The OSS is a project that elevates mainly visual based gardening and landscape design to something engaging and meaningful for the residents of the community. After being interviewed about their life and cultural background, the residents will be able to choose a plant to be planted in the garden and become a member of the project. With great diversity in the community, the members choose plants from all over the world to be planted in their share of the garden. However, problems appear when it is attempted to have plants that naturally grow in different climates coexist in the same garden. Some plants need frequent watering when the others do not. It was a task for the designer to come up with a garden that would take in all the differences between the plants, as well as people. The solution was to have one side of the base of the garden elevated to naturally gather water to one side, so the soil on the elevated side will be relatively dry compared to the other side. Thoughts are also put into the shape of the garden. When looking down from the buildings, the garden will appear as two hands firmly holding on to each other, while one being darker in color. It symbolizes the diversity within the community and New York City, and at the same time celebrates inclusiveness with decoration of beautiful flowers. If anything, that can be changed, I would propose to expand the scale of the garden and set up common areas within the structure. It will look aesthetically more pleasing with the rest of the yard in terms of relative size, serve more purposes, and also be more engaging for the residents.
