Fiction as practice
Lopud, Croatia
Architect: R&Sie(n)… Paris
Creative team: François Roche, Stéphanie Lavaux with Barbara Ozimec, Botanist
Collaborator; Leopold Lambert, Jakob Ingemansson
Machines; Stephan Henrich
Key dimensions: 800 m2
Client ; Francesca Von Habsburg, TBA21 Vienna
Cost: confidential
Design of a greenhouse for alchemist experiments from toxics plants
Scenario:
1) Collecting the casual plants for both medical, poisons and antidotes uses
from the middle age period in this Mediterranean situation (Franciscan
monastery gardens)
2) Emission of a toxic lava, as a top down existing terraced morphology with a process of liquid-viscosity effect to define the new greenhouse.
3) Introducing three resistant strength in this dipping down to define the there restricted area for cultivating toxic garden.
4) Watering the building by multitudes of porosity of the ETFE inflatable floating cushion
5) Introducing nasty spikes for supporting this fragile roof
6) Distillating, sublimating, extracting, drying machine and alchemist preparation for the metamorphosis of the plants in juices, ointments and infusions (machine going to be designed and protocolized)
7) Testing the ‘’Fugu’’ effects of each plants on metabolism, by acquiescent visitors (on specific masochism protocols)
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Toxics plants
Low risk
1- Adonis vernalis (Pheasant’s Eye)
2- Lactuca virosa (Wild Lettuce)
3- Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley)
4- Paris quadrifolia (Herb Paris)
5- Mandragora officinarum (Mandrake)
6- Asarum europaeum (European Wild Ginger)
Medium risk
1- Digitalis purpurea (Common Foxglove)
2- Helleborus niger (Christmas rose)
3- Datura Stramonium (Angel’s Trumpet)
4- Dryopteris filix-mas (Male fern)
5- Scopolia carniolica
6- Strychnos nux-vomica
High risk
1- Colchicum (autumn crocus)
2- Ricinus communis (Castor Oil Plant)
3- Daphne mezereum
4- Papaver somniferum (Opium)
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