Jerónimo Hagerman's Radial Gardens

Written by Elisa Iturbe
Photos courtesy of Vitrina

From a distance, the Torre Latinoamericana stands tall and silent, a quiet symbol of time and its passing. But below, the streets of Mexico City are teeming, not just with scurrying people, but with plant life as well. Artist Jerónimo Hagerman has filled the plaza alongside this famous skyscraper with a Radial Garden: old tires and round rubber receptacles contain trees, ponds, and grass, creating a playful oasis for city dwellers braving the endless stone and concrete of the city center.


For Hagerman, this garden is an art installation that speaks of the relationship between contemporary art, the city, and the citizen. But implicit in the presence of lush vegetation in the barren shadow of an immovable steel skyscraper is a conversation about nature and its place in the city. Packaged in tight rubber containers, the plants’ roots are entirely disconnected from the ground: the man-made container touches the man-made ground while the natural elements, unintegrated, remain as a series of objects placed lightly in the urban landscape, ready to be picked up and whisked away at man’s behest. In fact, the garden is destined for several locations around the historic center. As the plants are placed and displaced in different public spaces, their goal is not to provide relief from the gray artificiality of the man-made – this is not an urban greening project. In other words, the vegetation is not meant as a natural refuge, but as a catalyst for conversation. The plants are objects placed artfully in the city as a tool for social experimentation and collective conversation. The whimsical roundness of the containers makes the dialogue playful and the space delightful, but below the pleasantries, Hagerman reframes nature’s place in the city, using it as a tool instead of a refuge and offering the city dweller a chance to see nature in a different light.