Program designed by Perla Montelongo, Roberto Cárdenas and Claudia Hidalgo
Chillax Garden
This invention was a bit of a mess, to be honest. But we had fun. We envisioned an idyllic garden with self-watering systems, vegetable patches, and resting areas.
Sounds good, but: a) we are located in the middle of the desert, and b) we had no idea about plants or cultivation.
However, at House of Inventions, we try every idea that comes up. So, folks, we proudly introduce you to Chillax Garden!
We transformed an empty space with graffiti, self-made pots, a vertical garden that remided us of the 'Human Centipede', and handcrafted furniture. We wanted to create a space where students can converse, play, study, and eat together. And guess what? It worked!
Special thanks to the experts who guided us: Irving Prieto, Nómada Laboratorio Urbano, Yorch, Israel Gómez Mares, and Mary Gómez.
First of all, we went to the botanical garden to get some plants.
Then we made a first attemp at a vertical garden.
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Unfortunately it didn't work and the plants died, so we had to call an expert to help us re-build it. Thank you Mary Gómez!
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here we go again... second attempt!
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We called Irving Prieto, an expert in agriculture to teach us the basics of growing plants, to make sure this time we kept them alive.
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Next step: making outdoors furniture. It needed to function as a table, study area, chess playing arena, and shade.
Super thanks to Nómada Laboratorio Urbano for the workshop!
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Now it's time to add some color to make everything lively!
For this task, we called our friend Yorch who taught us how to work with graffiti and stencil.
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The students want to represent in the mural the potential uses of this space: listening to music, playing chess, and eating.
The wall is ready! now let's pimp the furniture.
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Finally, we closed this challenge by reviewing our achievements and mistakes, likes, dislikes, and ideas for the future.
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Tip: we print photos of the process, create a timeline, and have participants write their comments directly on the whiteboard about what they learned, liked, and disliked. It works wonders!
