Glasshouse sketches

April 2020 . These sketches are predominately based on images from the glasshouses at Kew Gardens London, (formally Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London). They helped inform some of the frame designs of the Pteridomania series, continuing the development of the relationship between landscape + architecture in this series.

I began researching Kew Gardens just as the international + local COVID lockdowns began in earnest. A strange time for everyone, but researching and drawing from these beautiful structures (remotely) was an enjoyable escape from the studio bubble.

Interesting background info: The site has had privately tended gardens from the 16th century. Established as a garden for exotic plants in 1759 by Augusta Dowager Princess of Wales with William Aiton (Gardener) + Lord Bute (Botanist) with William Chambers (architect) + Capability Brown (Landscape Architect). (was under management of Joseph Banks between 1772 -1819).

Now contains: 28680 taxa of living plants, herbarium of 7 million dried specimens, library of 130000 books/drawings + largest seed bank in the world. Fun fact: Holds the worlds oldest potted plant – an encephalartos altensteinii (eastern cape giant cycad) which has been there since 1775. collected by Kew’s first ‘plant hunter’ (botanist) Francis Masson, from Sth Africa.