Conference
Exhibition 2022
Anaisa Franco
GREEN WAVE
Green Wave by Anaisa Franco follows the theoretical line of the previous exhibition that speculated on the relationship between ecology and fantastic representation of the city through invented models that appeared in its entirety. As in the case of Antonio R. Montesinos, Anaisa Franco's work wants to be a response to an alleged imminent ecological disaster, but unlike the first one she develops her reflection from an interior place of the city, the shared public space.
In 2008 the World Health Organization and the United Nations published a report revealing that currently more than fifty percent of the world's population lives in cities. By 2050 this percentage is supposed to reach seventy percent. The demographic explosion in cities in the coming centuries will force the human race to face new political, economic, social and cultural consequences. Population growth will take place in a context of ecological risks on a global scale: from soil, air and water pollution to the alteration of water and energy regimes, the loss of biodiversity, threats of droughts, floods, fires and sea level rise. And obviously climate change. Many cities, both in the
global South and the global North, are already struggling to meet these challenges, in some cases for reasons of survival or health and social justice, in others for an improvement in urban livability and aesthetics. To address these issues, many new paradigms and concepts have been developed over the past thirty years, such as urban ecology, urban planning, ecological architecture, landscaping, design and environmental activism. Ecological urbanism, urban metabolism, urban environmental justice, biophilic design and climate urbanism are some examples that have influenced theory and practice in these fields of research and activism.
For its part, ecological architecture is a broad concept, ranging from the use of more sustainable building materials to a bioclimatic approach, an efficiency in the use of resources or, for example, the achievement of a minimum landscape impact. Within the concept of ecological architecture, we can include like-minded ideas, often equivalent, such as sustainable architecture, bioconstruction, green architecture or environmentally friendly architecture. The recycling of materials is a major point to highlight. At present, it is relatively popular in developing countries to use free or very low-cost recycled materials for housing construction, which are often reconstructions of old houses in a state of dereliction. In the cities of the future, the recycling of plastic in construction will be a common and necessary practice, as well as the need to look for alternative, independent and more sustainable ways for subsistence.
Green Wave is a giant maqueta, halfway between installation and sculpture, which is born from the interdisciplinary fusion between urbanism, ecological architecture, participatory art, gardening and media art. It is a perfect post-natural artifact: a mobile urban garden, made up of biodegradable materials, recycled plastic, self-sufficient and interactive, which wants to make up for a supposed lack of green and resources in the cities of the future. It is composed of an undulating structure covered with plants and sensitive solar panels that are illuminated during the night. Users can walk on top of the sculpture and rest under it. Green Wave's goal is to create a work of art that contributes to cushioning climate change, recycles plastic bottles and illuminates its own shape using green energy from the solar cells it carries embedded. The project engages the audience by creating a shared common space where citizens can walk, play, rest, educate children and collect plants, herbs or food. It can house several types of plants, such as rosemary, dill, lavender, coriander, mint, basil or flowers. It is conceived as a public meeting point, a shared educational space that involves the neighborhood in the development of the "farm" and invites it to enjoy the fruits of the harvest and share them.
