Orbiting Seeds

[Type]
Speculative Design
Biodesign [Year]
2025 [Course]
MA Material Futures
Unit 1: Material Exploration
[Description] The project frames plant life as an organism undergoing preparation for worlds beyond Earth.

Inspired from the design and mechanics of clinostat and mill machine, the sculpture consists of a dual-layer kinetic chamber. The outer ring operates as a soundscape generator, producing a spectrum of rattles and white-noise from rotating seeds. At its core, the inner ring houses a rotating petri dish containing agar-agar. This functions like a clinostat, which is used to simulate the microgravity environment to observe how roots orient, grow and adapt under altered gravity.

By combining sound, motion and plant growth, Orbiting Seeds imagines agriculture as a speculative technology that might need to be redesigned for life beyond Earth. It asks a simple question: if we want to survive elsewhere, can plants learn to live there too?




Prototype



Seed Growth

(Top): Seeds growing on the clinostat, which are rotating continuosly for 5-7 days.
(Bottom): Seeds growing in standstill position, following the gravity direction (gravitropism).
Because of the continuous rotation, the roots of the seeds are spreading outwards randomly instead of downwards because of the confusion in the gravity direction.

3D Design, Sketches & Concept



Making Process

3D Concept for Final Design

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