At three stories high, "Garden in the Stars" will be a towering botanical sculpture covered in fruits and vegetables, for all to enjoy.
Ray Cirino has been working as a professional designer for over forty years. His botanical sculptures are currently on exhibit at The Hunnington Library Children's Garden, The Natural History Museum @ The U.S.C. Campus, The Arlington Gardens L.A., and at various private residences in Los Angeles. Cirino was also featured as "One of the Top 50 Innovators" by *LA Weekly Magazine in 2009.
Ray's New Project, "Garden in the Stars" will be a three-story tall botanical structure, covered in fruits and vegetables, inside and out, and will serve as an interactive living sculpture for student, teachers, and the public to learn and benefit from.
Ray envisions "Garden in the Stars" as both a renewable public resource and a functional work of concept art. The plan, as he sees it, is not only to beautify neighborhoods and residences, but also to provide a direct food source for senior citizens centers, lower income communities, and kids who need something fun and healthy to do!
Ray estimates this structure will take about 90 days to complete. The design incorporates a self-watering drip system so that "Garden" can irrigate itself automatically. Various costs related to the completion of "Garden in the Stars" include: Certified & general labor, machine shop hours, building permits, safety permits and inspections, hardware & materials, vehicles, transport, irrigation-drip system and reservoir hardware, and various other elements. An array of consultants, welders, fabricators, and artists will all collaborate under Cirino's close supervision, in his workshop in Pasadena near the Rose Bowl.
*Ray extends his personal guarantee to all our investors that this sculpture has a definite completion date within six months of the funding goal being reached. Permits will be applied for as early as possible.
Ray estimates the total budget at $37K. As soon as funding is achieved, he and his consultants will immediately begin the hiring, scheduling, building and permit processes. Once construction is completed, we'll be harvesting fresh fruit and vegetables right off the vine as soon as Spring/Summer 2013!
Project Location: Set against the backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains here in Los Angeles, "Garden in the Stars" will stand out as a monument of agricultural innovation. Ray's property consultants are already in touch with various organizations in the Pasadena area, actively exploring public places where this can be installed. "This is perfect for field trips, nature studies-- for all visitors to LA and Pasadena. Our climate here in Southern California is ideal for this design, which is a Zone 10 Mediterranean coastal climate-- literally the best place to grow food in the world." Enthused as always, Ray continues, "We can have multiple harvests of fresh produce throughout the year, and use the most enriched, compost-based soil mixtures to grow this food. There are a lot of people in LA who need this to happen. This is a new generation of public art, which offers more than just beauty."
Elaborating on the subject, architect and sustainable design expert Mark Lakeman (http://marklakeman.net/) describes a larger vision: "This highly sculptural but functional idea is being developed to inspire millions of other people to take action. It will provide an example of proven ideas, put into a form that will appeal to the citizens of Los Angeles, to demonstrate the essential ideas of vertical farming in an urban environment. This project is designed to greatly contribute to the greening of Los Angeles, and to the conversion of endless roof top surfaces into green, edible landscapes. This will not only contribute massively to the emergence of greater food security, but it will also help us begin to address global climate change by eliminating vast areas of dark asphalt-based surfaces that cause urban areas to heat up and also contribute to global climate change. It will instead convert those surfaces to lush, abundant fields of food, using all the available light that normally becomes an issue to instead feed our people and support a sustainable future".
Ray has yet another perspective to offer, on why his "Garden in the Stars" Living Sculpture will appeal to a broad spectrum of grown-ups and little ones alike. "As kids, we want to climb the up into the trees, to get a view from the top, and vertical gardening is the answer to that."
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35
Backers
$905
pledged of $37,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Unsuccessful This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on November 17, 2012.
Funding period
Sep 18, 2012 -
Nov 17, 2012
(60 days)
- First created · 1 backed
- Josh Epperly 408 friends
- Website: facebook.com
Pledge $1 or more
6 backers
We'll send you a "I Built the Garden in the Stars" Sticker, + You will be granted privileged, behind-the-scenes access to Cirino's creative design & fabrication process (via internet/Facebook, etc), and will see the various stages of the Garden tower becoming a reality, from concept to finished work! This includes daily/weekly access to sketches, blogs, photos, meetings, construction reports and updates. And don't forget, when "Garden" is done--- you can drop by & pick some fresh fruit and veggies right off the vine!
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $5 or more
8 backers
We'll send you a Poster of "Garden in the Stars" + a "I Built the Garden in the Stars" Sticker, + Above mentioned behind-the-scenes access to Cirino's creative design process & special access to all updates!
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $10 or more
7 backers
We'll send you a Poster of "Garden in the Stars" + 2 Stickers "I Built the Garden in the Stars" + Above mentioned behind-the-scenes access to Cirino's creative design process & special access to all updates!
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $20 or more
2 backers
We'll send you 2 "Garden" Posters *Signed by Designer Ray Cirino + 2 Stickers "I Built the Garden in the Stars", + Above mentioned behind-the-scenes access to Cirino's creative design process & special access to all updates!
