Marusa-project proposal

GARDENS My project proposal goes along with the thesis hand in hand, so the two of them form each other. Who are my neighbours?

Keywords: neighbours, gardens, private, public space, nature

Gardens are a quick escape to nature and can help you to change an environment rapidly whithin the grayness of the city. In the country of Slovenia, where I come from, the garden is an important part of living space. Slovenian gardens strive for the fullness of greenery, they usually have space for an outdoor table for warmer days and a part of the garden that is intended for growing home-grown vegetables and fruits.

I moved to Rotterdam in September 2020. I live in a multi-apartment house in Oud-Charlois, of which the apartments face the central space. The apartments on the ground floor have their own gardens, as it is quite common for residential buildings in Dutch urbanism. We live in an apartment with no garden, but have a great view on some of them. Observing happenings on gardens and their characters, the comparison to Slovenian customs is quite different.

Gardens are a specific space of living environment and their state depends on weather, skills and engagement of the residents. I will be researching people's relation to gardens and the connection to nature in the Netherlands.

Approach:

I will visit people’s homes and interview them about gardens. The questions will vary whether they have a garden or not. After the interview I will take photographs of the gardens and juxtapose them next to each other, so I will have a good overview of them all. With the analysis of the interviews and the overview and reading of photographs I will be able to make out a better understanding of how the spaces are being used.

For now, the outcome of the project will be a photobook with all the documentation I can get.

I have experience in architectural photography, of which knowledge I will apply into taking the photographs. I am expecting a different result as the situations and circumstances will be altered, due to time restriction and contrasted subject matter to my usual tidied up practice of newly built accommodations of interior and exterior.

There are 84 apartments, of which 42 are ground floors with gardens.

I don’t count on everyone to participate.

If they have a garden:

What does a garden mean to you?

What are you using it for?

How often do you use it?

What would your ideal garden look like?

Do you use a shed?

When buying an apartment, did you specifically look for an apartment with a garden?

What do you think about the idea of a common space / garden?

Do you know your neighbors?

How often do you go out of the city with a purpose of visiting nature?

If they do not have a garden:

What does a garden mean to you?

Would you like to have it?

What would you use it for?

Do you use a shed?

What would your ideal garden look like?

What do you think about these gardens?

If you could, would you change anything?

Do you use a balcony and for what?

What do you think about the idea of a common space / garden?

Do you know your neighbors?

How often do you go out of the city with a purpose of visiting nature?

I will leave the next steps to the outcome of the interviews.

Steve Suggests

1) How you organise your workflow is vital so a detailed TIMETABLE is essential. 2) At the beginning you make a contrast between the Slovenian garden and the Dutch garden. This seems very important to you. The Slovenian experience seems to be vary rich; not so the Dutch garden. In the proposal I am missing a personal stake: what drives you to do this project? What is the purpose of this research (for YOU!)? What do you want to experience from doing this? What passion do you want to communicate to the viewer? What kind of images do you hope to produce?