New York Greenhouse:
Cactus Store began in 2014 in a small 400 sq/ft storefront in Los Angeles. In 2016 the opportunity arose for us to expand our operation to a vacant lot in Manhattan's Lower East Side, across from Seward Park on the Chinatown border. So, we joined forces with our friends at Part Office, an architectural firm here in LA, and designed two prefabricated aluminum greenhouses wrapped in a translucent fabric-reinforced poly-film.
The structures are organized around a simple grid for ease of display and airflow, and sit at the rear of the lot to maximize sun exposure, and to make a courtyard in front for screenings, lectures, workshops, dinners, and other curated events.
We also built modular benches that stack to make shelves and tiered displays, as well as seating for sidewalk-weary New Yorkers.
In 2018, we transformed the front courtyard into a bamboo forest, densely populated with building-height Vivax bamboo, palms, cycads, ferns, and mosses, all growing amongst giant basalt boulders.
If our tenure ever concludes in New York, CS NYC is designed to be broken down and relocated. Maybe to Brasov, Romania?
