Pharmacopolium

The knowledge about the qualities of plants and their spread through texts, paintings, herbal therapy and jar-herbs not only were of vital importance medically and scientifically, but also politically and economically.
Since ancient times, this knowledge has been transmitted and extended by erudite people, especially women, who were in charge of producing and keeping the learnings about the plants and forward to the alteration in order to get medicine from them.
Pharmacopolium is inspired in old monastic gardens that would grow medicinal plants which were used in apothecaries later on. This process of planting, growing, harvesting and final transformation into medicine is the one that this garden deals with. The access to it is facilitated throughout a semi – opaque wall covered in medicinal plants, recalling the shelves of old drugstores, where all the medicines were ordered and labelled accordingly. Stepping around the garden, the ground floors – same as in the old monasteries ‘gardens – vary the vegetation and mix both medicinal and greenery, offering the garden sort of dynamism and fracturing the symmetry of the parterre. The plants grow higher while we are getting deeper into the garden, hence the shortest plants are seen at the entrance and the tallest at the back of the garden, making us feel as walking towards the wild nature.

TEAM:

Lucía García de la Peña García
Eduardo Izquierdo Díaz
Inés Mielgo Garrido

ORIGIN:

Madrid

During our five-year learning we had explored different paths in the world of architecture, from artistic to technical, from conceptual to material. Nevertheless, it was during our last study course and in times of pandemic when we felt the need to get deeper into landscaping in order to design with and for the nature, be inspired by it and acknowledge that only this way we can keep the balance with the planet and cure our bodies and minds. This was the trigger of our project and the connection between the three architects.