Paper Garden
In the spring of 2011 Anouk Vogel was invited to make a garden for the Gardening World Cup held in Nagasaki, Japan. The brief was to make a garden of 24m2 for the duration of one month in the autumn of the same year. In total 16 designers from different countries were invited to take part in the Gardening World Cup.
For this event Vogel choose to make a design entirely folded out of white paper. The idea is based on an old Japanese legend that grants a wish, such as a long life or recovery from illness or injury, to anyone folding a thousand origami cranes. Inspired by this tradition Anouk Vogel folded a thousand paper flowers with a team of 15 local people to express a wish for world peace and tolerance. The team needed two weeks to fold all the parts composing the garden. The plants are made with special paper that can absorb water without being destroyed. The flowers open when moist and fold back in shape when drying.
Despite being invited to take part in this event and the fact that medals would only be awarded to the different designs after completion of the gardens, Vogel's proposal to make a paper garden was first rejected by the organizers. The reason being that the garden did not contain real flowers and could therefore not be judged. In the interest of the theme significance, Vogel assured the organizers that she accepted not to receive a medal if only she was given the chance to realize the garden in order to express her wish for tolerance. Eventually the garden was built and was awarded the judges special award as well as a sliver medal.
