organized by multidisciplinary creative agency borneo laboratory, and designed by wendy teo atelier the ‘butterfly garden’ is a community-initiated garden project that was conceived and realized during the semi-lockdown period in kuching, malaysia. with most gathering venues in south east asia being predominantly enclosed or indoor market-driven spaces, the project seeks to provide an alternative, community-supported urban farm accessible to all. located at a rooftop in the heart of the city, the butterfly garden aims to visualize and inspire hope among locals. 

butterfly-shaped structure by wendy teo houses urban rooftop garden in the heart of kuching, malaysia
all images courtesy of wendy teo atelier

 

 

wendy teo atelier’s butterfly garden’s was constructed at the top of the ‘think & tink’ old supermarket building, in the center of kuching. the locals have set up the community garden as an open space where anyone from the neighborhood can participate. borneo laboratory and all other participants organize weekend meetings where the members gather, up-cycle, grow vegetables and cook during day-long productive sessions.

butterfly-shaped structure by wendy teo houses urban rooftop garden in the heart of kuching, malaysia

 

 

since the project was carried out during the semi-lockdown period of kuching, a strategy of minimizing large group gathering and contacting was developed thoroughly for the construction process. rapid fabrication and assembling strategy was made possible with a network of cutting edge fabricators. as a result, the three-day assembling timeline was made possible after two months of planning.

butterfly-shaped structure by wendy teo houses urban rooftop garden in the heart of kuching, malaysia

 

 

the design by wendy teo atelier aims to remind of the hopeful quote ‘what the caterpillar thinks is the end of the world, the butterfly knows it’s only the beginning’. thus, the rooftop pavilion translates the shape and texture of butterfly wings into a canopy pattern. timber seating is allocated underneath the canopy, allowing visitors to enjoy the generous urban views.

 

 

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project info:

 

name: the butterfly garden
designers: wendy teo atelier
development: borneo laboratory platform
CNC supplier: CH enterprise
steel contractor: kingwoods company
funding support: cendana malaysia 

 

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom