Foget Me Not –  A GARDEN OF FANDING MEMORIES, WELCOME TO ALZHEIMER´S

The antithesis of memory would be obscurity/lack of memory. We would like to confront visitors with common symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (loss of direction, confusion and loneliness), while encouraging them to better cherish the memories they have.

Do you know what it feels like to lose your memory?
The concept of the garden is a spatial and visual representation of a real problem, which is the process of dissipating memory that affects people with Alzheimer’s disease. This garden is also a place to remember and preserve our best memories from the past. We try to illustrate the idea using three recurring elements. Each element is assigned to one of the three stages of memory deterioration:

1. Seat: existing memory.
2. Welded steel profiles: memory dissipating.
3. Box: lost memory.

We will put different questions on the seats and boxes, to encourage reflection or simply provide a sort of ‘memory training’. The boxes are covered with photos, and the chosen themes will denote positive emotions. Visitors will find plants encrusted in the seats (Myosotis sylvatica – Forget-Me-Nots), chosen as a theme for the project because of their name.

An interactive element and the focal point of the garden design is a tree (Arbutus unedo), positioned to the south east of the garden. Every visitor can place a special red label on the tree, where they can write their memories. The different components are organised in a regular arrangement, based on a town square. High grass around the edges of the garden form natural walls, to create proximity and give the garden an element of mystery.

TEAM: JoJoPa
Josef Graf, Joanna Jaxa-Chamiec, Paulina Lipka

ORIGIN: Austria & Polonia