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"Spot" Community Garden
Houston, Texas, USA | 1st Place in Public Park Competition | Fall 2011
Completed in a group of three with Bomin Park and Gail Chen
The proposed community garden site is located along a fracture in the Rice University campus, and capitalizes on the potential from the flow of students and neighbors. The proposal breaks down the site into two fabrics of destination spots which attract people to the site and of garden beds which disperse and circulate those within.
The spots are not unlike architectural follies. They pull park-goers through the site by
means of curiosity.
The network of garden beds is arranged in a dense fabric to inspire not a typical path-like
circulation seen in most parks, but rather one of dispersion and exploration. They fill
the site with a high density so that the few voided areas are relieving and will welcome
contemplation. It is the negative space between plant beds that forms one's path. The
positive space of the plant bed was retained for optimal crop yield, and so just the negative space is manipulated. Through simple moves such as rotation and elongation, a strong
directionality is achieved, and the park-goer is led from one spot to the next. These moves
are intended to balance the practicality needed for gardens (the positive space) with the
playfulness directed at the park-goer (the negative).
Michael Matthews, AIA
Contact: mikedavematt (at) gmail
Resume available upon request |
Michael Matthews Studio
Full Service Licensed Architecture Firm
Registered with American Institute of Architects
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