At the center of humanity’s evolution is design skill. We make spaces for ourselves and our tribes. Thatching together reeds, pouring elaborate concrete forms, or building a floating habitat in space, all of these are ways humans transform their space. Parks were initially just public spaces for people to enjoy the outdoors, but with the rise of environmental consciousness, they’ve begun to take on the idea of “natural” spaces.

I’ve always found this interesting. The education aspect of taking an old polluted area and filling it with native plants is essential. On the other hand, that isn’t what is just going to grow there if we left it unattended. Of course, some of it would, but primarily these are manufactured spaces. Just as “naturally” created as a mall or a museum.

These spaces are about manufacturing a feeling in the visitor. One that stops you from looking at all of these aluminum-sided houses and cars, and think about what has been removed from the space where you are. To create a bottle world where we can see what is lost. It's the same idea as famous parks; we can enjoy nature. However, it adds a layer that demonstrates your status as a visitor.

On the other hand, does that disassociated quality reinforce our disconnection from nature? That we hold ourselves above the world and separated in a way that nature only exists where we don't. Which is absurd. Hell, anyone with a lawn spends a huge amount of their time simply trying to keep nature from reclaiming the space.

The weeds that overtake the average suburban lawn won't be a cultivated collection of native plants. It will be a mess of weeds and gnarls that is far less aesthetically pleasing. You can see these same spaces in the unkempt corners of a city park, especially in cities under austerity.

If these spaces aren't serenely beautiful and appealing to the sense of what's been lost, they don't achieve their purpose. They are made to induce a mixture of awe and guilt. The wonder that nature is beautiful, and the guilt that there'd be more of it around if we did a better job taking care of the place. However, that's the skill in designing these kinds of spaces. That's what needs to be conveyed for them to work well.

Conventional parks are equally valuable as recreation, but they are slightly different than preserves and nature centers. It is an entirely different feeling you get in these spaces, sometimes not even realizing that your taking in a bit of nature in these spaces.

Educating people and connecting them to the natural world is important, but understanding these spaces as aesthetic creations not only helps you see the seams but can act as a reminder that nature isn't neatly defined. Trying to contain in a Platonic ideal undermines the nature in spaces all around us.