The Floriade is an international exhibition and garden festival based in The Netherland, which is held every 10 years in the Dutch monarchy. For the Dutch Design Week 2020 they envisioned an art installation to promote the upcoming edition of the Floriade 2022, with the theme “Growing Green Cities”. The themes of the past six Floriade expositions were presented and linked to contemporary designers who deal with the same themes today. The result is a visual translation of a garden within the context of the city.
The design consists of 6 booths that represent the 6 different themes, placed on the rooftop of the temporary container village Plug-In-City. Each box transports you to another world, and at the same time gives you a view of the here and now from the rooftop. The skin of the booths is a light and airy mesh, ensuring the connection with the surroundings. The construction is made out of bamboo. And the booths are surrounded by a sea of green: a phytoremediative plant selection.
These plants have a high absorption capacity of harmful substances such as metals and chemicals, and thus sanitize the soil in which they are planted and purify the air that surrounds them. The selection, consisting of visually flowering plants, is based on a number of fallow sample locations. For example, a cluster of flowers is placed that is specifically geared towards the remediation of a contaminated brownfield in the Rotterdam port area, one for the industrial areas in Eindhoven and one for urban transformation zones in Almere. The phytoremediative plants are extremely suitable for the remediation of vacant lots that are to be developed. Visually and thematically, the interpretation of the garden thus ties in with the industrial design language of Plug-in-City and the exhibition booths of the various Floriades.
Overview
Client: Dutch Design Foundation
Location: Eindhoven, The Netherlands
In collaboration with:
Jorn Konijn – curator
Lisa Hardon – programme manager
Jessica Voorwinde, buro bordo – production
Carolina Aboarrage, Studio Kader – graphic design
Lars van Vianen, Scape Agency – biodesign
Role: Architect
