Organograph: Giant Kinetic Flower Sculpture is Powered by the Sun

<a href="http://www.organograph-sj.org/" target="_blank">Organograph</a> is a 75-foot-tall solar-powered kinetic flower sculpture that invites the public to observe, investigate, and respond to the processes of climate change. The artists imagined the sculpture, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliotropism" target="_blank">a heliotropic flower</a> that "blooms" thanks to the solar panels that line its "petals", as a captivating civic beacon that teaches the public about climate change by providing an unusual window into worldwide climate data.

<p><a href="http://hypersoniced.com/" target="_blank">Bill Washabaugh</a>, <a href="http://amorphicrobotworks.org/" target="_blank">Chico MacMurtie</a>, and <a href="http://www.squid-labs.com/people/geo.html">Geo Homey</a> developed the sculpture with five fundamental elements: The Clock, A Carbon Cycle Simulation, Incubator Dome, Time Trail Garden, and an external education component called the Seed to Plant Program.

<p>When asked about the inspiration for the project, Bill said the trio was all very interested in organic explorations of sculpture and wanted to create something that was iconic, beautiful, and rational. The team got together two or three nights a week to discuss various ways they could illustrate climate change data that would carry an impact long time in the future."There was always a pint of Ben and Jerry's involved," Bill recounted.</p>

<p><strong>The Clock</strong></p> <p>The Clock is a 75-foot <a href="http://inhabitat.com/stacy-levys-melting-point-sculpture-responds-to-the-changing-climate/" target="_blank">kinetic sculpture</a> powered by large solar petals that open in the morning, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/energy-harvesting-eco-leaf-shade-doubles-as-a-light-source-at-night/" target="_blank">harvest natural energy</a> all day, and close again at night. 

A series of gears operate the entire mechanism of the structure: its daily rotation, opening and closing, standard timekeeping, simulation timekeeping, and its continuous slow movement along the garden path.</p>

<p><strong>Carbon Cycle Simulation</strong></p> <p>The Organograph runs a simplified, but accurate, scale model of the global carbon cycle--a balance between plants and animals has largely been unchanged for 400,000 years. "We found our way to the carbon cycle because this is totally factual---it will still be relevant 50 years from now in terms of something that drives climate change," Bill told Inhabitat.</p>

<p>CO2 is represented in scale by small glass carbon spheres within the sculpture. Clear glass spheres indicate CO2 that was present prior to the industrial revolution and black spheres indicate CO2 that has been added to the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels. The entire cycle is sped up 1000 times to displace slow changes and provide a clear mechanism for visualizing <a href="http://inhabitat.com/manufactured-landscapes-our-impact-exposed/" target="_blank">human impact</a>.</p>

<p><strong>The Incubator Dome</strong></p> <p>The main purpose of the Incubator Dome is to plant the Time Trail Garden. Hundreds of plants are arranged inside a 40-foot diameter ring that slowly rotates inside the glass dome. Visitors are welcome to walk inside the open sculpture to observe the mechanisms of timekeeping in action.

The plants are individually seeded in an organic growing medium and nurtured by students, teachers and volunteers. Each day a specific plant is selected by the Organograph's <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/epa-offering-grants-to-schools-for-help-monitoring-nycs-air-and-water-pollution/" target="_blank">climate monitoring</a> systems to be planted at noon in the <strong>Time Trail Garden</strong>. The plant is identified with a History Tag (QR code) and becomes a living and digital document of the climate event of that day.

Together the plants form a historical garden representing the evolution of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2011-was-the-11th-hottest-year-on-record/" target="_blank">global average temperature</a> variations.</p> <p>A <strong>CO2 Path </strong>simulates the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. As the Organograph moves forward in time it paves the path with marbles drawn from the Cabon Cycle model. Colors are used to differentiate between naturally occurring CO2 and manmade CO2.</p>

<p>Visitors are welcome to walk into the open sculpture and observe the mechanisms of timekeeping in action. A spiral ramp and staircase ascends four levels to give observers an inside look at the carbon cycle, time trail garden, and the plant incubating mechanisms as well as the garden below and city beyond.</p>

<p>By extracting and burning fossil fuels, humans are increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which is leading to increased global temperature, sea level rise, desertification, and the unbalancing of an entire ecosystem. The Organograph and its ancillary website aim to serve the community by encouraging learning, sustained interaction, stewardship, and social awareness around climate change and the mechanisms driving it.</p>

<p>"The design and architecture is open source. It will all be on the website and public information. The idea is that the whole thing is constantly open to use, reuse and reinterpretation and part of that is to keep the people of San Jose involved."</p> Visitors are welcome to walk inside the open sculpture to observe the mechanisms of timekeeping in action.

<p>The project is proposed to take over a downtown San Jose pedestrian plaza directly in front of Diridon Station, a major South Bay <a href="http://inhabitat.com/sprawling-green-roofed-transportation-hub-for-hong-kong/" target="_blank">transportation hub</a> and an area which is being redeveloped over the course of the next several years. You can watch a video of the proposed installation <a href="https://vimeo.com/37764908" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>