Creative Industry Report- Studio Roosegaarde

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IDS Script:

Hi I am Yi Dan and in the most ideal situation, I would love to work in an art/design studio, more specifically with Studio Roosegaarde. They are based in Rotterdam, South Holland and have a pop-up studio in Shanghai, China. The term their space as a “social design lab” where they bring together designers and engineers together. It was founded by Daann Roosegaarde who personally grew up on the coast of the Netherlands and hence has first-hand experienced rising sea levels. Which is why he is passionate about connecting people and technology to innovate the fight against climate change. The projects that have been produced reflect the same sentiments.

Two examples are Grow and Urban Sun.

Grow

Grow brings to attention the huge space on Earth that is literally feeding us. While there are huge negative sentiments surrounding the agriculture practice, Studio Roosegaarde approaches this situation by focusing on “how to improve the situation at hand”. Backed up research, what Studio Roosegaarde did was to come up with “light recipes”. Using certain wavelengths of light, mainly those falling on the spectrum of red, blue and ultraviolet light, these allow the crops to actually grow more efficiently. This allows a reduced use of pesticides by up to 50%. They were also sure to focus it horizontally and only be seen from nearby to avoid light pollution.

Urban Sun

Coronavirus massively reduced the interaction we have with one another and in an attempt to rectify the situation, Studio Roosegaarde levages on a specific UV light at a wavelength of 222nm which in the presence of it reduces coronavirus by up to 99.9 %. Combating plastic barriers and ‘keep away’ stickers, Urban Sun is instead a better way of meeting and interacting. 

Just like the works presented, many of Studio Roosegaarde’s pieces all surround the notion incorporating aesthetic poetry with practical solutions. They remind me of one of my favourite books “Unweaving the rainbow” as they are able to ground their work in scientific research and this resonates with me a lot. In their practice they almost seem to be making prototypes of our future landscape and even present a hopeful vision ahead for our earth. 

It’s interesting, with them it’s like, the worse the weather, the better the art piece!