Sarah Cowles: The Fertile Section
Lecture by Sarah Cowles (Ruderal Studio, Tbilissi, Georgia) as part of the IKA Lecture Series Winter 2025: Hands on — Urban Landscape Practices in Europe curated by Thilo Folkerts and Christina Condak.
Ruderal, a studio based in Tbilisi, Georgia, has developed new approaches to urban forestry applicable to the legacy of Soviet-era forests and post–military landscapes, and created conditions for ecological reignition in the traces of past land use. The collapse of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic and the resulting rapid privatization led to the reduction and degradation of Tbilisi’s public spaces. Ruderal will present their approach to urban forestry in three projects. The projects illustrate how a new practice of urban forestry has grown from the limitations and opportunities of Tbilisi’s urban context. Following Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, builders capitalized on the ambiguous legal environment, infilling the city's open spaces with housing and commercial buildings that continues today, with concomitant sprawl into former agricultural landscapes. Projects by Ruderal engage these forces. Arsenal Oasis, as a repatriation of public spaces lost since independence, and Betania Forest Garden, where a diverse forest patch and stair contrast with typical suburban gardens.
Sarah Cowles, ASLA, is founder and director of Ruderal LLC. Her inventive approach comes from 20 years of international experience and a localized understanding of place. Recognized as a thought leader in the field and a critical advocate for landscape architecture in Georgia, her projects address geopolitical realities to forge new relationships between ecology and culture. In 2019, she was named US Fulbright Specialist in Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. Landscape Architecture Magazine featured Ruderal on the cover of the April 2023 issue noting that the practice in Black Sea region is “in the thick of a global crossroads’ rebirth.” European Prize for Public Space, Landezine International Landscape Award, and the EUmies Award have all recognized Ruderal’s works.
Part of the IKA Lecture Series Winter 25: Hands on — Urban Landscape Practices in Europe
Curated by Thilo Folkerts and Christina Condak
As practitioners, the ways we act in and with urban space is undergoing critical revision. While our cities are in multiple crisis, the parameters of what forms the city are dynamic, the urban landscape is essentially fluid, as is nature itself. In recent decades standards in planning and building have had to be challenged. Learning while doing, using tools of participation and collaboration, working with experts of other fields, as well as hands-on engagement with the site and the future project are gaining importance as ways of finding agency. The lecture series focuses on European landscape architecture and urbanistic practices, adjoining critical and theoretical voices for contextualization and speculation on future acting.