BSLA Design Award for Eric Carle Museum

We are thrilled to share that our work at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art alongside Mantle Architects has won the BSLA 2022 Simplicity and Stewardship Award!

Illustrator Eric Carle and his wife Barbara “Bobbie” Carle founded the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in 2002 to collect and display the illustrated art of the picture book. To celebrate Bobbie and her long-time devotion to the Museum and its community, a decision was made to build a garden in the landscape around the Museum to honor her memory.

The goal of the design was to weave together features of the garden with existing remnants of the apple orchard. A simple loop path creates a contained portion of the orchard, well scaled for activities like picnics and story time. The sculptural concrete seat walls along the path invite visitors to sit, climb, and engage with the structure. The components of the new landscape design expand the educational programming run by the museum. The programs focus on discovery and learning through bug hunts, wildlife observations, outdoor reading, dancing, and art making. The signage throughout the meadow helps draw attention to these elements.

The meadow is planted with grasses and wildflowers native to western Massachusetts. Converting the mowed lawn to a vibrant meadow has dramatically increased the biodiversity of the habitat around the path. Rather than using chemical means to eradicate the existing grass for the meadow planting, an innovative approach of slice seading the meadow seed into the existing lawn was used to ensure the success of the meadow.

Bobbie’s Meadow has exceeded in activating and energizing what had been a passive underutilized landscape surrounding the museum. The space provides an opportunity for exploration and creativity, extending the learning opportunities beyond the walls of the museum while celebrating the legacy of Bobbie Carle.

Read more about the project here.