THEORY
AILANTHUS ALTISSIMA
Nature in unexpected places
EXPLANATION
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In 2011 French artist Simon Boudvin went around his neighborhood in the suburbs of Paris and photographied a surprising amount of Ailanthus altissima that were growing in the most unexpected spaces. He captured how nature was finding its way in the middle of a concrete jungle, and turning unused spaces into landscape.
REFLECTION
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In cities in the Global South we find extremely dense urban environments that usually have very few open green spaces. However, just like Ailanthus altissima was reveling itself in Bagnolet, the landscape also reveals itself in the metropolises of the Global South. However in some cases more brutally, in the form of landslides, floods or flash floods. It is here where the landscape speaks louder.
Instead of trying to control these phenomena, cities must accept them and integrate them into the fabric and processes of the city. This way these areas will stop being inconvenient spaces and improve the quality of life.