Systems Project / Platform 8.1 RCA November 2005.

The brief that got me going for this project was short and complex. It said that we were going to work on, or with, systems.

At that time I was taking the tube, because my bike was in the repair shop. During two weeks of travelling in London by the metro and other public transportation I noticed a certain routine that many people seem to have. This routine goes as follows, get out of their house and go under the ground to work. Work is in the city, in an office and when they are finished at the end of the day they go under the ground again and back to home. People spending their whole day in artificial places and don't have any direct contact to other living organism besides other human beings.

It started with this simple observation but there is really a lot that come with this. The effects that this way of living has on people can be bigger than expected. Investigation in the relationship between man and nature led me to biophilia and how it is described by Edward O Wilson;

Biophilia, This term was popularised by the Harvard biologist Edward O Wilson in 1984 as the title of a book ( Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species ). To him it seemed incontrovertible that we human beings have an innate sensitivity to and need for other living things, because we have coexisted in the closest relationship with the natural world for so many millennia. He defined biophilia as "the connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life", and argued that they are determined by a biological need.

This is what got me starting thinking of how I can ad something natural to these places or to these people.

The tube travelling is a very clear example for me of an unnatural place for a human to be. So this got my interest to try create something natural here. The idea is turning an underground platform into a greenhouse without the use of sunlight. Growing flowers and plants on the platforms will make it a much more human friendly environment. Facilities have to be adjusted but it is possible to grow flowers in artificial conditions. The underground platforms could make a subtropical space with all kinds of midterrain plants (oleander, citrus, agave, olive, etc.) .

Systems Project / mobile flowers

A mobile flower system is one way to add something natural to a person. This first model is on wheels and the next step can be a bag or a suitcase flower that you can anywhere and take care of. In return the plant will bring you life, colour, scent and oxygen.

This model is a rough model nevertheless visually very clear. It's build up out of basic everyday materials; broomsticks, iron pipes and hoses. Together they make a system that almost without human interference can grow flowers. In contrast to closed electronic systems for watering and feeding flowers the elements in this machine show how simple things can work and how easy it is to read and used by the user.