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Today we’re talking about gardeners, and in the future, gardeners won’t need backyards or containers or garden plots to grow plants anymore.
They’ll just need a vest!
It’s from Aroussiak Gabrelian, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California whose work brings together, architecture, landscape architecture and visual arts.
Her concept is called Posthuman Habitats, and it’s essentially a wearable garden, a vest that holds soil and filters, shall we say, waste products from humans so that they can water and fertilize the crops.
Now, if you’re an indoor type who likes to keep the curtains closed and keep the sun at arm’s length, this may not be for you.
But in testing under the right kind of conditions, one vest put out 20 pounds of vegetables, from 40 different types, in just a few weeks.
Some of the micro-greens were sewn right into the vest’s fabric.
Would people wear a garden vest?
Maybe not: Gabrelian herself said the vest is kind of heavy to wear, not to mention moist.
But then this idea is what’s known as speculative design, like a concept car.
It’s meant to show what’s possible more than what’s likely.
In an era where the future of our food supply is becoming a little less clear, Gabrelian’s looking to put us back in touch with the soil from which that food comes, and to literally put the question of where our food will come from in the future on our backs.
There’s a partnership between Cartoon Network and a school called Exceptional Minds, which is a digital arts school for students with autism.
The program gives each student a mentor at the network who can give them feedback on their art, help them develop career goals and connect them to potential jobs or internships.
Digital media is growing, so the field needs skilled workers.
Plus the unemployment rate for autistic people is extremely high.
This is meant to address both needs, as well as connecting some of Cartoon Network’s biggest fans with the people who make those shows happen.
This wearable vest grows you personal crops—fertilized just for you by your own waste (Fast Company)
Cartoon Network Partners With a Program to Mentor Animators With Autism (Hyperallergic)
