SoThA Park

Competition entry: scenario for an artwork, SoThA Park, Bochum (project no. 270732)

Developed with Neža Ševčnikar. Drawings and visualisations: Neža Ševčnikar.

The proposal outlines a process-based, site-specific art project in the context of the SoThA prison, in which inmates act not as passive observers but as active co-creators of their surroundings. At its centre is an understanding of “making” as an educational and transformative act: through collective participation, building and cultivating a shared space becomes a means of learning, reflection and personal development.

(Re)inventing the self through nature

Nature is understood as an active agent within the artwork rather than a decorative background: a dynamic force that shapes human experience. It can calm, heal and transform. In this context nature becomes a teacher of patience and care, a place of relief from the psychological strain of imprisonment, and a mirror of inner states and processes of change.

The approach is based on the principles of ecopsychology, which stress the central role of nature for human wellbeing. Research consistently shows that direct contact with natural environments reduces stress and aggression, improves mood and strengthens cognitive abilities, even in tightly controlled institutional settings such as prisons. Indirect experiences, through images or media, can offer short-term relief, but it is direct, physical engagement with nature that has the most lasting effects.

Designing a visual and sonic environment

The project proposes a participatory process in which inmates work with natural systems while contributing to the making of the SoThA Park. This includes sowing biodiverse meadows that attract birds, bees, butterflies and frogs across the seasons, and building habitats such as insect hotels, bird houses, beehives, ponds and deadwood structures. In parallel, simple timber platforms and seating areas made from recycled materials offer places for rest, observation, reading and quiet reflection.

Through these activities inmates gain ecological knowledge of plants, animals and seasonal cycles, while working together on projects that strengthen social bonds. Of particular importance is the creation of living landscapes instead of static lawns: they offer sensory variety, seasonal change and meaningful everyday routines in an environment often marked by monotony. The changing rhythms of growth, decay and renewal add a temporal dimension that contrasts with the rigidity of confinement and helps to regain a sense of time and continuity.

Biodiversity plays a decisive role. Environments with rich plant and animal life offer greater psychological benefits than simplified landscapes, and they also improve rainwater management, cool buildings and absorb air pollution, functions that become ever more important with climate change.

Care, connection and change

The project is in line with current approaches to prison design that treat access to nature not as a luxury but as a basic part of infrastructure. If the aim of detention includes rehabilitation, environments must support mental health, wellbeing and social reintegration. Green spaces, when carefully designed, are not security risks but valuable resources that contribute to safer and more humane conditions. They shift the focus from mere custody towards care, connection and the possibility of change.

Gardens, orchards and ecological zones act as immersive learning environments in which inmates develop practical skills and strengthen patience, responsibility and resilience. As the results of their own work become visible over time, participation builds self-confidence and a sense of achievement.

Co-creation, responsibility and trust

Participation itself is central to the project. Too often inmates are excluded from decisions about their environment. By involving them directly in the planning, building and care of the landscape, the project strengthens their sense of agency, belonging and responsibility. This co-creative approach builds trust, ensures that the space meets the needs of its users and supports its long-term maintenance, in line with international standards that stress meaningful activity and rehabilitative environments in prisons.

Ultimately the proposal understands the prison landscape as a living, evolving system, one that enables transformation instead of merely organising confinement. By connecting art, ecology and participation, the SoThA Park becomes a place where people can reconnect with nature, with others and with themselves.

The meadow

The meadow combines native perennial wildflowers and grasses, roughly 60–75% grasses and 25–40% flowering plants, chosen so that something is in flower from March to November. Early bloomers such as cowslip and lungwort feed pollinators emerging from winter; meadow knapweed, field scabious, oxeye daisy, yarrow and common bird's-foot trefoil carry the meadow through late spring and summer; wild marjoram, viper's bugloss and devil's-bit scabious follow at midsummer; asters, goldenrod and ivy provide late nectar before winter. In winter, dry stems and seed heads are left standing as shelter for insects and food for birds, and a small nettle corner supports butterfly caterpillars.

Implementation scenario

• August 2026: project initiation, contracts and presentation of the project to the participating inmates
• September 2026: site preparation, selective replacement of existing shrubs, sowing of the perennial meadow
• October 2026: foundations, ponds and the circular bench; Workshop 1, design and building of the timber platforms
• November 2026: Workshop 2, introduction to biodiversity and ecological systems, training on bees and pollinators and an introduction to beekeeping with the Bochum beekeepers' association
• December 2026 – January 2027: Workshop 3, design and building of the beehive; preparing the inmates for the coming garden season
• February – March 2027: Workshop 4, further habitats including insect hotels, bird houses and deadwood structures; re-sowing of the meadow, final installation of the beehive and introduction of bee colonies, planting of the ponds
• April or May 2027: opening ceremony