MED-O-MED Prototype, 2011

MED-O-MED is a botanic gardens network promoted by FUNCI (The Islamic Culture Foundation ). It was initiated to make up for the shortage of funds available for conserving biodiversity and natural and cultural heritage in the South and East of the Mediterranean basin and in the Middle East
The materialization of the Med-o-Med Station is conceived as an updating of the green culture inherent to the sensorial Islamic garden.
The outcome of these premises is a station prototype, conceptualized throughout an educational abstraction of the Islamic garden’s history, properties and complexity.

REFRESHED ISLAMIC GARDENING
The materialization of the Med-o-Med Prototype Station is conceived as an updating of the green culture inherent to the sensorial Islamic garden.
The development of this system-project intends to foster the didactic features of the prototype in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the Al-Andalusian culture in terms of contemporary landscape treatment and environmental concerns.
It is the first application of the whole transferable concept of the Med-o-Med botanic garden.

LEARNING THROUGH FIVE SENSES
The project aspires to making the development of Islamic countries in these regions compatible with the preservation of their environment and heritage. It aims to set up projects involving maximum participation by regional social and public agents.
The project’s indetermination and commitment enable the use of natural resources, as well as the implementation of the local constructive techniques, without altering the Med-o-Med’s environmental awareness features. 
Education and training are essential for sustainable development, for fighting poverty and conserving natural and cultural heritage. MED-O-MED proposes setting up pedagogic programs and training schemes regarding biodiversity and landscape heritage conservation that improve the living standards of their beneficiaries

PLANTING AN OASIS SEED
The placement of the Med-o-Med station is centrifugal.
The proposal consists on planting an oasis seed, a germ of a totally adaptable green system. A cultural and didactic seed that is able to generate an endless collection of contemporary Islamic landscapes.
In addition Botanic gardens today have an important role in the conservation of rare species at risk of extinction.

UNLIMITED SIZES FOR EVERY POCKET
The construction of a Med-o-Med station is relatively easy. The first step involves defining its site, size, programme and available budget. Once these parameters are fixed, a research on the vernacular construction, available materials and optimum species shall be carried out. Finally, the system would be adapted to the available resources.
This flexibility is also applied into the economic area. Each Culture or country may only be able to offer certain specific resources. Thus, socioeconomic aspects are adaptable as well.

The building technology is intended to be basic, and based upon agrarian constructions, featuring -nevertheless- a creative implementation. Water tanks are used worldwide, and its feasibility can be commonly acknowledged.

The vast marquee, a flexible latticework, rests upon wooden or steel columns –subject to availability- and it is woven following a geometric, modular pattern.

Proficiency. Contextual and aesthetic impact
MOUTHWATERING LANDSCAPES
Its size and placement procedure are totally adaptable to each particular context due to the systematic idiosyncrasy of the project, as well as to its 100% renewable energy consumption protocol.  The project is context-friendly. This is always positive for any context.

  1. Smell: Scents of flowers and fruit
  2. Hearing: Water and wind whispers
  3. Sight: Colours: flowers/Contrasts: shadows/Reflections: water
  4. Touch: Thermal comfort/Sun protection
  5. Taste: Edible garden

The number of Botanic Gardens in the Mediterranean and the Middle East is currently insufficient to carry out, on site and off, the necessary tasks for the conservation of local flora and phytogenetic resources. A number of initiatives for creation of new sites are, however, increasingly taking place. In this section we feature botanic gardens members of the Med-O-Med network to better promote them

Botanic gardens today have an important role in the conservation of rare species at risk of extinction. One third of the plants in the world are threaten, almost the same proportion as those that are grown today in botanic gardens, which have thus become repositories for the planet’s plant diversity. For this reason, MED-O-MED represents an efficient mechanism for North-South cooperation in the field of conservation of plant diversity.

Education and training are essential for sustainable development, for fighting poverty and conserving natural and cultural heritage. MED-O-MED proposes setting up pedagogic programs and training schemes regarding biodiversity and landscape heritage conservation that improve the living standards of their beneficiaries