Midterm Proposal – Growing for the Future

Team: Jimmy Tang, Ziqu Zou, Norma Chan

A mobile, wearable and plant-able garment that literally brings us closer to nature.

Concept:
Why should your beautiful plants sit at home? We propose to build a wearable garment to capture moisture through perspiration (sweating). The vinyl garment covers the body and acts as a sauna to trap thermal energy. The heat will trigger the body to produce sweat to keep the human body cool. The sweat collected are used as plant food. The plants inhabit (as the lining) between the vinyl garment and the human body. The physicality and feel of the plants brings the wearer closer in touch with nature literally. The living plants are now mobile and can take part of your daily routine.

The human body may produce up to 1-3 liters of sweat within an hour. Sweat is made with sodium, chloride and potassium. These minerals are carried to the surface of the skin by water produced by coils within sweat glands. You may not notice sufficient amount sweat because it is evaporated in the air, leaving salt behind.

Sketch:

Initial goals: We inquire if the human body sweat as plant food would be sufficient to produce healthy plants.

Long term goals: The first garment is a raincoat. In the long term, we imagine to have a series of wearable plant garment such as hat, t-shirt, backpack, pants, shoes, etc.

Precedents:

Wearable planter clothing by Egle Cekanaviciute
http://www.eglecekanaviciute.com/look2011/