© Austin + Mergold

We propose to examine the 16th century concept of the Three Natures – wild, productive and Leisure. Each can be also conceived as a horizon - an elusive concept, that has been at the center of culture formation for centuries; its implied presence everywhere unites us as humans, though simultaneously sets us apart by allowing unique readings from locale to locale. To any discipline concerned with shaping artifice as agent of intermediation between Human and Nature, horizon is fundamental. It provides a datum with which to measure the relationship of artifice (city, room, window, painting, garden, field, or machine) to its surrounding environment.
In the site, covered with wheat (the second nature), a trench is cut, oriented roughly east-west, gradually descending downward until grade becomes eye level. The north side of the trench reveals the ground cut (and is fortified with a gabion cages); the other – the south side – is a planted picturesque garden (see planting list). Inside the trench is path made of galvanized grating – it is open to below where the picturesque garden slips beyond the visitor's reach. Straight ahead, the path leads to a tower, covered with ivy, where the visitors, having gradually descended into the earth, can emerge and take in the vista of St. Lawrence River – the First Nature.

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