By Bonnie Sherk © 1988 - Edited by Karl Linn & Carl Anthony

In conventional landscape architecture and architecture, the public environment or open space is usually created with little or no attention given to the program or events that will occur in the place. And, the process of design, development, and maintenance of the space, once built, usually excludes the public. Yet, it is from these areas of design, development, and maintenance, that powerful solutions can be found that will help to heal misunderstandings and prejudices among people as well as to solve latter-day problems of abuse, neglect, and misuse of public spaces.

This realized potential for an integrated and interactive landscape and social architecture will help us to transform our cultural attitudes and our underused and vandalized public places of the late 20th century into exciting ecological and aesthetic learning laboratories, that function as the cathedrals of the future in which many sectors of the community celebrate together. When we use nature as a model, then we can see that all diverse life elements - animal, vegetable, mineral - biological, cultural, technological - are interconnected and related, albeit in varying degrees. This basic knowing creates an conceptual / emotional / spiritual climate for ecological and egalitarian thinking, feeling, and being. It will also lead us toward developing structures for ecological and egalitarian creation and transformation.

This idea can be examined, to see and understand the diversity within the cultural sphere of humankind. In so doing, we will experience the interconnections and analogues that different styles and methodologies from around the globe bring forth. If we accept that diversity of form and meaning is different, yet interesting and related, we can see the forms and meanings as analogous systems.

Then we can easily design structures (conceptual, environmental, social) that accommodate and include difference, contrast, and diversity. Each element can remain unique, yet the whole, made of interrelationships and parallelisms, becomes apparent and fascinating. This becomes a wonderful source of information as well as the basic form for a new aesthetic. And, when the conceptual, environmental, and social are vitally linked, then we have the makings for an exciting, relevant, and functional art form.

These created forms or environments can be called “Life Frames.” They are usually site and situation specific and integrate the local diversity: human, ecological, historic, economic, technological and aesthetic. These "Life Frames" involve the local people in the design / development / use / maintenance / communication of whatever is created. In this way, the place and the program become a strong force within the community and the resulting situation can endure. The environment can both serve to beautify and enhance a physical space and its process of creation / use / maintenance / communication, and can add immeasurably to a community's education, growth, and maturation. Furthermore, these individual "Life Frames" can be electronically linked so that the layering and interconnections will occur simultaneously at a local level and at regional, national, and international levels. This communication can be achieved by using new technologies directly in the park / open space setting. Such a relationship presents extraordinary opportunities for counterpointing ecological and technological diversity, and even more importantly, for linking cultures - people, places, events, and ideas - great diversity - at home and around the globe.

Examples of “Life Frames”include the idea to create A Living Library, an interactive international culture-ecology-technology park that would be linked with like places around the world; A Garden Of Knowledge, a traveling exhibition that was a mini- demonstration for A Living Library; and Living History Garden Rooms, a proposal for a university campus.

A Living Library would be a contemporary botanical garden of analogies and international culture park. Originally conceived and designed for Bryant Park in the middle of New York City, adjacent to the Main Research Branch of the New York Public Library, A Living Library would bring the humanities and sciences to life through gardens arranged according to the Dewey Decimal System. With many components transferable to other sites and situations city parks, university campuses - A Living Library as “Life Frame” is a vehicle that would integrate in any area, the local human, ecological, economic, and historic resources so that they would work better together. The programs and themes of the park would be developed in conjunction with leading educators and experts in the area and thus the programs would relate to the curricula of the schools (K - College), providing exciting opportunities for learning and creating for students of all ages. The park, or other environment would have plantings and visual artworks relating to the subjects, and a program of lectures, demonstrations, and performing artworks relating to the subjects, as well as state-of-the-art computer, video, and telecommunications capabilities, enabling it to be linked with other like places in the world - some existing, others to be created. A Living Library would thus become part of an extraordinary international network in which the public open space would become the site for live interactive broadcast and international communication.

A Garden of Knowledge, designed as a mini-demonstration for A Living Library, was a traveling environmental installation that was displayed at a gallery in SoHo, New York and the Houston Festival in Houston, Texas. The theme of A Garden of Knowledge was the diversity of parks and garden styles from around the world and the cultural and symbolic meanings of plants. A garden of knowledge as prototype for A Living Library had the involvement of many people in its creation, implementation, and maintenance including students, artists, video/computer technologists, business people, and horticulturists. Many artists created personally symbolic plants as artworks, and the live plants, contributed by local nurseries, were labeled with their symbolic meanings from around the world. Included in the installation was an electronic Tree of Knowledge embedded with an interactive videodisc brimming with information on the history of international parks and gardens, plant symbolism, details on how the installation was created, information on A Living Library and its many precedents in history, a bibliography, and other material. There was also a computer graphics opportunity for the viewers to create their own symbolic flowers and garden layouts while hearing a continuous soundtrack of birds, crickets, and music from around the world. The Living History Garden Rooms, proposed as an extension to an university arboretum would move us through time and different locations around the globe in order to understand the environments and cultures of different periods and places - past, present, and future through plants, garden design, methodologies, and tools. Each Living History Garden Room would also function as an artwork and would include visual artworks within in created by students and professional artists as well as programs and lectures, demonstrations, and performing artworks that directly relate to the curricula, and research resources of the university. In addition, each Garden Room would have computer/video capabilities, also developed by students, to give greater detailed information in each subject area.

The educational and recreational, as well as the aesthetic implications of such a project is astounding, not only for the university and its students but for the community at large. It is an innovative way to bring a community together in a celebration of learning, creating, and maintaining the environment and our rich diversity - cultural and ecological. The Gardens would link artists, environmentalists, historians, horticulturists, ecologists, engineers, professors, of all subjects, students of all ages and disciplines, new technologies experts, families, foreign dignitaries, senior citizens, corporate and small business people. The Living History Garden Rooms would bring the humanities, sciences, and social sciences to life through dynamic environments and integrated programs. The proposed Living History Garden Rooms include:

1. Ancient Egyptian
2. Ancient Persian
3. Ancient Chinese
4. Greek/Roman
5. Japanese Zen
6. Medieval
7. Italian Renaissance
8. 17th century French
9. 18th century American
10. 19th Century Naturalistic with Victorian Alcove
11. Native American
12. African
13. Late 20th century International Peace Garden with elements from different cultures
14. Gardens of the Future, which would be an opportunity for artists and students
15. To create changing garden environments/installations/exhibits.

The detailed design of each Garden Room would be developed in conjunction with university students' research, for credit, as applicable. Students could participate as project coordinators, interns, research associates, and volunteers. Not only would the resulting gardens be innovative as arboretum additions, but the process of creation and maintenance would present new opportunities for interdisciplinary studies, serving as an educational adjunct to the curriculum, giving students and others an unusual opportunity to gain practical experience with plants and design as well as knowledge of how ideas and events from different cultures are connected.

These three examples of “Life Frames” are vehicles that will help us to achieve peace - first through involvement and understanding at home and then through interaction with other places. And, it is through involvement and interaction, and understanding connections and analogies, that we will grow and evolve as a species.