Welcome 2024
Greetings from the Ruderal Team, and we wish a happy 2024 to all. Here's a recap of our projects in Georgia and our ongoing work in the studio and our community.
Recognition for Ruderal’s forest projects
Ruderal's Tbilisi Urban Forest and Betania Forest Garden are are nominated for the EUMies Prize: European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture. The Betania Forest Garden received a Special Mention in Private Gardens from the Landezine International Landscape Award.
Tbilisi Urban Forest takes hold!
The Tbilisi Urban Forest is taking shape on Narikala Ridge and the Okrokana South Slope. Ruderal collaborated with ecologists and urban planners on these pilot forestry projects to replant Mtatsminda Mountain with a biodiverse mix of Georgian endemic and climate-adapted species. Look up for new waves of color blooming in Spring 2024. Read more about the project here.
Work in Progress: Kakheti Resorts
Site work and planting are underway throughout Kakheti at The Bodbe Hotel near Sighnaghi, new resorts and spas near Kvareli, and at the Open Corridors Camp in Gremi. Ruderal is building three residential landscapes in Tsqneti, Tabakhmela, and Kaklebi.
Interns Abound!
In 2023, Ruderal welcomed interns from the Visual Art, Architecture & Design School in Tbilisi (VAADS), Auburn University in Alabama, USA, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, and the University of Copenhagen. They toured Georgian geothermal landscapes, cut new walking trails in the Rustavi Floodplain Forest, participated in design competitions in France and Georgia, and conducted research on the plant life and hidden gardens of Old Tbilisi.
Substack shorts: Rustavi Floodplain, Goderdzi Botanical Garden, and reflections on our design theory and processes:
Raising Horizons, Digging Deeper: Wendy Andringa, founder of Assemblage Landscape Architecture, dives deep into urban soil sections.
All about Adjaran Alpine Landscapes: Ruderal visits the Goderdzi Alpine Botanical Garden.
Making landscapes legible: Maggie Brand discusses cutting a "layer of legibility" into the Rustavi Floodplain in Drawing a Floodplain.
From The Flat Files, the deep cuts from our archive: The Elusina Lazenby Experimental Forest, an installation turning the concept of landscape interpretive centers inside out.
Reflections on "Taking Form": In Splice, Stack Trace, Sarah discusses the compositions of Georgian landscape painting that influence our work in Kakheti, while Ben Hackenberger outlines a Radical Retrofit approach to urban design in Dobrich, Bulgaria, in Catch Patches.