LAN3016YF
Fall 2024 Option Studio
Instructor: Karen M’Closkey
Meeting Section: L0102
Tuesdays, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., 2:00-6:00 p.m.

Botanic gardens may seem a quaint relic at best (Sunday strollers, twirling parasols) or, worse, an outmoded typology (along with zoos and archeology museums) with a sordid history of pillaging and empire building. One could surely argue that these relatively small and bounded spaces are irrelevant in the face of massive biodiversity loss, rapid urbanization, and a warming climate. However, botanic gardens are a locus from which to understand the myriad political, economic, scientific, and social interactions related to nature governance and nature experience. Botanic gardens, which combine the science of botany and the art of display to educate the public about plants, are a useful lens through which to see our changing relationship to nature vis-à-vis plants and plant collections, as well as their representations.   

There are upwards of 2,500 botanic gardens worldwide, attracting half a billion visitors per year. This is a staggering statistic. These gardens are often in urban areas and are, therefore, accessible to large numbers of people. Unsurprisingly, botanic gardens are not evenly distributed throughout the world as they are intertwined with the history of colonization, particularly British and Dutch empires. They began as medicinal gardens and were the locus of early scientific research and invention. This scientific mission continues today as botanic gardens evolve to become leaders in conservation efforts. The Botanic Gardens Conservation International is working toward the goals set out by the United Nations Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). Some of the key objectives of GSPC are education, communication, and public awareness programs about plant diversity. Thus, the mission and research foci of botanic gardens continue to adapt to reflect current social and environmental interests and values. What assumptions about conservation undergird the latest research efforts and how have they impacted the design and programming of botanic gardens?   

This studio is structured with readings, field trips, and guest lectures from scientists, historians of science, and landscape architects. Key terms at the root of this type of garden—colonization, classification, cultivation, and collection—will be discussed, providing the foundation for students to develop proposals for a botanic garden in the context of the US capital: Washington D.C., using the National Arboretum and US Botanic Garden as focal points to begin our study. Botanic gardens have always been experimental by nature. What forms might this take today?