Sozosha International Design Course

I was very excited about winning a place on the 2006 Sozosha International Students' Workshop held in Osaka, Japan. The course ran between 16th July to 2nd August and was attended by fifty students from India, Singapore, Malaysia, Phillipines, France, Netherlands, England and Japan. It was a really interesting experience working with students not only from throughout the world but also from various design disciplines. Explaining any ideas and visions for the project was a real challenge due to the language barriers but we communicated through drawings and with the aid of a translater.

Our client Hasegawa Kogyo, are a famous stepladder company in Japan. Our brief was to develop an existing product to create a dual purpose.

A survey of people in Osaka revealed that as few as 20% own a garden, whereas over 80% of those with no garden have a balcony or veranda. Japanese gardens are an original art form and an important part of Japanese culture. We created the vertical garden so people with limited space can still experience the pleasure of a garden.

Detail of securing base structure

The vertical garden incorporates all aspects of regular horizontal gardens, such as soil, water, flowers, vegetables, seating, lighting etc. but on a vertical axis. The base for the garden is provided by simple alluminium jigsaw shapes which act as a trellis for the plants to climb over.

Calender of garden growth and use

The shapes puzzle together piece by piece to form unlimited possiblities. Where there are less perforations, there are less plants creating places to step, sit etc. The design can grow with the plant and creates a living artwork changing with the seasons.

Studying at Sozosha was a brilliant opportunity and a lot of fun. I'd really urge any of the second years to apply for the 2007 workshop.