osusowake

Yet another great design idea from Japan. The kenma design studio just won the first-ever Midorie Design Contest with osusowake (the Japanese word for sharing), a new type of planting system. The idea behind the competition was Midorie's rooftop and wall surface greening business, which utilizes Puffcal, “an originally developed sponge-like soil substitute” that is lighter and more versatile than soil. Designers were asked to use Puffcal to create an innovative, green-designed idea. The concept behind osusowake is that you can grow plants in Puffcal and then divide them between your friends and family. In turn, each person can then share a piece of a different plant that they've grown in their own osusowake container with you. Any existing Puffcal plants can be combined, creating a unique plant that is supposed to be symbolic of the ties and connections you have with others. Unfortunately, I don't speak or read Japanese, so I was only about to get this description second-hand (through the fantastic Spoon & Tamago blog), but I love this idea and the concept of sharing and combining plants that kenma has created.