Work: Archival and onsite research reading Bos Park (Amsterdamse Bos) through its soil
Published in: the Journal of Architectural Education, issue 76:2 - Pedagogies for a Broken World
Location: Bos Park, Amsterdam
Co-author: Sara Jacobs, Assistant Professor, UBC
Date: Fall 2022
Supported by a UVA Howland Traveling Fellowship
Abstract: Soil is formed through constant and relational processes of breaking down—through decomposition and erosion—where brokenness becomes a ground for regrowth. At Bos Park in Amsterdam, thinking with soil foregrounds the socio-ecological contexts that underlie the park’s design, fracturing dominant narratives of the park as a ‘finished’ cultural landscape. Rather, thinking with soil at Bos Park unearths histories of those who works the soil, from park construction by Jewish prisoners during Nazi occupation to recent attempts at maintaining the park as ‘completed’ nature. The productive breakdown of soil becomes a lens for uplifting pluralistic narratives to work toward meaningful pedagogical practices of historical, social, and ecological repair on soil time.
Published in: the Journal of Architectural Education, issue 76:2 - Pedagogies for a Broken World
Location: Bos Park, Amsterdam
Co-author: Sara Jacobs, Assistant Professor, UBC
Date: Fall 2022
Supported by a UVA Howland Traveling Fellowship
Abstract: Soil is formed through constant and relational processes of breaking down—through decomposition and erosion—where brokenness becomes a ground for regrowth. At Bos Park in Amsterdam, thinking with soil foregrounds the socio-ecological contexts that underlie the park’s design, fracturing dominant narratives of the park as a ‘finished’ cultural landscape. Rather, thinking with soil at Bos Park unearths histories of those who works the soil, from park construction by Jewish prisoners during Nazi occupation to recent attempts at maintaining the park as ‘completed’ nature. The productive breakdown of soil becomes a lens for uplifting pluralistic narratives to work toward meaningful pedagogical practices of historical, social, and ecological repair on soil time.
