SPRING 2022: Our studio updates and new posts:
Sarah’s essay, “Broken Sources” will be published in the forthcoming Journal of Architectural Education: JAE 76:2 Pedagogies for a Broken World, edited by Jay Cephas, Igor Marjanovic, and Ana Miljacki. In March, Sarah presented “A Ruderal Practice” (link to video) at the University of Manitoba’s “Food for Thought” lecture series, and traveled to Ljubljana in June to jury the 2022 LILA International Landscape Award.
Benjamin Hackenberger is presenting “Know Where You are Going: Digitizing Analog Landforming Workflows” at the 22nd Digital Landscape Architecture Conference at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. The presentation outlines his work modeling The‘Sky Beach’ at the Bodbe Hotel and how we adapt this workflow in studio practice.
New projects in the studio include the Kvareli Lake Resort in Kakheti, and a private garden in Tabakhmela.
We’re working with IRD Engineering Georgia on Dighomi Meadows Park, the flagship landscape project of the Asian Development Bank’s Liveable Cities Initiative. The Dighomi stretch of the Mtkvari river is home to a colony of threatened river otters. Journalist Robin Forestier Walker produced a short clip for Al Jazeera on the Otter Island near the park site, and the environmental activists lobbying to restore the floodplain landscape, damaged by illegal mining and dumping.
Make your mark in Tbilisi! The Tbilisi Architecture Biennial 2022 has released its open call: the deadline is June 19 and 30, depending on the category.
Our studio and field posts this month include:
» Ruderal is growing! Meet our new team of designers: Zizi Adamia, Iveta Chxikvadze, Ana Petriashvili, and Luka Tavzarashvili.
» Here is a Violet/აი ია: a look at the landscape of Borjomi’s Gujaretisqali Canyon, including water infrastructure, woodland spring ephemerals wildflowers, and the work of Georgian educator and naturalist Iakob Gogebashvili.
» New Georgian Landscapes: Sarah and Nino Akhalaia of design journal Homeis.ge discuss Ruderal’s work in Georgia. Link to ქართული ვერსია.
» Tbilisi Dendrological Park: A brief history and discussion of plans for the 250-hectare landscape located near the Tbilisi Sea reservoir.
» Damba Dynamics: Ben discusses Ruderal’s work for the Heidelberg Cement’s 5th Quarry life Award. The competition “aims to raise the awareness of the ecological value of extraction sites and sharing new best practices.” Our site is the Lezhbadini Quarry which is at the confluence of the Khrami and Debeda Rivers, where Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia intersect.
