Lego greenhouse uses bricks as growing medium

Sebastian Bergne's Lego greenhouse isn't merely an enormous structure made from transparent legos*, it's also a functional greenhouse that apparently uses legos as a growing medium.

LEGO commissioned the award-winning designer, Sebastian Bergne, to create a public installation using the iconic bricks, as part of the London Design Festival 2011. Entitled the “LEGO Greenhouse”, this large-scale installation will be on display in the North Piazza, Covent Garden, a world-renowned cultural district, from 15th to 25th September 2011...
In daylight, the structure looks very much like an ordinary suburban greenhouse dropped into a new environment. Yet at night, it assumes another character entirely. It is transformed into a magical box, glowing and lit it seems, by the life of the plants it contains.

(via Cribcandy)

*ObPedantTroll: legos legos legos legos ahahahahahaha!

Lego Greenhouse by Sebastian Bergne [dezeen.com]

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: art • gardening • Happy Mutants • lego • london • maker • sculpture • uk

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http://www.frogworth.com/blog/ Peter Hollo

Every time you say “legos” your whuffie drops by 5%.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Every time you say “legos” your whuffie drops by 5%.
  
  Everybody knows that it’s ‘legoes’.
- http://twitter.com/matthjones Matt Jones
  
  It’s where the ‘s’ from maths went.
  - http://evilbobdayjob.blogspot.com/ Deidzoeb
    
    Re: regional differences in English. I like listening to BBC World Service and hearing them talk about maths, drugs-dealers, and then eventually they’ll have a segment on sport. Weirds, weirds and weird.
    - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
      
      It may be weird, but it’s our language ;)
  - nemryn
    
    Actually, the ‘s’ got transplanted over to ‘sports’.
- Guest
  
  I had no idea what a ‘whuffie’ was…(if a woodchuck could chuck wood…)
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whuffie
asuffield

Will be on display in Covent Garden until… yesterday. Nice timing there.

I very much doubt they’re using the bricks as a growing medium – that’s possible but hard, and this project is all about unimportant fluff. My prediction is that they’re using bricks as mulch: it’s a layer on top of the actual soil.
sam1148

That’s pretty cool, as art; but rather pointless and extremely opulent in these times.

The cost of those Lego Bricks would be— what about 60 thousand US dollars?
I wonder if the motivation was be a shill for the Lego Corporation or comment on the high cost of organic foods?

However, I’m afraid the motivation would most likely be ‘it’s cool and I can get funding’.
To me a lego green house is the catagory as gold plated toilet seats.

And my guess is the plants etc where planted (supported) after the green house was built for installation and everything is doomed to die and wasn’t originally grown in the medium or the green house.
- siloxane
  
  Since this work was commissioned by Lego, I would be surprised if anyone had to pay full retail price to obtain the bricks. In any case, it essentially would be Lego paying Lego for the material.
  
  And building a structure out of ABS plastic is hardly a “gold plated toilet seat” level of opulence.
- semiotix
  
  However, I’m afraid the motivation would most likely be ‘it’s cool and I can get funding’.
  
  Yeah, I’m with you. The best art is boring and never made for lack of funds.
peterkvt80

I have the manufacturer’s style guide. It should say “made from transparent Lego” with an uppercase L.
Max

I thought the plural of Lego was Lego. “It’s made of Lego” like “it’s made of concrete” or “She’s wearing Prada”. This “Legos” phenomenon seems to be American.
For anyone remotely interested, the multicoloured fruiting bush you can see in the picture is a Twilight chili. They do grow red, yellow, orange and purple all on the same branch, depending on how ripe the fruit are.
- Guest
  
  it’s downright childish to call them Legos.
- Sam Kington
  
  It’s because they talk about doing math. The s they’re not using has to go somewhere.
  
  Edit: ah, I see someone already made that joke. Move along.
- SamSam
  
  Everyone knows it’s “Legi,” because it’s from the Greek.
imag

In practice, outdoor UV would prevent this from being a “functional greenhouse” for long.
dw_funk

wow, I’ll be the first person to respond with a generic “I think that’s cool.” Haters gonna hate, I guess.
http://www.facebook.com/zoran.ivancic Zoran Scout Ivancic

this looks like mocking the world hunger from the elitist Lego bubble
bcsizemo

Given the scale and simplicity I think Duplo might have been a better choice.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002004321483 Mladen Kalinic

See it every day on my lunch brake.

If it weren’t for signs ‘Please do not touch’, no one would look at it twice.
http://www.frogworth.com/blog/ Peter Hollo

It’s where the ‘s’ from maths went.

By George, I believe you’ve got something there!
TheMudshark

I don´t know. Quite boring if you ask me and not even that enormous.
http://artdonovan.typepad.com Art

The “magical glowing box” effect is right up my alley! :)
http://evilbobdayjob.blogspot.com/ Deidzoeb

Octopuses, octopii, octopodes. Legos, legoes, legii, legodes?
http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

You can put as many asterix’ as you like next to the word; but using ‘Legos’ stills makes yous sounds likes a tools.
- http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
  
  In fact this post is by you, Cory; and I find it hard to believe that your lovely wife Alice could ever allow such behaviour.
Tichrimo

Don’t slag Cory too much for his “Legos”. He probably still uses the term “pencil crayons”, too.
scifijazznik

Lost in the great Plural of Lego battle is the fact that all those clear “glass” Lego bricks are going to turn yellow after being left in the sun for a while. Let’s check back in with with Mr. Clever Trousers in a year and see how his green house is faring.
jennybean42

This has been blogged all over the place, and my Lego loving husband immediately commented on how quickly UV rays would yellow the bricks and make it impractical. Interesting as an art project, tho.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  my Lego loving husband immediately commented on how quickly UV rays would yellow the bricks and make it impractical.
  
  UV? In London?