You make with what you find.

The theme for UG2 this semester was designing a nature center, with the site being along a portion of the Matthei Botanical Gardens nature trails in Ann Arbor, MI. 

My research began with the idea of land art, or more broadly the idea of taking naturally found materials and using them to make more sustainably sourced art. Inspired by the idea of a “florilegium”, or a compendium of themed artworks, I divided my building into two, with one portion for the creation of natural arts and one for the display of these pieces. 

Connecting these two buildings, as well as serving for display sites for the land art installations, are vibrant trails offset from the ground. Becoming part of the artwork itself, it wraps continuously around the site grounding all the components into one structure. 

With continued research, evidence of mental recovery was noted in relation to the amount of time people spent outside, which added to the idea of this becoming a center for art therapy by means of collection of materials and creation with them.