Conservatory
Governors Island, NYA conservatory on Governors Island, without plants.
Like museums or libraries, botanical conservatories focus on the specimen—collecting and displaying, offering at most a hands-off experience for the visitor.
In this conservatory, phenomena found in desert conditions of the American West—salt flats, geological formations, and the mirage—are brought to the Northeast and housed for interaction.
Like museums or libraries, botanical conservatories focus on the specimen—collecting and displaying, offering at most a hands-off experience for the visitor.
In this conservatory, phenomena found in desert conditions of the American West—salt flats, geological formations, and the mirage—are brought to the Northeast and housed for interaction.
This unique effort of conservation grants the feeling of spatial curiosity. An expanse of luminous, naturally pink salt will reveal itself to you. The presence of a massive boulder reaching for the sky will stand before you, inviting you to constrict yourself upon navigating its crevices.
At the end of your journey, you will be underground, but you may find yourself asking “is there water at the other end of the room?”
