The WILDWOODS project focuses on the mass production of trees in industrial plantations around the world, which are characterized by
linear production chains and the removal of ‘defective’ trees.

To meet the huge demand for human-designed vegetation in landscape architecture, forestry and urban greening, industrial tree plantations have grown into highly specialized and carefully planned operations that coordinate the growth of thousands of plants throughout the year. The species and number of trees are determined by functionality, cus- tomer requirements and current design trends, which are primarily based on culturally constructed ideas of beauty of nature. The trees that are unable to satisfy these aesthetic standards do not generate value, thus they are extracted and disposed of after only one season.

The WILDWOODS project offers an alternative future to those trees that are left behind; because their trunks weren’t straight enough, their stems too thin, their branches irregular or their roots exposed. Without a commercial purpose, they regain their value as living beings and as a fundamental part of our ecosystem.In cooperation with tree nurseries (currently Baumschule Lorberg in Brandenburg), we wish to construct another type of park, another type of scenery. A forest of unwanted trees where variation and singularity are cherished — a sanctuary for difference and true biodiversity.

Violeta Burckhardt & Andreas Greiner, Summer 2020