Autotrophic Incubation Box

The Autotrophic Incubation Box is a meditative space designed for plants. The space is intentionally designed to cater to the biological needs of a plant using light and sound.

The space is located in the middle of the CFA lawn, where it receives plenty of natural light due to its location away from trees or buildings. The natural light is filtered through red acrylic, which supports the plant's growth. Additional blue light is projected onto the plant, which also supports plant growth , while providing a dynamic visual for visitors to the space. 

In the space, the audio is primarily a tone that encourages plant growth, along with other natural tones. A growing composition of blue streaks slowly coalescing is projected onto the plant, and the pure red light and the pure blue light mix into a vibrant web that plants crave.

Human visitors are encouraged to sit down on the bench and watch the plant flourish.

When a visitor enters the space, the visual resets, so that their experience starts with a blank slate. As their stay stretches on, the lights continue to accumulate, filling the red space with the intense blue light.

Additionally, as the audio is built to encourage plant growth, the tone played can change to suit the specific needs of the plant, which aligns with leaf length. This can be controlled manually with a slider, giving the user the chance to adjust the tone to something more comfortable to their hearing range, but reminding them that they're sacrificing the plant's wants in exchange.

For example, a plant with leaves that are 6 centimeters in length will respond well to a sound with a 6 centimeter wavelength, or 5700 Hz. The environment includes an adjustable sound experience where participants in the booth can optimize the sound to help the plant grow through a slider that ranges from 0 to 50 centimeters. Therefore, the space is able to adapt to a plant as it grows, or for differently sized plants.

The CFA lawn is a point of contention as a place where CMU regularly kills the grass by erecting expansive and expensive tents, which come down after a week, and the CFA lawn is left in a dead state. The school then spends more money and time to replace the grass that died, such is the yearly cycle. Our box, which houses and prioritizes a single plant, sits near that site, while simultaneously killing off its very own patch of grass. Passing students should be mindful of the life cycle of the CFA lawn as they enter the plant's domain. This box may have a bench, but it is not for them.