IKEA’s open source plans for ‘Growroom’ brings flat-pack farming to city dwellers
25th February 2017
Swedish furniture giant IKEA has released plans for Growroom, a vertical, multi-tiered garden which aims to encourage sustainable food production in urban environments.
Growroom was developed by Space 10, IKEA’s external innovation lab based in Copenhagen, in collaboration with architects Sine Lindholm and Mads-Ulrik Husum. According to the designers, the project seeks to spark a conversation on how to bring nature back into our cities, and in doing so empowers urban dwellers to grow their own food in a beautiful and sustainable way.
Traditional farming takes up a lot of space, and space is a scarce resource in cities. Growroom tackles this problem by being both compact (2.8 x 2.5m) and free-standing. It is also designed in a way that allows each section of vegetation to receive light and water, while simultaneously protecting anyone sitting or standing inside from the elements.
Growroom was originally exhibited as part of CHART Art Fair in Copenhagen in August 2016. However, having received requests from all across the globe to buy or exhibit the garden, Space 10 decided to make the plans freely available online, for anybody to download anywhere in the world.
All you need to make a Growroom, either for your neighborhood or your own back garden, are 17 sheets of plywood, a rubber hammer, some metal screws and access to a lazer cutter or CNC milling maching. You can find more information on the project here, and download the free plans here.
‘Growroom supports our everyday sense of well being in the cities by creating a small oasis or ‘pause’-architecture in our high paced societal scenery, and enables people to connect with nature as we smell and taste the abundance of herbs and plants. The pavilion, built as a sphere, can stand freely in any context and points in a direction of expanding contemporary and shared architecture.’
Images Source: Space 10 website
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