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/) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED]) 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED]) X-Authentication-Warning: vs50.server4me.com: majordom set sender to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Sun, 16 Apr 2006 07:20:39 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Received: from [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Donald Loggins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [tb-cybergardens]: A new community gardening book Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2006 10:20:23 -0400 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.746.3) X-Spam-Flag: NO Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________________ 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: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
