GUERRILLA GARDENING

Guerrilla gardening is a movement in which activists occupy a piece of abandoned land in order to cultivate plants and flowers in it. This movement “is fueled by the desire and necessity to bring back life to the degraded zones of metropolises which have been overlooked during times of momentary interest and left in a state of abandonment”*. This project, born in a small part of Manhattan called Loisaida in the 1970’s involved the appropriation of private a run-down plot of land and its transformation into a public garden by a group of artists and other people from the city. Thirty-five years later, the space has remained a garden maintained by its citizens and is protected by the Park Department of the city. Over time hundreds of other common gardens have been added and still today new gardens and parks are sprouting up all over the world. The gardeners cultivate and overlook the occupied green spaces autonomously. They not only cultivate the gardens but also organize initiatives which involve the participation of other districts and elementary schools, therefore giving Guerilla Gardening an important social and cultural role.

*Michela Pasquali, I giardini di Manhattan. Storie di guerrilla gardens, Bollati