A Book Labyrinth Dissolves Back Into a Forest

Originally installed in 2010 for the Festival International des Jardins de Metis, the Jardin de la Connaissance (The Garden of Knowledge) is a labyrinth of books situated in the forests of Quebec. The designers, Rodney LaTourelle and Thilo Folkerts of 100 Landschaftsarchitektur, intended for the installation to slowly dissolve back into the surrounding landscape, dispersing millions of pages of human thought into nature.

Over the past two years, the books have molded and mildewed while gigantic orange mushrooms sprout from their pages. Now, the designers intend to introduce a type of decay originally created by street artists, namely moss graffiti. The ground up moss/buttermilk paste is painted onto surfaces, which then sprout into the intended message or shape. As time goes on, the stacks of books will play host to successive forms of life until they are reduced to the soil of the forest, ending their use as objects in a most poetic way.

This post originally appeared on Architizer, an Atlantic partner site.