Fwd: [tb-cybergardens]: A new community gardening book

Friiens,

This was sent to me by Don Loggins of the Liz Christy Garden in NYC's
Bowery.

Adam Honigman



The book  LOISAIDA  NYC COMMUNITY GARDENS guides the readers through the
many community gardens created in vacant lots in the little but culturally
active Manhattan neighborhood bordering on the Financial District, called
Loisaida, originally born to accomodate the waves of immigrants moving to the
USA.
The book  tells the gardensb story and their development and evolution over
the past  thirty years, including the recent risk of their being demolished
due
to  building speculation in the area. First created at the beginning of the
1970s,  thanks to the initiative of a group of local residents, the Loisaida
community  gardens stand out as one of the most interesting examples of New
Yorkb
s hidden  green urban spaces. A blend of different cultures, languages,
religions and  habits which overlap and often come together in the evocative
names
chosen for  the gardens: El Sol Brillante, Brisas del Caribe, Miracle Garden,
Jardin de la  Esperanza, Creative Little Garden.
The gardens  can be described as spontaneous or highly individual, indigenous
and local,  ethnic, exotic, as well as precarious, marginal, nondescript.
However,  vernacular is the term that best describes the domestic, everyday
nature of  the gardens and designates them as the kind of minor,
non-institutional
green  areas that have always existed alongside public parks and historical
and  botanical gardens. They represent bone of manbs real necessities and
a
fundamental, innate need that arises despite any obstacle, like all other
primary necessitiesb(Rudolf Borchardt).
Common to  all Loisaida gardens are their great typological variability, the
originality  of their expository modules, their lack of a project, the
extensive use of  recycled objects and materials and the blending of
ornamental and
spontaneous  vegetation. All the above suggests a possible definition:
anomalous, ephemeral  gardens, the form of which will be changeability, the
mixing of
languages and  means of expression, which might also be very distant from each
other, always  in unexpected and surprising combinations. There are some
sixty gardens, as  big as entire blocks or as small as flower beds, squeezed
in
between the walls  of surrounding buildings. Their number keeps on changing:
each year new  gardens are created, while some are abandoned or demolished to
make space for  new buidings.
The many  color pictures taken by Michela Pasquali show the way the gardens
look at  present, while the black and white pictures taken by Margaret Morton
and  Donald Loggins illustrate their beginnings and early life. The book is
completed by two afterwords written by Mario Maffi, professor of
Anglo-American
Literature at the Milan State University and author of books on  Loisaida and
by Massimo Venturi Ferriolo, professor of Aesthetics at the Milan
Architecture Faculty.


a+mbookstore  via Tadino, 30 20124 Milano tel +3902-29527729 fax
+3902-29526115
www.artecontemporanea.com _www.linariabooks.com_
(http://www.linariabooks.com/)

_info@linariabooks.com_ (i*@linariabooks.com)
Return-Path: <owner-tb-cybergardens@vs50.server4me.com>
Received: from  rly-xl06.mx.aol.com (rly-xl06.mail.aol.com
  [172.20.83.55]) by air-xl04.mail.aol.com (vx) with ESMTP id
  MAILINXL44-73e444252be1ff; Sun, 16 Apr 2006 10:21:04 -0400
Received: from  vs50.server4me.com (vs50.server4me.com [216.55.187.50])
  by rly-xl06.mx.aol.com (vx) with ESMTP id
  MAILRELAYINXL64-73e444252be1ff; Sun, 16 Apr 2006 10:20:48 -0400
Received: (from majordom@localhost) by vs50.server4me.com
  (8.11.6/8.11.6) id k3GEKeF02140 for tb-cybergardens-list; Sun, 16 Apr
  2006 07:20:40 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from
  owner-tb-cybergardens@vs50.server4me.com)
X-Authentication-Warning: vs50.server4me.com: majordom set sender to
  owner-tb-cybergardens@vs50.server4me.com using -f
Received: from imo-d03.mx.aol.com (imo-d03.mx.aol.com [205.188.157.35])
  by vs50.server4me.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id k3GEKdR02133 for
  <cybergardens@TREEBRANCH.COM>; Sun, 16 Apr 2006 07:20:39 -0700 (PDT)
  (envelope-from DLogg60798@aol.com)
Received: from DLogg60798@aol.com by imo-d03.mx.aol.com
  (mail_out_v38_r7.5.) id j.362.2a3448d (15901); Sun, 16 Apr 2006
  10:20:26 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from  [192.168.1.44]
  (pool-70-23-254-150.ny325.east.verizon.net [70.23.254.150]) by
  air-id09.mx.aol.com (vx) with ESMTP id MAILINID94-3e1d444252a8367;
  Sun, 16 Apr 2006 10:20:24 -0400
Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v746.3)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Message-Id: <D02AA283-ACD4-42FD-B158-F42021919997@aol.com>
Cc: news@thevillager.com
From: Donald Loggins <dlogg60798@aol.com>
Subject: [tb-cybergardens]: A new community gardening book
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2006 10:20:23 -0400
To: cybergardens@treebranch.com
X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.746.3)
X-Spam-Flag: NO
Sender: owner-tb-cybergardens@vs50.server4me.com
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: cybergardens@treebranch.com
X-AOL-IP: 216.55.187.50
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative by demime 1.01d
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

