[ Brittany Bell ]Seed Archive

 

Victoria University School of Design student Brittany Bell has designed a conceptual seed archive in Wellington, New Zealand.

“Seeds will be stored in the event of a future apocalypse,” explains Bell, who goes on to say that “Structure is a plant that has grown from the city.”

The following text is from Brittany Bell:

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Every year more and more species of plants are becoming endangered or extinct.  The New Zealand government has proposed the notion to create a seed archive for the Pacific Region to house its native plants and preserve them for future generations.

The major problem to overcome will be constructing architecture that will adapt to the changing and unpredictable future environment.  Therefore the architecture will mimic the architecture of a plant, as plants have the innate ability to adapt to their changing environment.  The architecture of the seed archive is in the form of a growing cytoskeleton of a plant.

It continues to grow and adapt to prevailing wind, rainfall and sun exposure.  For example the wings on the sides of the structure are heat sensitive and move to accommodate the protected plants within. The funnel forms in the interior act as the main structural columns, but also house the large trees that need to grow upwards towards the sun.  The architecture will be able to grow and expand overtime and rely on element-sensitive technology to exist without human presence.