CALIFORNIA, USA (1976)
The climate of this site necessitates the use of a southern European grape-growing technique: an elevated grid of wires allows the vines to branch out, creating a dense roof of leaves that shades the grapes from the sun and frees the ground below for the cultivation of other crops. Within the gridded vineyard, a small, excavated open-air chapel has a cross inserted in the earth at water level. The square plots are laid out in a formal pattern reminiscent of early Hispano-American towns. New inhabitants will continue living in their trailer houses, assured of privacy by walls of hedges which separate each family's land and are the only urban reference in the valley. It is hoped that eventually these walls will be clipped away and that a more communal way of living will develop a metaphor for the eternal wish for all walls to wither away and for man to live in peace un der the vineyard's shade and off of its generous grapes.
