Self-watering garden blossoms in Milan

Image: Marco Beck Peccoz

A garden that can water and light itself by harvesting renewable energy has been showcased in the Italian city of Milan.

Feeling the Energy, a week-long installation, was presented at the city’s botanical gardens, as part of Milan Design Week.

Co-designed by design and innovation company Carlo Ratti Associati and architect Italo Rota, the creation harvested energy from a range of renewable sources, including people’s movements, sun and wind, to power and illuminate the garden. Features included five hundred metres of bending copper pipe serving as a water vaporiser that cooled the garden pathways, while at the same time nourishing the vegetation.

Carlo Ratti, founding partner at CRA, said:The installation is inspired by the functioning of plant organisms. As trees in a forest draw energy from different sources and then use it locally where they need it - in a certain branch or the end of a leaf - the long copper tube of Feeling the Energy absorbs energy in its entire length and then uses it in specific points of the installation path.”

Within the garden was a majestic carousel, a giant vibraphone which people were invited to play, a tunnel with panels which could be opened or closed by those wandering through it and a canopy with sensors that detected people’s presence and activated a cool mist – all features that either produced or used renewable energy.

Italo Rota said the installation showcases the potential of using public areas, such as playground, to produce energy: "Playing is a fundamental activity for every human being. This installation suggests new links between play and the world of energy. It shows us that every time we consume energy - whether it's on a carousel or a swing, or even while producing sound waves - we can recover some of that energy.”