2022

An Ephemeral Garden: Escapism and Architecture Beyond Reality

Joy Hunter

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+64 0225214360
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Morph, Renewal, and Freedom - "When I think of garden, I think butterflies!"

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a sudden shift to isolation from the outside world, which created stress in the lives of many. In today’s society, especially in cities, people are increasingly confined to smaller living environments with limited access to open green space. The notion of escaping from the unpleasant and mundane aspects of reality is being rapidly adopted by virtual and digital culture. Individuals and communities who may be facing mental distress due to the confinement of their physical and spatial well-being could benefit from a therapeutic virtual simulation.



Follow the escapist Alice and her journey into her green wonderland, where she lives in an apartment retrofitted using mixed reality technology. The garden allows Alice to navigate through the overlay of public and private virtual spaces on top of a standardised Soviet-inspired brutalist apartment, situated against the backdrop of an overwhelming cityscape...

How could

Mixed Reality

transform

Architecture

and create

An Escape for the Mind?

 
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Escape the Reality Apartment, Section - "Growth of the mixed reality technology tree, rooted in my apartment."

Since ancient times, gardens have manifested a sense of earthy yet ethereal escapism. From the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to Japanese Zen gardens, the aesthetics and architecture of gardens enhance the feelings of relaxation. Additionally, gardens act as a place for communal gatherings, improving psychological well-being and social relations. Between the extremes of wild nature and the artificial city, Yi-Fu Tuan argued that humans have crafted these ‘middle landscapes’ at different times and across various continents to simultaneously escape nature’s rawness and the city’s concrete environment without travelling long distances.

 
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An Ephemeral Garden Retrofitted, Isometric - "We built a machine to escape!"
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Virtual Reality Overlay of Everyone’s Garden, Isometric - "Seeking a playground for the mind, a therapeutic virtual simulation, an Ephemeral Garden.”
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Alice's Private Garden In Unit 808, Isometric - "Imagine a place with no stress, no boredom, no loneliness, no fear, no worry…”

This design research explores an escape experience by following the escapist Alice and her journey into her green wonderland, where she lives in an apartment retrofitted using mixed reality technology. The garden allows Alice to navigate through the overlay of public and private virtual spaces on top of a standardised Soviet-inspired brutalist apartment, situated against the backdrop of an overwhelming cityscape. The backdrop suggests that this confined reality may be difficult to bear for the residents of the apartment, and a willing practice of seeking an escape from their urban condition into an ephemeral garden can be beneficial for positive mental relief; evoking emotions such as happiness and relaxation.

 
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Alice and Her Private Garden - "Pot plant by my windowsill, the map into my virtual garden apartment."
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Eight Moments of Escapism, Perspectives - “For positive relief, happiness and relaxation.”
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Liminal Space, Plan - "I travel temporally, home to garden, virtual back to reality, then repeat."

The author has created this design research inspired by issues such as increasing urban density and isolation that have arisen since the advent of Covid-19, a reality one may want to escape from. The proposed virtual garden caters to the inherent wanderlust of human nature. Using mixed reality technology, a series of illustrative diagrams, artistic collages, and engaging narratives, the beholder (Alice) is invited to wander and explore. This research explores how mixed reality technology can be applied to existing architecture, enhancing the daily lives of its residents with therapeutic virtual simulation, forming a new kind of escape movement.