Recently, TikTok content creator @sophia_kiran, an American living in Berlin, went viral after visiting the “Gardens of the World” exhibition park, where visitors can explore different themed gardens inspired by landscapes across the globe.
As part of the attraction, the park features an international “Los Angeles” inspired garden, and let’s just say…it has a very interesting vibe.
“So if anyone is curious what Europeans really think about Americans and American culture, let me introduce you to the Gardens of the World in Berlin,” Sophia jokingly began in her video.
Sophia proceeded to show the exhibition’s interpretation of an “America Garden.”
“It is a fake parking lot, literally,” she continued. “This is the ‘garden.’ It looks like a parking lot.”
“This is the curated, designed garden…”
“…with half dead palm trees…”
“…and a closed-off patch of grass.”
“Yeah,” she said, panning to a parking space.
In comparison, Sophia showed off the Italian garden, which was blooming with greenery, flowers, hedges, and a decorative building…
@sophia_kiran / @sophiatravelsberlin / Via tiktok.com / instagram.com
…and the Korean garden, which had a pond and a gazebo-like structure…
…and then, the Moroccan Garden, complete with a beautiful riad.
“It’s very well done,” she noted.
“Actually, it’s very nice,” she said, showing the fountain.
The nearly whole park features eleven themed gardens and nine international garden galleries in total. The only American-themed garden is the “Los Angeles” inspired one, which is also one of the only ones to critique its location.
“The only other garden that had critical elements was the South Africa garden, which was designed to look like a boat to represent colonialism,” Sophia said.
Designed by artist Martin Kaltwasser, the “Los Angeles” garden is a replica of a car park at an art center in Santa Monica, California, per the attraction’s website. The installation seeks to address “the displacement of nature by industry,” inviting visitors to “critically examine” an “overwhelmingly urban landscape.”
Google Maps / Bergamot Station Art Center / Via google.com
Of course, people had a lot of thoughts about the whole thing in the comments:
“Not gonna lie, they nailed the American garden. I thought you were in Florida,” a top comment read.
“that’s… really funny. brutal. but very funny,” another wrote.
Many were rife with their own critiques and adjustments they’d make:
“*remove that bench from the American garden. Can’t have anyone getting too comfortable or sleeping there,” one joked.
“It’s not accurate. There should be a gas station and a drive thru McDonald’s,” another said.
“i mean Trump just destroyed the White House rose garden to put a slab of concrete in its Place….the parking lot seems spot on,” another joked.
For context:
ImageCatcher News Service / Corbis via Getty Images / JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images / Via buzzfeed.com
One European was like, “That’s probably the most polite expression of what we Europeans think of the US, I’ve ever seen.”
Shade!
Still, some were like, Guys, we have American plants and they always get overlooked. 🙁
Which is true, but also kind of the point of the critique. The US has incredible plants and land, yet it’s constantly sacrificed for development, whether it’s bulldozed, sold off, or paved into concrete.
Just this year, Trump rolled back protections on 59 million acres of national forests to allow for logging, and his Interior Department plans to sell roughly 400,000 acres of federal public land to local governments or private developers, much of it overlapping with habitats for endangered or threatened species.
For Sophia, the whole thing was funny, but also hit on a deeper contrast she notices as an American living abroad. “As an American who’s been living in Berlin for two years so far and has traveled quite a bit, it was a great, if exaggerated, representation of how I and many others feel about the general contrast between infrastructure in the United States vs Europe,” she told BuzzFeed.
She said it was kinda a reminder of why she left the US in the first place, and continues to stay abroad. “Even though the United States has amazing nature, I grew up in suburban Ohio,” she said. “In my hometown, it’s nearly impossible to even get to the neighborhood school or local businesses without a car due to lack of sidewalks and proper infrastructure.”
halbergman / Getty Images
“Compare that to Berlin and many other parts of Europe, where walkable streets and public transportation make the quality of life infinitely better,” she continued. “And even in small cities in Germany and other European countries, I don’t see massive amounts of land being taken up by parking lots like in American cities.”
ElOjoTorpe / Getty Images
Well, what do you think of Berlin’s “Los Angeles” America garden? Do you think it’s a fair critique? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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