Public work KOSMOSBOS open
What lives on earth today is defined by the past. For the past two years, de Onkruidenier has been working on a very special project: the KOSMOSBOS. This evolution garden in the schoolyard of Montessori primary school Parkrijk in Rijswijk was the winning design in a competition with four designers.
This shell shape tells how algae managed to settle on land from the ocean. With each step in the spiral, we evolve within the plant kingdom into the future. Once upon a time, planet Earth was covered with water; it was one big ocean. After the first single-celled algae crawled onto land, various species of mosses were the first inhabitants. These first land plants were liverworts. Similar mosses are still found in our habitat today and have been growing on Earth for 475 million years. After the mosses, the ferns and plants with spores came into being. Then the nudibranchs and symbioses with insects. The KOSMOSBOS ends in the future: the palm tree that may settle in the Netherlands as a heat-resistant tree was proposed by the school children after a series of workshops.
The KOSMOSBOS connects ecology, imagination and education. It is a valuable collaboration with Montessori school Parkrijk. During the development of the concept, de Onkruidenier gathered input for the design through workshops with children from the school. In drawing sessions, we learnt their perspectives on the sea and they taught us all about timelines. When you spend time at Montessori School Parkrijk, the many timelines you are surrounded by cannot escape you and ultimately shaped the design. As a work of art, how can an ecosystem form a timeline of evolution and grow with the children? A growing work where you can take a seat to marvel, be taught about ecology and learn to collectively care for our environment.
The work stands on a roof terrace of the school and is passed by the pupils during each season. De Onkruidenier has developed a handbook and instructions from which the school itself puts together an educational programme: the Plant Kingdom. This valuable collaboration has created a special landmark for the school and the children.
The KOSMOSBOS was made possible by Werkplaats Atelier Edd Vossen, with renders and technical drawings by Noa Helder. Special thanks to Kunstcommissie Gemeente Rijswijk.