CATERPILLAR
Exhibition + Garden Pavilion
Chadsey Condon, Detroit
Client: Design Core + Detroit Month of Design
Size:
64 SF
Small yet mighty, Caterpillar is living trellis at a nature park in Detroit, ready for a metamorphosis.
Attracting attention with a fuzzy coat composed of everyday backyard garden parts, the trellis archway is a framework for evergrowing Clematis vines, Catamint bushes and Red Bud trees — habitats and food for Detroit’s living creatures. Caterpillar imagines new interactions between ground, environment and structure. Finding form in grassroots efforts and natural ecosystems, the garden arch is reimagined as an interspecies habitat. Playful arrangements of off-the-shelf garden parts support a custom-woven structure that is light yet expressive. The shapes and colors of the arch were inspired by the Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar, and are a support structure for the plants that will in time overtake the ever-changing living archway.
Parts: (1) 13’ Arch Trellis, (8) Pieces Rebar, (150) Plant Stakes, (180) Zip Ties, (12) Miniature Greenhouse Trellises
Plants: Clematis, Red Bud, Catamint, Nodding Onion, Aster
Sited at 9 Lots in the Chadsey Condon neighborhood, the outdoor event featured installations by eight designers and architects committed to re-thinking scales of interconnectedness, community, and kinship from the ground up. We wanted to bring together a group of engaged designers who are interested in deploying structures, tools, and building methods that deeply consider the connections between all living beings.