We speak to designer Jade Goto about the landscape she created in response to the global pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

What inspired this conceptual design?

The global lockdowns have highlighted the human need for outside spaces and the positive impact they have on our wellbeing. My response to the first global pandemic was to create a landscape that interpreted my personal experience of these strange and uncharted times. 

What was your experience with the global lockdowns?

My experience of the lockdowns, like everyone’s, has changed over the last year. Professionally, the confinement to our homes has led more people to reevaluate their living spaces, both indoor and out. Personally, I have found the first and third lockdown very different experiences, but have been lucky enough to have the constant of having nature close by, be it on the South Downs or by the ocean. I have found a sense of calm and hope in watching the changing of the seasons. It is also the first year that I have fully embraced the winter and seen what it can offer. 

Tell us about its design.

The landscape uses bold, sculptural structures to reflect the worldwide restrictions that have made constraint part of our everyday reality. In contrast, the wild planting and backdrop highlight the human desire to connect with nature and wilderness at this time.  

 However, what can be seen within the landscape is that the seemingly opposing elements of nature and urbanism, merge and become unified, creating a wildscape.  

What do you hope will come from creating this?

It is a call to green up our cities, to allow people space to escape both physically and mentally. It also seeks to to highlight the importance of creating landscapes that give children, after a year of unnatural confinement and isolation, playscapes and space in which they can have daily access to nature and a sense of freedom, even in the heart of a city.