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Figured out why I hate the new Rose Garden design so much. It started with the indignity of the affront to Mrs Mellon. But there is more 1/
This article has a good summary of some of the valid challenges the renovation was going to address. 2/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/melania-trumps-rose-garden-redo-draws-criticism-but-its-long-overdue/2020/07/28/05b81754-d0c4-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html
My issue is that it is no longer a garden but a stage set. It is designed not to draw attention or even be noticed.
There is no rhythm, no tension, no sense of place. It is the same flatness that comes from painting everything gold. 4/
One pauses in a garden, taking in the shadows, textures and negative space as much as the flowers and trees. The new design consciously does not delight or entertain. It is silent and waiting, same as the people in it. 5/
I take comfort in that the garden has had several iterations, with roses as the constant thread. Prior to the Civil War, a greenhouse full of roses stood there. Mrs T Roosevelt replaced it with her Colonial Garden, which included roses. 6/
At a time when it feels like America is being paved over with malice and corruption, I try to remember that what I love about this country is here too, and, like the roses, still blooming. /fin
