MILKWEED CITY
System design concept supporting the endangered monarch butterfly’s survival with the use of planter product and visual landscape innovation
DESIGN: Fabric Planter & Landscape Frame
PROJECT TYPE: Academic
MEDIUM: Offcut Leather, Steel (Proposed)
DIMENSION: ~L5.5” x W4.5” x H7”
DATE: Fall 2022
Utilizing integrated design of product and landscape, Milkweed city is a speculative system dedicated to motivate the people and city on the development of milkweed nursery and hence the support of the endangered monarch butterfly’s survival.
Over decades, landscape-scale threats from pesticides, development and climate change has decreased the population of monarch butterfly and will gradually destroy the native ecological lifecycle in the U.S. Such result will make irreversible damage to the environment and eventually reflects onto the human civilization, so awareness on the care of milkweed and monarch butterfly is eagerly desired.
Individual milkweed nursery by fabric planter in the initial stage
With the goal of helping the ecosystem, A small fabric planter inspired by the form of monarch butterfly serves as the product for individual milkweed nursery in the initial stage.
An intuitive instruction card guides the user on way of nursery and later community breeding. A 3 inches wide planter suites well for city resident who generally has less available space, and nursery in this initial stage from seed to tall seedling requires just an appropriate amount of care like watering and sunlight.
The material choice of leather is portable both for packaging and user carrying, while the proposed use of industry offcut leather makes the planter sustainable and reusable.
Most importantly, the individual nursery of milkweed creates psychological relation to the user. Emotional connection of the plant and its raiser, and Self recognition of helping the ecological system takes crucial role in this system.
Community milkweed nursery by milkweed waystation in the grown stage
When the milkweed grows into tall seedling in the planter, the users can bring it to their nearby milkweed waystation- certified milkweed nursery that provides resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration.
Psychologically, a sense of collectiveness starts to form from potential community. People will find others who shares common interest in this. In the nursery, the user can either grow their milkweed or ask the grower, and they will be able to visit their milkweed at anytime, building the relation further. Inspired by monarch’s flight pattern, curvilinear and iconic white frame is proposed as the simple but ingenious landscape element, implanting the visual of the form and hence its correlation of milkweed and butterfly to the public. The nursery waystation, as one of the core influences of this proposal, drives the connection with the smaller scale street parkway and larger scale public space by sharing a similar visual language.
Where people are, Where community is
Speculative concept of environment, event, and system
A true world of Milkweed City
When more milkweed nursery in different scale is emerged, a speculative concept of environment, event, and system will be the future of the real Milkweed City.
Demand creates supply, and hence value. The public decides the next step of milkweed development: for example, event and market that connects people to form a community of environment awareness, and a landscape public area that celebrates the contribution of milkweed and the connection of community. Further more, every region in North America has their own milkweed species and that can be the symbol of distinctiveness but also collectiveness in the nation.
The community is where people are. Every individual and his milkweed is just like a fire fly, sparkling quiet radiance of each profound existence. And when they gather, they gather to become the shred of light for each other’s better future. All the collectiveness and speculation will be starting with each of us individually.