‘Broadway Bouquet’ – artwork feature of the NYC/DOT Car Free Earth Day

‘Broadway Bouquet’ by Terrain Work takes one of the most familiar and portable landscapes found on countless street corners in Manhattan and turns it into a larger than life experience, which is quintessentially New York. The artwork captures the scale-bending qualities of the city while giving people a glimpse of how introducing plants and urban ecology in civic spaces can spark the imagination.

The ‘Broadway Bouquet’ captures the quintessentially New York spirit of spectacle and wonder that the city’s scale-bending urban environment cultivates. This public art installation revels in the culture of cut flowers found on countless street corners from Manhattan to the outer boroughs and turns it into a larger than life experience where individual trees and shrubs replace cut stems and flowers. This portable landscape is turned into a destination for the public inspiring delight and wonder in a space that might otherwise be dedicated to the automobile and giving people a glimpse of how introducing plants and urban ecology in civic spaces can stir the imagination.

The ‘Broadway Bouquet’ is a 40′ feet long by 8’ high temporary public art installation that was displayed at the intersection of Broadway and 24th Street in the Flatiron District of Manhattan on Saturday April 21, 2018. The art installation was a featured piece of the NYC/DOT Car Free Earth Day event. The annual event closes thirty blocks of Broadway from Times Square to Union Square to vehicular traffic, creating a temporary pedestrian space for people to explore for the day. A variety of environmental programming including public art, musical performances, and various exercise activities were introduced by city agencies and nonprofit organizations along Broadway to promote activism and education surrounding climate change, sustainability and rethinking how we use our city streets.

The Broadway Bouquet provides a tangible example to the public of what we give up – civic space and public art – when cities are dominated by vehicular traffic. The art piece captures the imagination by illustrating the potential for a car-free future with a living breathing garden in the middle of one of the busiest spaces in the world.

Terrain Work thanks the following organizations that enabled this project to come to life through their generous support: NYC DOT, Blondie’s Tree House, and DeSimone Engineers. Video courtesy of Alexius Tan of DeSimone Engineers. Aerial photos courtesy of NYC DOT.

 

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Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/