H.O.R.T.U.S

New gardening prototype

"If we look at the earth as a territory devoted to life it would appear as an enclosed space, delimited by the boundaries of living systems (the biosphere). In other words it would appear as a garden"
Clement, Gilles

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H.O.R.T.U.S - New exhibition from ecoLogicStudio designed for the AA Front Members Room. Picture found on ecoLogicStudio's website

H.O.R.T.U.S, from ecoLogicStudio, host micro and macro-algal organisms as well as bioluminescent bacteria; fitted with ambient light sensing technologies and a custom designed virtual interface.

During the 4 weeks long growing period, Flows of Energy [light radiation], Matter[biomass, CO2] and Information [images, tweets, stats] are triggered inducing multiple mechanisms of self-regulation and evolving novel forms of self-organisation.

Visitors are invited to contribute by blowing air inside the various containers [photo-bioreactors] as well as adjust their nutrients’ content; oxygen is released as a result, feeding the other organisms in the “briccole” [bioluminescent bacteria] and in the room.

Information flowing daily through H.O.R.T.U.S feeds its emergent virtual garden, accessible via smart phones; its virtual plots are nurtured by the flow of observations posted by each visitor, locally and globally, by lighting levels data streams and by human interaction in real-time.

If you want to read more, here is a very good article at Domus by Lucy Bullivant