March 17, 2024 - Boston Flora

Wednesday, March 27, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm – Priorities Reversed: From Climate Agnosticism to Ecological Activism

March 17, 2024 by Boston Flora

The public is invited to a free talk on March 27 at 12:30 pm at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall Loeb Library Lobby, with Pedro Gadanho. Rather than slowly immersing in the subject of the ecological emergency, if one suddenly dives into its depths, the experience can be irreversibly transformative. Based on a personal trajectory of exhibitions, books and projects, this talk dwells on how such a radical reversal can alter not only one’s worldview, but also what kind of action and practice one accepts to pursue after their priorities have undergone a radical change.

Pedro Gadanho is an architect, curator and author. A 2020 Loeb Fellow from Harvard University, Gadanho holds an MA in art and architecture, and is a PhD in architecture and mass media. From 2012 to 2016, he was the curator of contemporary architecture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where he coordinated the Young Architects Program and curated exhibitions such as 9+1 Ways of Being Political, Uneven Growth, and A Japanese Constellation. Between 2015 and 2019, he was the founding Director of MAAT, the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, in Lisbon, where he initiated more than 50 exhibition projects, including shows and publications such as Utopia/Dystopia, Tension & Conflict, and Eco-Visionaries. During 2020-21, he led a bid for European Capital of Culture 2027 by a coalition of 17 cities in Portugal’s interior, and became a Guest Professor at the University of Beira Interior. He has edited the BEYOND bookazine, the ShrapnelContemporary blog, and contributes regularly to international publications. He wrote Arquitetura em Público, a recipient of the FAD Prize for Thought and Criticism in 2012. In 2022, he launched Climax Change! How Architecture Must Transform in the Age of Ecological Emergency (ACTAR Publishers: New York/Barcelona).

Anyone requiring accessibility accommodations should contact the Public Programs Office at (617) 496-2414 or events@gsd.harvard.edu.

Wednesday, April 10, 2:15 pm – The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Nasturtium Display: A Guided Tour

March 17, 2024 by Boston Flora

The Garden Club of the Back Bay will be holding a members only guided tour of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum nasturtium display on April 10, which is reason enough to join the Club today at https://gardenclubbackbay.org/

The nasturtium was one of Isabella Stewart Gardner’s favorite flowers.  Long considered a symbol of freedom, strength and independence, this blooming vine has been appreciated as a food, medicine and work of art.  A gifted gardener, Mrs. Gardner began growing the vines in her greenhouses in Brookline. What came next was the creation of a spectacle out of a fairytale that only a true visionary could have imagined.

In April 1905, to celebrate her birthday and mark the return of spring, Mrs. Gardner arranged for cascading nasturtium vines to spill down from the Venetian balconies of the Courtyard of her Fenway palace.  Since then, the unique display of brilliant orange nasturtiums has become a renowned annual tradition, inspiring artists and visitors to her museum for over a hundred years.

The tour of the Museum will focus on the nasturtiums, as we learn about the process the Gardner’s team of horticulturists use to transform flats of seeds in June to nasturtium vines in lengths that would rival the locks of Rapunzel nine months later.  We will view paintings inspired by the Gardner nasturtiums, and see other works of art that reflect Mrs. Gardner’s love of flowers, gardening and landscapes.

This program is for members only with a limit of only 25 people. However, we will keep a waitlist. If you sign up and can not attend, please let us know so someone may take your place. We will meet at 2:00 pm near the bookstore at the Gardner Museum located at 25 Evans Way. For more information email info@gardenclubbackbay.org