This piece explores the idea of how we strive to interact with nature, even in our most urban settings.
The setting is Union Square. We are in the heart of high-end retail shopping in a high-end city. Surrounded by such luxury names as Tiffany & Co., Williams Sonoma, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Not to mention a five-star hotel with a legit Presidential Suite.
The most recent iteration of Union Square incorporates many green areas, providing much more of a park-like feel around the edges than the site has had historically. It is a nice addition. It softens the rather bleak landscape of the otherwise broad flat gathering space.
The green areas themselves are not very formal. Not like a French country estate. But they are all raised beds. Fenced in with retaining walls that are not insurmountable but also not conducive to wandering.
So again, nature and humans must be kept separate from each other to prevent harm, inadvertent and advertent, to each other. ...