The following are descriptions of an afternoon at a plaza in downtown Denver one year after install. The plaza is located on the corner of 17th and California.
The city was moving. Live music played across the street. A bus stopped every ten or so minutes, ringing its bells, which made it seem like the holidays in the middle of July. Walking into the garden felt different. There was still the unmistakable bustle of a weekday lunch hour, but it was less abrasive. My head clanged less loudly. There was at first sun, transitioning quickly to a dark sky with fleeting rain, and back to sun. The surrounding glass buildings reflected the shift in mood. Colorado never makes up its mind, which is nice.
The bees congregated around the water bowl, no more than a boulder with a naturally concave surface. They rested on the stone’s dry lip, and shimmied down to touch the water at intervals. Behind, Monarda fistulosa, Bee Balm, bloomed a delectable spread of purple. A woman came to rest on the log bench next to the water. Her back brushed the Bee Balm as she sat down and the bees flurried up into the air, not to sting, but to redistribute themselves back on the flowers. She was disturbed, and left the area with an expression of fear and maybe the slightest trace of humor.
Downslope from the water bowl, a collection of square picnic tables were occupied by people dressed in suits and slacks, eating in pairs or alone. Two guys in their early thirties told me they walk there each day from an office building a few blocks away to eat lunch. Another woman said she applied to work at the office next door because there’s free Wi-Fi in the garden. During these conversations, a group of eight or so common finches took turns darting underneath the tables to pick a crumb or two before darting away equally as fast. Their movements were unmistakably curated. They probably waited every day around 12:30pm for the lunch crowd to return and make a mess, as they are wont to do. Then, once lunch hour ended, the finches collectively browsed under and on top of the tables without fear. It was a finch free-for-all.
Every hour or so, the same woman came out to smoke. She sat on the edge of the deck and stared at her phone. People also stared at their phones as they walked purposefully along the pink stone path on their way to and from some other skyscraper. It looked appealing to have a mission. A single, buttery Oenothera flower bloomed at their feet. I hoped they wouldn’t step on it.
Those who took the smaller trail that curved in a wide arch along the contour of a mounded planting area were so immersed in the vegetation that their upper bodies appeared to have Artemisia for legs.
Project Data
Landscape architecture: Terremoto
CREDITS:
This project sits on the ancestral land of the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapaho Peoples.
Landscape Construction and ongoing maintenance by LandTech. Thank you Mitchell + Team.
Our incredible local horticultural consultant on this project was Kevin Philip Williams, who is a total badass, and who recently wrote a book you should buy (or borrow from the library!) and read!
Timber Fabrication: WHERE WOOD MEETS STEEL. Thank you Ryan and Marina.
Sandstone Supplier and Manufacturer: LYONS SANDSTONE QUARRY AND FABRICATION.
General Contracting by PCL Construction Services.
Architecture by TRYBA ARCHITECTS.
And a huge thank you to Jason and everyone at EQ Office.
YEAR COMPLETED: 2022
PHOTO CREDITS: Finished photos by Dani VonLehe and process photos by Kasey Toomey + Dani.
