Material: wood naturalrope soil plants metal lightprogramme the landscape of the building itself
Green Space by Merijn Vrij
At the most iconic and striking place in the Forum: the atrium, three green art objects stand side by side with the escalators and the thousands of visitors daily.
Showing the value of nature
The Green Space art project, designed and developed especially for the 'indoor landscape' of the Forum public building is making the value of nature and the growing of plants (vegetables) visible.
https://forum.nl/nl/over-ons/ons-gebouw
Growing intervention in public space
Green Space is a dynamic living, growing work of art consisting of organic objects spread over the west and east sides of the 35 meters high atrium of the Forum, from the 1st to the 8th floor. Pole beans grow up along the long ropes that reach up to the roof of the building. From the ceiling of the building, green pulsating light shines down the ropes onto the growing greenery.
Vrij sees the three objects as a active green intervention in the Forum. The title refers to both 'Out of Space' and 'Public Space': greening of public space: Green Space.
Public vegetables
The work is a growth experiment and shows from the start of spring whether runner beans, intended for the vegetable garden, can grow in this public building. With striking names such as LabLab, Lady Di, Cobra and Emergo, but also the Groningen Oldambster white bean.
Beans flourishing towards the ceiling!
Vrij was inspired for this assignment by stories (Forum in the main library of Groningen) such as 'Jack and the beanstalk', where the beans grow to the clouds, the 'tree of Yggdrasil' (from an Icelandic saga) that grows to the sky, and 'Buddhas Bodhi tree' carrying the sky (from Asia). The number three refers to the cycles of the moon, sun and earth: collectively affecting plant growth and life on earth. The light on the objects is composed in such a way that every hour a short moment with the colors white, yellow and blue refers to these three celestial bodies, after which it changes color to green again.
Vertical growing organic contrast
Its origin was visible from its construction at the side. The follow-up, the sprouting and growing of the bean plants up to more then 9 meters along the ropes, was closely monitored by the many visitors who often returned to see how their plants were doing. The greening of the building through these works of art had a very favorable effect on the quality of life and the well-being of visitors. The artwork responded to the spaciousness and verticality – one speaks of Forum as a vertical square – of the Forum's auditorium. The organic and natural character contrasted with the high-end technical appearance of the Forum, where white, metal and glass dominate.The growing season became visible on all floors. The work was widely appreciated by the public. https://forum.nl/nl/green-space
The Forumbuilding located in the heart of Groningen is a meeting place for everyone who is curious about tomorrow's possibilities in today's world. With international exhibitions, talks, festivels, the Storyworld museum, a cinema, the public library, a Smartlab, a skylounge bar + restaurant and a roof terrace with a phenomenal panoramic view over the city Groningen. Forums mission is to inspire people to broaden their horizon. https://forum.nl/en/our-story/what-we-do
