Perennial

The utopian principle of maintaining order is exemplified in the ideals of the American suburb. The first such community, Levittown, was built in Long Island, New York just after World War II as an attempt to meet the housing needs of a growing middle class. Abraham Levitt, co-creator of Levittown, established strict standards to achieve a level of uniformity and in his mind, perfection, to which the community must abide. Levitt believed that “grass was the foundation of life” and that it should be meticulously maintained to achieve “neighborhood stabilization.” With this in mind, residents used manicured rolls of sod and plastic substitutions to tame their landscapes. The front yard became a manifestation of Levitts’s utopia where color and uniformity were everlasting. Inspired by the subjugation of nature in Levittown, Perennial is a series of vases that encapsulate fresh flowers within resin, rendering their bloom eternal.