The Oxfam GOAL Garden – A World Beyond Walls
The Oxfam GOAL garden is a vibrant, social space designed to highlight the need for tolerance and acceptance in a world that is becoming increasingly divided. The back wall of this garden represents what could, in a more inclusive and diverse global society, become of some of many border walls that are currently being talked about and constructed around the world today. Some of the brutal concrete-like slabs have been removed from the wall and manipulated to create the form and function of a garden, or social space, to be enjoyed by all.
What were once parts of an oppressive obstruction are now communal seating areas for people to lunch on, for the foot-weary to rest upon, for energetic children to clamber on, for families to picnic on, and artists to articulate passion upon. It is now a communal space for all members of society to enjoy in a spirit of harmony and unity. The surfaces of the concrete walls are pasted with remnants of fake news. Peeling posters of alternative facts fade into obscurity through use. Through a grit-gravel surface, a diverse planting scheme softens the harsh concrete angles and a light airy canopy of trees provides shelter and shade.
Born in Co. Dublin, Niall Maxwell is a multi-award winning garden designer. He studied horticulture at Writtle College University, Essex, and has designed and created private gardens in the Dublin area for the past 20 years. In 2015, Maxwell’s thought-provoking ‘Darkness into Light’ design for Pieta House at the Bloom Garden Festival was awarded every medal possible, winning Gold, Best in Show, Designers’ Choice and Peoples’ Choice. He returns to Bloom in 2017 with a concept garden for Oxfam GOAL, highlighting the global charitable work of both organizations. The Oxfam GOAL garden will be a vibrant, social space designed to highlight the need for tolerance and acceptance in a world that is becoming increasingly divided. (View profile)
Source: Bloom 2017 Medium Garden – The Oxfam GOAL Garden – A World Beyond Walls
