Fence posts will be capped with a display of birdhouses crafted by first year students in the College of Architecture and Planning while below them hogwire panels will hold a collection of garden implements like hoses, spades, rakes, sprayers, sprinkle heads, and lawn fertilizer spreaders.  Gateways to the backyard will replicate entrances to estates and farmsteds with columns dressed in corrugated plastic roofing and illuminated from within. A boardwalk across a crushed glass pond will provide an opportunity to view glass cattails set around  rose glass blocks and glass gazing balls reminiscent of water lilies. Stretching further the imagination, fields of marker flags and whirling plastic daisies will harken to flower beds and wild flora along country roads. A crushed glass creek leads to a small lazy frog pond where ceramic frogs sit on glass blocks in a loose remembrance of the baby frog fountain in the BSU campus. Along the creek, 8 foot high windwills will bring a memory of water wells and watering troughs in the farm. Complementing the fantasy, a bosque of Christmas trees with paper lanterns descending upon them will provide a glimpse of seasons to come.  An ample court with precast pavers and sections of artificial turf will provide a place to visit and view the various acts and presentations scheduled throughout the Fair at the performance stage.

Overall, the BSU Backyard explores the poetics of the land and stretches the basic understanding of what is natural and real. New and old materials are used in an effort to extend their meaning and  visualize new uses and understandings.

Work on design of the BSU Backyard is conducted by faculty and students in the Department of Landscape Architecture. Construction is done by the same faculty and students with assistance from students in other departments of the College of Architecture and Planning and members of the Indiana chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Several merchants and product associations donated or lent services and materials for use in the backyard.

For More Information:
Malcolm Cairns, Chair
Department of Landscape Architecture
(765) 285-1982
mcairns@bsu.edu