Urban Garden – Calgary Mall

“As a child, one of my favourite places to visit was the urban garden at the east end of the Core mall in downtown Calgary. The progression to the gardens felt like an ascension to a greater space to my young mind. My parents would park in the cave-like underground lot, and we’d have to walk past the noisy and overwhelming storefronts. Eventually we’d climb the stairs to arrive at Devonian Gardens. I would run through the seemingly endless and wild jungle. The garden fell off the sides of the main floor like water in an infinity pool, making the space feel enormous while I played hide-and-seek. Plant-lined pathways and stairwells caught the greenery and offered more play space. I remember the central pond, stocked with Koi fish and turtles, and how you could interact with them using food purchased at a repurposed bubble-gum dispenser.

Devonian Gardens has since been renovated, but when I returned to take the accompanying photo, the memories were rekindled and I felt some of the same childlike joy. The space acted as an of oasis of respite and made me feel distant from the bustling mall. There were opportunities to engage in the site in public seating areas, or you could find more privacy on the aforementioned lower, outer levels of the gardens. The gardens offer a direct biophilic connection with their large biomass of plants, but even the sculptural structures outside the gardens on Stephen Ave evoke a similar sense of natural awe with their towering, forms. They could be trees, leaves or even strands of DNA, but what is important is their form’s unmistakable connection to nature. In my mind, Devonian Gardens will always illustrate the way an alliance between the built and natural environment enhances the quality of a space.” (Booklet Positive Lived Experiences of Quality in the Built Environment 2023, p.184).

Google Map link: https://goo.gl/maps/DxD9pLg7SmQ8m2dj6