- Living Station
Rooftop Garden
The Rooftop Garden is a (green) space where the WdKA community can relax, learn, share and connect. We’re interested in exploring the management of huge concepts such as sustainability, ecology, nature and the climate on the smaller and more tangeable scale of an inner-city rooftop.
Students and staff alike can contribute to the rooftop ecosystem by growing things, organising events, watering the plants, taking care of the compost, or bringing new ideas to make the space better. At the moment, it’s taken care of as part of The Living Station (WH.01.118) so please come and talk to us if you’d like to get involved.
The Rooftop Garden was initiated by former students. In 2022/23 SPIN Collective in organised events and festivities connected to the Pagan calendar aiming to activate, grow, care, come together and learn for and with the natural cycles of the seasons. Without the efforts of former students and staff, this garden wouldn’t be here. Thank you!
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PROGRAMME 2024-2025
UNDER DEVELOPMENT!
We’re busy pruning, tidying, collecting seeds and adding some mulch to our planters. At the moment there are no scheduled events, but we have a ‘Gardening Hour’ on Monday mornings, so please come along if you’d like to be involved. As always, if you’d like to organise something on the rooftop, plant something special, or have any ideas how this space could be used please get in touch with us (Honey and Aldje) at the Living Station!
We’re currently working on how to better integrate the rooftop garden into the educational programmes here at the academy, so check back here in the spring to see if there are lessons or programmes you can participate in.
Gardening hours: Monday 9-10am
Past PROGRAMME 2023-24
Thank you to students Giulia Mladossich and Melda Ennekavi for their work to repaint the benches! Melda’s illustrations can now be seen on the Rooftop, and here!
Past PROGRAMME 2022-2023
Mabon(September 29nd)
The 22nd of September marks the day of the autumn equinox when day and night have the same length. Mabon announces the beginning of autumn, it is a moment of balance between night and day and might be the perfect moment to observe the plants that survived the warm summer and reflect on the past activities from the Rooftop Garden. The workshops will be centered around the embodied experience of space by observing and listening.
Paper Making Workshop
Together with the Publication Station the Rooftop Garden hosted a paper-making workshop at the rooftop.
Making paper gives a second life to many materials, it can be leftover paper, textiles, dry plants
The aim was to invite students to reflect on their positionally as art students.
The droughts this summer created a very hostile environment for the plants, therefore to keep this part of the garden’s history alive we decided to make paper from the dead plants and recycled paper from the trash bunker.
Samhain (November 4th)
From October 31st autumn storms may tear through city streets, bringing majestic trees to their knees, traffic to a standstill, damaged buildings and causing long-lasting change to small urban pockets of woodland. It can appear to be devastating but of course, out of change, new things can emerge. In Autumn we will be getting ready for the cold and long winter. It is the perfect time to prepare for hibernation! We propose to spend time together learning from what is dead and hidden.
Yuletide
Yuletide takes place around the longest night of the year; it is a dark moment, but from then on the world will brighten up again and the days will become longer. The perfect moment to think about hibernation, rest, and sleep.
Imbolc
1st of February, about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. ‘Imbolc’ meaning ‘in the belly’ refers to the pregnancy of ewes at this time of year. This Sabbath announces spring, it is associated with purification, fruitfulness and the power of the light, of the sun. The earth is slowly awakening. We want to talk about the power of life and the ownership of the belly, Imbolc.
Ostara
Ostara occurs when Earth’s equator is directly in line with the Sun, causing the hours of light and darkness to be equal. It is the time of the year when we put the first seedlings in the ground. Our bodies are slowly awakening and we are starting to open up and connect with our surroundings. Commoning, coming together, exchanging. New projects are starting, new ideas are being planted, and new groups are being formed.
Beltane
It is a time to share food, welcome tree branches into the home and gather herbs with friends. It is associated with fertility. By now plants seem to be growing by the minute, many trees are in blossom, butterflies have begun to return and a wealth of herbs are in their prime.
Midsummer (June 21st)
Many rites of the Midsummer holiday are connected with water, fertility and auto-purification. The traditions include singing songs and dancing until the sun sets, telling tales, greeting the rising midsummer sun and washing the face with a morning dew and floating flower wreaths on the water.
