Hasta La Ideas

Danish design studio EFFEKT has planted seeds for 1200 trees at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021 which will grow into a mini forest during the six-month exhibition where architects from across the world come to showcase their work. The coolest part is that these live in a grow table that will be remote-controlled from Denmark. This forest surrounds seven of EFFEKT’s projects and forms a fictional landscape of living trees. “Our installation in Venice showcases a series of ideas, concepts, strategies, and designs for living and building, for producing, consuming, and revitalizing the ecosystems we are part of and depend upon,” said EFFEKT on their unique way to leave their footprints behind while reducing their carbon footprint!

The installation is called ‘Ego to Eco’ and it is shaped as a physical representation of a natural ecosystem backed by research and sprinkled with design projects made by EFFEKT over the last few years. The team says projects like these can offer potential solutions to the challenge how we design ecosystems. It investigates new ideas for living and building, for producing, consuming, and revitalizing the ecosystems we are part of and depend upon – a community that stands on the pillars of architecture and natural balance.

Each architectural prototype was selected to make the visitors curious and encourage discussion on new resource-efficient ways of living. The seven structures explore how future communities can be designed with nature at its core and without compromising the modern lifestyle we now live. The seven projects include a forest tower and a nature village which aims to answer the questions like “Can real estate development enable ecological restoration?”

Ego to Eco features recirculating irrigation technology that pumps water and nutrients to the roots of the plants through an ebb-and-flow grow table. The excess water is drained and collected in a tank below. The pressure, humidity, and temperature sensors are connected to a controller box so the team can monitor and operate the ecosystem in real-time thus offering optimal growing conditions for the plants. The one-year-old trees of Pinus Sylvestris, Picea Abies, Pinus Sitchensisa, and Larix Eurolepis will grow over the course of six months and will be a part of the firm’s ‘nature village’ structure. EFFEKT wants to bridge the gap between cities and natural ecosystems so humans, animals, and plants can all reap the benefits of what we sow…literally.

Designer: EFFEKT