Weed Derive: A Handbook reframes the Situationist dérive as an act of urban ecological observation, tracing the spontaneous plant life colonising car parks, abandoned lots, and pavement cracks across the city.
About This Book
Taking the Situationist International's practice of the dérive — unplanned, drift-based traversal of urban space — as its starting point, this zine repurposes that psychogeographical tradition for a new purpose: documenting the resilient, overlooked plant life that persists in the margins of the built environment. Produced by the Soft Meadow Collective, Weed Derive sits at the intersection of urban ecology, landscape observation, and DIY publishing. It is less field guide than methodological invitation — a prompt to look differently at the city's interstitial spaces. Practical resources including maps, a plant list, a reading list, and a playlist make it as usable as it is conceptually grounded. Essential reading for those engaged with landscape urbanism, biodiversity, and ecological thinking in the built environment.
Key Features
- 24 pages of maps, plant lists, urban landscape instructions, and curated resource lists
- Authors: Sarah Lynch, Daniella Ruffino, and Adele Daniele (Soft Meadow Collective)
- Published by Soft Meadow Collective, 2022
What You'll Discover
- How the Situationist dérive can be adapted as a practice of ecological attention and urban plant documentation
- Instructions for reading the urban landscape to identify spontaneous vegetation in neglected or interstitial sites
- Maps and a catalogued list of plant species likely to inhabit overlooked urban spaces such as car parks and pavement cracks
- A shared resource framework — including a reading list and playlist — that models the collective's ethos of making do and sharing knowledge
About the Author
The Soft Meadow Collective is a multidisciplinary arts collective comprising Sarah Lynch, Daniella Ruffino, and Adele Daniele, with shared interests in plants, pollinators, biodiversity, and urban ecology. Established in 2022 during a residency at Collingwood Yards, the collective has produced exhibitions, workshops, publications, public art projects, film screenings, and community-engaged art projects, and is currently participating in the Room To Create Program at the Fitzroy Town Hall, supported by the City of Yarra.
Specifications
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 24
- Dimensions: 148 x 210 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: [Details available upon request]
- Publisher: Soft Meadow Collective
- Publication Date: 2022
Perfect For: Landscape architects, urban ecologists, geographers, and design practitioners interested in biodiversity, psychogeography, and the ecological potential of overlooked urban spaces.