The book LOISAIDA NYC COMMUNITY GARDENS guides the readers through
the many community gardens created in vacant lots in the little but
culturally active Manhattan neighborhood bordering on the Financial
District, called Loisaida, originally born to accomodate the waves of
immigrants moving to the USA.

The book tells the gardens story and their development and evolution
over the past thirty years, including the recent risk of their being
demolished due to building speculation in the area. First created at
the beginning of the 1970s, thanks to the initiative of a group of
local residents, the Loisaida community gardens stand out as one of
the most interesting examples of New Yorks hidden green urban
spaces. A blend of different cultures, languages, religions and
habits which overlap and often come together in the evocative names
chosen for the gardens: El Sol Brillante, Brisas del Caribe, Miracle
Garden, Jardin de la Esperanza, Creative Little Garden.

The gardens can be described as spontaneous or highly individual,
indigenous and local, ethnic, exotic, as well as precarious,
marginal, nondescript. However, vernacular is the term that best
describes the domestic, everyday nature of the gardens and designates
them as the kind of minor, non-institutional green areas that have
always existed alongside public parks and historical and botanical
gardens. They represent one of mans real necessities and a
fundamental, innate need that arises despite any obstacle, like all
other primary necessities(Rudolf Borchardt).

Common to all Loisaida gardens are their great typological
variability, the originality of their expository modules, their lack
of a project, the extensive use of recycled objects and materials and
the blending of ornamental and spontaneous vegetation. All the above
suggests a possible definition: anomalous, ephemeral gardens, the
form of which will be changeability, the mixing of languages and
means of expression, which might also be very distant from each
other, always in unexpected and surprising combinations. There are
some sixty gardens, as big as entire blocks or as small as flower
beds, squeezed in between the walls of surrounding buildings. Their
number keeps on changing: each year new gardens are created, while
some are abandoned or demolished to make space for new buidings.

The many color pictures taken by Michela Pasquali show the way the
gardens look at present, while the black and white pictures taken by
Margaret Morton and Donald Loggins illustrate their beginnings and
early life. The book is completed by two afterwords written by Mario
Maffi, professor of Anglo-American Literature at the Milan State
University and author of books on Loisaida and by Massimo Venturi
Ferriolo, professor of Aesthetics at the Milan Architecture Faculty.


a+mbookstore via Tadino, 30 20124 Milano tel +3902-29527729 fax
+3902-29526115

www.artecontemporanea.com www.linariabooks.com
info@linariabooks.com





CONTENTS



PREFACE


        INTRODUCTION

The history of the community gardens in America


     LOISAIDA

     The neighborhood

     History

     The gardens

 From the origins until today


     THE GARDENS

     How to read the gardens

     Dimensions and morphology

     Vegetation

     Water

     Decorative elements

     Evolution



     NEIGHBORHOOD LIFE

     Organization and management

     School-gardens

     Gordon Matta Clark and La Plaza Cultura Garden

     Opening times, access to the public and guided tours

     Events



     CONCLUSIONS



     POSTFACE

Gardens of memory by Mario Maffi
     Vernacular gardens by Massimo Venturi Ferriolo



        The Associations



        BIBLIOGRAPHY











a+mbookstore via Tadino, 30 20124 Milano tel +3902-29527729 fax
+3902-29526115

www.artecontemporanea.com www.linariabooks.com
info@linariabooks.com



PUBLISHER: a+mbookstore

COLLECTION: LINARIA

EDITOR: Michela Pasquali

TEXTS: english-italian by Maria Vittoria dalla Cia and Michela Pasquali

PHOTOS: Michela Pasquali, Margaret Morton, Donald Loggins

PAGES: 144

PICTURES: 87

PRICE: 25 euro

YEAR: march 2006



Donald Loggins
dlogg60798@aol.com


______________________________________________________
The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org


To post an e-mail to the list:  community_garden@mallorn.com

To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:  https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index