The Forbidden Garden
For this Exploratorium track we have researched and investigated the possibilities for a radical new garden on the former site of the 19th century Orto Botanico di San Giobbe, in Venice. The site has long been abandoned since it has been used for various other functions, only recently witnessing the possibility of its first partial transition from private to public use. The existing condition of an enclosed and inaccessible space has been the drive for a virtual exploration, which leads us to envision contemporary contextualization of botanical garden typology according to the current landscape theories. By speculating over the content of this inaccessible space, the challenge has been to glimpse beyond the garden’s walls the future of Orto Botanico, as a contemporary public space still charged of pedagogical values for ecological and urban thoughts.