Continuing the theme of ‘useful things to do with old trees’, this month’s picture was taken in Chandigarh on what seemed to be public land, on the road which leads to Le Corbusier’s Secretariat building. Indians are well known for their ingenious re-use of materials which might seem to most of us to be useless. In this case it’s the startling originality of the idea which is striking. Who would have imagined, looking at a recently cut-down tree, to make 3 flower pots from it? And if the roadside garden is public space, how was the commision of these masterpieces briefed and to whom? In a land where this level of creativity is easily matched by the bureaucracy, we can speculate that the order was passed down through a series of officials until it reached the urban planning office, where a young planner with an interest in gardening had the idea on his way home one evening. The best ideas are usually the spontaneous ones!
British designer Jasper Morrison (*1959) is regarded as a pioneer of "New Simplicity", advocating a more humble and serious approach to design. The fundamental principles presented in his 2006 exhibition “Super Normal”, created in collaboration with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa, attracted a great deal of attention.
