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Horatio's Garden

The Super Contemporary exhibition was held in 2009 at the Design Museum in London. At its heart were fifteen commissions to produce an original design for London. El Ultimo Grito’s brief (Hurtado is one of two partners) was to redesign a London landmark. Their choice was Trafalgar Square, for which they would create a garden 52m above the square where visitors could join Nelson in his view of London. At this height the garden would ensure that both the square and the garden would receive sunlight.

The research content of Horatio’s Garden involved the development of a new landmark for a crowded city, a far harder challenge than creating something memorable from a blank canvas. In addition, its creation plays with the idea of heroes in modern society. While heroism may not be a popular modern virtue, Hurtado thinks that Nelson is one individual from the British past whom it is still safe to regard in this light, not so much for his own merits, but because of his location above Trafalgar Square, the historical place for social demonstrations. Nelson has been the silent witness of all of these, and has recently become a companion to activists who climb up to sit with him in protest for whichever cause they might support.

Horatio's Garden generated public debate for and against, and was believed by some to be an actual project. It satisfied Hurtado’s intention to get the public involved in debates on the way in which our cities develop, how they represent us, and what we want to see built and destroyed. It was one of the principal reasons for El Ultimo Grito becoming the 2012 winner of the London Design Medal. The design was re-shown in Taipei in 2011.