The highest award available at the GBA Shenzhen Flower Show, the Grand Gold Award, has been presented to Jo Thompson for her augmented reality (AR) garden. 

Thompson’s I Live with Nature garden features an “intricate brick pavilion” at its centre, created using AR, thanks to a collaboration with Princeton University’s Form Finding Lab and researchers from the University of Bergamo and Pegaso University.

The central pavilion was constructed using an AR headset, helping to guide the placement of each brick and allowing for better accuracy of the positioning. 

Construction was completed in real time, eliminating time inefficiencies and error, and in turn any material waste. 

The pavilion is designed to symbolise the balance between urban life and nature and the blurring boundaries. 

Speaking about her I Live With Nature garden, Thompson says: “Having seen this technique used to create a vaulted arch for the Venice architecture biennale last year, I was eager to use it for the first time in a horticultural show garden.”

The Shenzhen Flower Show is open between 23 March and 1 April.