Earlier this year, a colorful, terraced design created by South Korean designers Soomeen Hahm, Jaeheon Jung and Yumi Lee was selected among four other finalists for the 2020 International Garden Festival prize. 

The group’s winning design, titled Augmented Grounds, according to an announcement posted to the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) website, where Hahm works as design faculty, “considers the history of the Métissages culture in the region, taking inspiration from the traditional finger-woven sash of the Métis nation of the Western Plains.” 

The description continues: “Reflecting an innovative exploration of new territories and emergent practices, the garden’s design represents harmony through colorful ropes that are tightly laid by hand atop a sculpted terrain. Additionally, smart construction technology is employed alongside augmented reality and generative algorithmic design to provide playful and spatial experiences within the garden’s layout and installation.”

According to the designers, the garden design is meant to combine the creative and generative capabilities of human and digital labor within the garden context. The design, according to the SCI-Arc website, “focuses on the construction of complex forms—built by human agents using augmented AR devices—to develop unique processes that would not be possible by pure automation or individual labor alone.”

The five winning designs were selected by jury from over 200 submissions representing 38 countries. The designers will have a chance to realize their installations at the Redford Gardens in Grand-Métis, Canada during the summer and fall of this year. The installations are scheduled to be open to the public from June 20 through October 4, 2020.