A narrative garden, diversity, storytelling, and placemaking.

🌿 Last night, I had the pleasure of attending a fascinating talk at the Natural History Museum about the newly opened garden surrounding the iconic South Kensington building. The event was generously hosted by Monocle Magazine’s editor Andrew Tuck and sponsored by Holcim.

Meeting the creators behind this incredible project was truly inspiring. The new gardens bring together some of my favorite themes: diversity, storytelling, and placemaking. 🌳

The garden is a living celebration of biodiversity in the city. A key takeaway from the insightful conversation with the landscape architects was the importance of shifting away from monoculture ideas and embracing more complex networks of diverse flora and fauna. Incredibly, they even plan to have grazing sheep in the heart of London! 🐑

Designed with visitors in mind, the garden prioritizes accessibility and is crafted especially for children and families. One beautiful example is the sunken footpath that allows small children and wheelchair users to get close to the surface of the pond water, providing an immersive and inclusive experience for all. 🌊

The garden serves as a storytelling space, exploring everything from the descendants of the most ancient plants to imagining the future of urban biodiversity in the face of climate change. 🌱

And if you need any more reason to visit, there’s even a full-size bronze Diplodocus in the garden! 🦕