'Towards Paradise' 

Venice, Italy | 2008

‘Towards Paradise’ was the first major landscape installation to be part of the Venice Architecture Biennale. Working in collaboration with Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN), the garden installation is carved out of the overgrown grounds of the former Church of the Virgins, a Benedictine nunnery that was destroyed in the late 1800’s. Towards Paradise is a contemporary allegory for a journey through earthly dilemmas, evoking what has been lost and what can be gained in the relationship between humans and nature.

The whole garden was extremely complex and evocative and was among the most popular pieces of the whole Biennale. The mounds remain to this day as successful additions to the Venice landscape.

“Towards Paradise was and is a stellar success. Its achievements are the results of vision, creativity, and ability to execute in a timely manner to a high degree of quality. I am forever grateful to Gustafson Porter + Bowman for their contribution. ”
— Aaron Betsky, Curator of 2008 Venice Biennale
“...‘Towards Paradise’ by Gustafson and her combined Seattle and London offices blew everything else away...The long walk past the three-dimensional clichés in the Arsenale is well worth it for this magical oasis of calm and release.”
— Hugh Pearman, writing in The Sunday Times (2008)

In this video, Aaron Betsky documents the creative process behind the 11th Architectural Biennale in Venice, 2008, and looks at 'Towards Paradise' by Gustafson Porter + bowman and GGN. Director: Stephen Natanson

“Towards Paradise responds to the challenge of how to cultivate one’s garden, or how to tend to our affairs. In an idealistic world to have that capacity, one needs wisdom and a desire to search for wisdom. In French one’s ‘Jardin Secret’ is the private and protected part of one’s soul.”
— Kathryn Gustafson, Founding Partner
“...Gustafson Porter + Bowman have planted an intriguing garden of sweet-smelling herbs and voluptuous vegetables, shaded by billowing white sails held aloft by white balloons. In the morning, dew holds the sails close to a rolling lawn; as the sun rises, the dew evaporates and the sails rise to form artificial clouds above the Arsenale. This is enchanting...”
— Jonathan Glancey, The Guardian (2008)

Awards

2009    International Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum

Kathryn Gustafson talks to The Sunday Times' Hugh Pearman in August 2008 on the concept and creation of Gustafson Porter + Bowman's landscape installation: 'Towards Paradise'. 'Towards Paradise' was the first major landscape installation to be part of the Venice Architecture Biennale. Working in collaboration with Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN), the garden installation is carved out of the overgrown grounds of the former Church of the Virgins, a Benedictine nunnery that was destroyed in the late 1800’s. The whole garden was extremely complex and evocative, and was among the most popular pieces of the whole Biennale. It was so successful, in fact, that the Biennale chose to keep most of the garden after the event had finished. This was the only installation for this was true, and the mounds remain to this day as successful additions to the Venice landscape.

In the context of the 2008 Venice Biennale and Gustafson Porter + Bowman's/GGN's landscape installation 'Towards Paradise', Kathryn Gustafson discusses the meaning of the garden and the wider cultivation of food in an interview with Domus Magazine.