This summer the designers of the Union Street Urban Orchard will return to 100 Union Street, Southwark in London to transform a derelict site into the Urban Physic Garden, a pop-up community built garden celebrating medicinal plants, which will host an on-site cafe and summer festival of events. The Urban Physic Garden will be shaped by the hospital and the pharmacy, with a focus on medicinal plants and herbs. From wild seeds in vacant lots to domestic herbs found in back gardens to exotic species gathered around the world, plants have been used to cure all kinds of ills -from traditional remedies in teas and tonics to the latest cutting-edge pharmaceutical treatments.
The Urban Physic Garden was designed and produced by Wayward Plants, a collective of designers, artists and urban growers under the creative direction of landscape architect Heather Ring. The garden will be host to a range of invited artists projects, including the return of Oliver Bishop-Young’s ping-pong skip and a UK premier of the play-structures designed by the Serbian collective Skart, previously shown at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale.
From 11 June until 15 August the Urban Physic Garden will open to the public. The opening weekend on 11/12 June will saw a free programme of events, talks and workshops exploring medicinal plants and the health and well being of urban environments. IMAGES Courtesy of Urban Physic Garden
PHOTOS: Mike Massaro
ILLUSTRATION: Alison Moffett
IMAGES Courtesy of Urban Physic Garden