From concept to rollout it took us almost a month to carpet a smart with a rich layer of live plants spanning over five square metres. For another month we took it on the streets of Stuttgart, to see if we could stir up the debate about greening potential in public space.
Green rooftops and walls have been en vogue for a while. What about taking the next step and “greenskinning” a vehicle with soft grass? No kidding! “greenskin” is our project that enhances the idea of greening spaces with a mobility drive. It explores how greenery can occupy new spaces in an urban context lying in-between the asphalt and the bodyworks.
However this was not just about the haptic feel and the looks. The transfer to mobile greenery encompassed more than greening the tin surface of a smart in a month. After we stitched the roots of the succulents on an adhesive textile and let it grow through a mesh, we attached several layers of protective film, textile adhesive, filament, net and sediment to the car – a hybrid connection of organic material and plastic of some sorts. After completion we drove through town to get some first-hand reactions and discuss our idea.
taking our baby out for a spin
There's been quite some buzz with national television and many interested pedestrians
Instead of fabricating a lengthy scientific study the moovel lab’s approach is inventing a prototype pretty quickly. Our aim was to spread the idea of urban greening potential, give food for thought and inspiration, and receive feedback.
For sure, neither a greened car can be the solution for all issues regarding mobility, nor can it substitute urban green spaces. We rather wanted to provide a basis for discussion: What new actors can we add to the interplay between the organic city and its traffic and, at the same time, lessen the negative side effects of mobility? Our project is about the possibilities of converting, reshaping and repositioning urban space in the dimension of mobility.
The Right Mix
“greenskin” was an experimental temporary setup. First we needed to prove that we indeed could attach a green skin onto a mobile unit. The plants on the roof, front, rear and side elements needed to brave the elements and endure sun, wind and rain. They needed to remain stuck to the extreme inclination of the doors.
Instead of a roof structure we decided on some kind of skin including several layers for the plants’ roots to be interwoven. Succulent plants are particularly adapted for steep and extreme terrain. They withstand the airstream and pollutants, and they can easier cope with the changes in sun exposure.
Some of the various plants we used could adapt much easier to the mobile patch and stick to the surface. Interestingly enough, one plant species started to spread its sprouts due to the vehicle movement. Note to self: If we try greening a smart again we should optimise the selection of plants.
A Windshield Washer System Including Irrigation
We underestimated just one thing: the cultivation of the succulent plants. The nurturing and daily watering was more time-consuming than expected. In a future setup we could tinker about with the windshield washer system and connect it with an irrigation system that waters the plans evenly.
Andreas Ruff, a crafter of exhibition pieces and prototypes and a collaborator of moovel lab, adds: “In the next step we would need to terrace the inclined doors with gutters for the plants to be watered.” He continues to tell about the layer structure: “Eventually roots and plants added 100 kilograms to the smart’s overall weight. The proportion of sediment and the root system on one side and the plants on the other was fifty-fifty.”
Windshield Washer Irrigation System
This is a sketch of the idea how an automated irrigation system could look like
Towards More Potential Green Spaces
Our greened smart was just the start! We put some thought into how we could structure the public space on the streets in new ways. Vehicles, especially the ones with a bigger surface, tend to take most of the space in an urban environment. How about greened busses or trains? In the context of a vehicle we also thought of its infrastructure: parking spaces, bus stops, noise barriers and other would make great examples for greening. A member of the BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany) put it quite nicely: Cars stand around in (plant) hostile environments like hot parking lots and dark garages - why not start here?
Making You Smile
In fact, the green appearance was warmly welcomed over the four weeks. Most of the spectators seemed to be curious about our approach. We noticed they cheered up the moment they saw the greened car driving by. Just a few looked a bit indecisive what to make of it. To sum it up, the smart had an overall positive impact on its surroundings. The surface greenery was perceived as cute and charming, and not pretentious at all.
One big part of the project was getting feedback and putting “greenskin” up for discussion. How would a greened vehicle move the pedestrians?
Not Only Upstaging the Sports Car
In a similar way the media paid a lot of attention to our mobile greening experiment. The surprisingly strong response proves us right: our approach was interesting enough to further explore the setup on a greater scale. The prototype doesn’t only show “how the cityscape of the future could be shaped”, pronounces German AutoService.de. German Automobilwoche even regards the project as a future business model. Other media reactions range from appreciation “a symbol for the environment”, BILD Online through humorous perception “no more fear of damages to the paintwork”, German ZEIT online to a plant carpet as serious competition. “This smart is an eye-catcher that initially would upstage many sports cars”, auto.de proclaims. The BBC even goes as far as to position our project in the field of biomimicry and embraces “any swatch of living, breathing green, especially in the asphalted heat islands of cities”.
We hope we could give an inspiration and encourage others to find ways how urban environments could be made more liveable.
