* Selected work for the Arquia Próxima Award Interior Design and Refurbishment. Arquia Foundation, Caja de Arquitectos, 2008

Lighting and irrigation infrastructure prototypes for a garden in Aravaca, Madrid

The project, situated in the small garden of a single-family home in the outskirts of Madrid is conceived as a hybrid space made up of greenery and maintenance elements. The irrigation and lighting infrastructure is just another element of this garden full of plants and machines. The “cyborgarden” is also a communicative device which interacts with the members of the household.

* Selected work for the Arquia Próxima Award Interior Design and Refurbishment. Arquia Foundation, Caja de Arquitectos, 2008

Electroflowers for a cyborgarden

1. Constant. A garden in Madrid is a luxury that requires a sophisticated technological deployment to ensure the plants’ wellbeing. What happens when both strata (garden + infrastructure) are configured as a constant?

2. Black box. This technological stratum (where a good deal of resources are invested) often remains hidden, locked up and out of reach of the final user. In the electro-garden, however, the infrastructures are not hidden, but surge in the form of electro-flowers that cohabit with the rest of the plant species.

3. Cyborgarden. An exclusive collection of electric and natural species make up the material substrata of the cyborgarden. Electro-flowers look after the “natural” flowers in this unconventional and undefined space where nothing is what it seems.

4. Remote controlled-electrical appliance-garden. The garden is just another house-gadget. Just as any other electrical appliance or games console, it can be controlled by means of a remote control, allowing the user to configure the domestic landscape “a la carte”.

5. Electro-flowers communicate with the members of the household. Through the following codes:

* Interface. At dawn, the electro-flowers open following a chromatic code and depending on the weather forecast. Each morning, the members of the household look out of the window, “read” the garden, and choose their dress code for the day.

* Post-it space. The Cyborgarden is a means of communication for the family: by way of a light-code, the members of the household can leave each other messages in the electro-flowers. For instance: leaving the “yeah-drag” on means “take the rubbish out”.

* Motion detector. Electro-flowers welcome you when you get home. Just like a pet would, they detect your presence and salute you. 

* Rumours. Electro-flowers are a luminous witness to conversations held nearby Thanks to their audio sensors.

6. Taxonomy. From the electro-studio, the taxonomy of combinable electro-species for different cyborgardens can be designed.

• Architects:
• elii - Uriel Fogué + Eva Gil + Carlos Palacios
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• Team:
• Joao Nuno Marques y Enrico Forestieri 
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• Developers:
• Rubén Martínez y Lourdes Escorial 
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• Model:
• elii 
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• Area:
• 64,22 m2
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• Date:
• Desarrollo en curso
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• Location:
• Aravaca, Madrid