In Collaboration with Ahnaf Chowdhury, Anuradha Desai, Marda Zenawi
Project team: Andrea Ruan, Benedykt Ezlakowski, Caroline Barrick, Chris Autera, Dzidula Courage Kpodo, Endrias Tadsse, Jingge Zhao, Junayd Merchant, Omar Khalifa, Sean Nakamura Dolan, Shreeya Shakya, TJ Bayowa, Rose Maalouf
With support from: Ragdale Foundation, Rosborough Partners, and Lake Forest Openlands
The brief calls for an installation space that would host outdoor performances in the summer months. With the temporal nature of the program and this year’s theme, Roots, we’ve decided to prioritize materials that would grow and eventually decay back into the environment.
The echoes of the ring consist of varying widths of plant beds, conceptualized as line weights on a drawing. Various native plant species determine the wall heights to create part and full plant enclosures. Our 2022 rendition of the Ragdale Ring echoes the original ring built by Howard Shaw, which itself is an echo of the outdoor theatre at Villa Ginanneschi-Gori. The stage wall, made with compressed earth block and reclaimed steel bars, is filled with sand and mulch. Surrounding the stage are rings offset and fragmented into reed walls and rooms.
The echoes of the ring consist of varying widths of plant beds, conceptualized as line weights on a drawing. Various native plant species determine the wall heights to create part and full plant enclosures. Our 2022 rendition of the Ragdale Ring echoes the original ring built by Howard Shaw, which itself is an echo of the outdoor theatre at Villa Ginanneschi-Gori. The stage wall, made with compressed earth block and reclaimed steel bars, is filled with sand and mulch. Surrounding the stage are rings offset and fragmented into reed walls and rooms.
Site Layout
The site layout was conceived as an ecological curation, both to attract pollinators and to deter pests. Thinking of grass and flowers as walls and confetti, native plants were selected according to their bloom season, colour and height.
Wall - Grass:
Blackhawk Big bluestem, Cloud Nine Switchgrass, Indiangrass, Dancing Wind Big Bluestem
Confetti - Flowering Plants:
Rocky Mountain Gayfeather, Blazing Star, Queen of the Prairie, Virginia Mountain Mint, Queen of Diamonds, Swamp Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, Spotted Joe Pye Weed, Cardinal Flower, Wild Bergamot, Showy Goldenrod, Eastern Bluestar, Rattlesnake Master.
Wall - Grass:
Blackhawk Big bluestem, Cloud Nine Switchgrass, Indiangrass, Dancing Wind Big Bluestem
Confetti - Flowering Plants:
Rocky Mountain Gayfeather, Blazing Star, Queen of the Prairie, Virginia Mountain Mint, Queen of Diamonds, Swamp Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, Spotted Joe Pye Weed, Cardinal Flower, Wild Bergamot, Showy Goldenrod, Eastern Bluestar, Rattlesnake Master.
Construction
Post-built
