music.

These are the kinds of things we didn't think about initially when classifying land, but are fascinating to explore when proposing possible solutions.

It was a productive day!

~Green Team