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ISSUE #46

DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED

MARISA MORBY​

August always feels like a liminal space. The days are still long but seem lazier. August is a time to lounge in the garden or your favorite park, soaking up the sun and resting. Today's newsletter is about gardens and wildlife; and being able to connect with nature through garden design.

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design

This rooftop garden at Basecamp Lyngby in Denmark is set on top of housing for students, seniors, and researchers. The area provides space for walking, running, and sitting, just as any good park or garden should. It's a public park that also has some private outdoor spaces for residents, so they can have some private green space in addition to the public park.
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I love how designs like this incorporate nature directly into the build process to make the most of our built environment. The winding pathway of the park makes it feel like there's more space to explore, and since it's on the rooftop you get expansive views of the area around you. It's a beautifully designed park that I think really considered how people can connect with nature in multiple ways.

nature

Amphibians are an extremely important part of our ecosystem. As tadpoles, they eat algae, so help regulate algae blooms. Algae blooms deprive the water of oxygen and sunlight, and can create harmful cyanotoxins. These blooms can kill wildlife both in and out of the water when they happen, so having animals that eat algae is extremely helpful in minimizing this risk. As adults, frogs eat insects, and are prey themselves so provide food for other species. Due to climate change and habitat loss, frogs are becoming more exposed to harmful pathogens that risks wiping out entire species.
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Recently a spread of chytrid, a harmful fungal growth, has been spreading. Chytrid disrupts the skin barrier of frogs and can kill them. Chytrid doesn't harm frogs from Asia, since it likely originated there and frogs in the region have developed a resistance to it. But as it's spreading throughout the world, frogs that haven't been exposed to it are becoming ill and dying.
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But a few scientists recently found that by creating "frog saunas" — basically a brick filled greenhouse — frogs were able to use the heat source to fight off the pathogen. Frogs that survived the initial infection also seem to have better resistance to future infections from chytrid. The best part is that if you have frogs in your yard, you can perform some citizen science by putting these in your garden!

reimagine

I've talked a lot in these newsletters about art that thinks about nature in new and innovative ways. But I don't know that I've ever specifically highlighted landscape design, which I think is one of the most powerful ways to connect people with nature because it's immersive and really walks the line between art and design.
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I want to share the work of Ula Maria, an award winning garden and landscape designer whose work, at least for me, is very dreamy, magical, and calming. One of the most accessible ways that we can connect to nature is through outdoor areas that allow us to appreciate wildlife in calming and beautiful surroundings.
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You can follow Ula Maria's work on Instagram. The photo below is from a forest bathing garden for Muscular Dystrophy UK, an organization helping people who have been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. The patterning on the walls and vase are reminiscent of muscle cells when viewed through a microscope. The goal of the garden was to provide a "safe and restorative space" for people to be with their thoughts.