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $25 or more
3 backers
We'll send you 2 *Signed* "Garden in the Stars" Posters + 3 Stickers "I Built the Garden in the Stars" + All above Mentioned behind-the-scenes access to Cirino's creative design process & special access to all updates!
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $50 or more
4 backers
We'll send you 3 *Signed "Garden" Posters + 3 "I Built the Garden in the Stars" Stickers + All above Mentioned behind-the-scenes access to Cirino's creative design process & special access to all updates!
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $75 or more
0 backers
We'll send you a Limited Edition Lithograph Print of "Garden" Signed & Dated by Designer Ray Cirino. + 2 "Garden" Posters, and 3 "I Built the Garden in the Stars" Stickers + All above Mentioned behind-the-scenes access to Cirino's creative design process & special access to all updates!
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $100 or more
1 backer
We'll send you 2 Limited Edition Lithograph Prints of "Garden" Signed & Dated by Designer Ray Cirino. 3 "Garden" Posters, + 3 Stickers "I Built the Garden in the Stars" + All above Mentioned behind-the-scenes access to Cirino's creative design process & special access to all updates!
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $250 or more
1 backer
We'll send you high-quality replicas of finalized architectural plans and designs, and various concept drawings, signed & dated by Cirino. You also will of course receive your Limited Edition Lithograph Prints of "Garden" Signed & Dated by Cirino. You also will be granted a Private Tour atop Garden in the Stars(this applies to California residents, *Additional rewards apply otherwise!). You will be Listed on "Our Generous Investor" Placard at the site of Garden in the Star. + Will Receive all above mentioned items. + behind-the-scenes access to Cirino's creative design process & special access to all updates.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $500 or more
0 backers
We'll send you Tickets to attend the Opening "Garden in the Stars" Ceremonies & Garden Party (this applies to California residents, *Additional rewards apply otherwise!). + also you will receive all above mentioned items! You will also be Listed on "Our Generous Investors" hand-crafted placard, at the site of "Garden in the Star!"
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $1,000 or more
0 backers
"Green Initiative" Investor - As an Investor who's clearly as inspired by Cirino's design as we are, we'd like to thank you in advance for your generosity, and offer these Gifts: An Exclusive VIP 3 Course Dinner for Two, atop "Garden of the Stars". Plus all above mentioned items, Lithographs, Stickers, the works! You will also be listed on "Our Generous Investor" hand-crafted placard, at the site of "Garden in the Star".
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $3,000 or more
0 backers
"Community Enhancement" Investor - Wow! are you in for a few special treats: You get the VIP Organic Dinner Entrée atop the Garden, plus all of the above mentioned items, and best yet: A Professional Design Consultation, in which Ray will walk throughout your home, office, or building space, evaluate your spacial scenario, then produce hand drawn concept sketches and architectural imagery for you personally, to reflect the kind of energy savings and organic food maximization possibilities which you might consider at some point. All the original design sketches and drawings will be signed & dated by Ray, and will be yours to keep. You will also be listed on "Our Generous Investor" hand-crafted placard, at the site of "Garden in the Star!"
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $5,000 or more
0 backers
"Grande Wizard" Investor - Holy Mole! you will receive a cornucopia of various gifts, as well as our most humble Gratitude and applause. We will provide you with a Violin Trio or Quartet Dinner Accompaniment, along with your Exclusive VIP Five-Course Organic Entrée, served by a private chef, atop the Garden of the Stars. You will also receive a customized Hand-Crafted "Garden in the Stars" Belt Buckle by Ray Cirino, specific to your requests, made from the actual materials used to build the "Garden" tower, & officially stamped with Ray's personal insignia. You will also be listed on "Our Generous Investor" hand-crafted placard, at the site of "Garden in the Star" + Finally, You'll receive all above mentioned items- Lithographs, Posters, Stickers! Grande Wizard Investors, Thank Goodness you exist!
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013Pledge $10,000 or more
0 backers
"Forests of the Future" Investor - You see the goal as clearly as we do, and understand the urgency on various levels. You will receive an abundant cornucopia of various gifts, as well as our most humble gratitude, applause, and enthusiasm! We will provide you with a Violin Trio or Quartet Dinner Accompaniment, along with your Exclusive VIP Five-Course Entrée, served by a private chef, atop the Garden of the Stars. You will also receive a customized Hand-Crafted "Garden in the Stars" Belt Buckle by Ray Cirino, specific to your requests, made from the actual materials used to build the "Garden" tower, & officially stamped with Ray's personal insignia. You will also be listed on "Our Generous Investor" hand-crafted placard, at the site of "Garden in the Star". + Finally, You'll receive the signed Lithograph Prints, special tours- All above mentioned items, the whole enchilada! "Forests of the Future" Investors, we're humbled by this gesture of confidence and trust, and promise to deliver a finished project as soon as humanly possible, for you to come visit, enjoy, and share with friends and loved ones alike.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2013
