Pollination is a participatory ‘rogue’ city park for Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in China, as part of the 2011 Chengdu Biennale. Chengdu is one of the most important economic, transportation, and communication centers in Western China. The urban area houses over 14 million inhabitants and is rapidly urbanizing. The city is located on the fertile Chengdu Plain, also known as the “Country of Heaven” (天府之国, Tiānfuzhiguó), a phrase also translated as “The Land of Abundance”.

Pollination tries to provoke a discussion around the idea of the fertile ground vis-à-vis the pace of Chengdu’s urbanization. What does it mean to transform, rather than starting anew? How to anticipate public green beyond government planning?

Pollination provides an infrastructure for residents to participate in the creation of the city – or at least to get involved in its conceptualization – and consists of a lab, located at the biennial ground where seed-bombs are produced, bicycles and a website. Volunteers at the lab create seed-bombs, compressed bundles of soil containing live vegetation. Participating residents then take a carton of these bombs on designated bikes to their preferred spot in the city and drops the seed-bomb. The fertile mixture of mulch and plants seeps into the cracks of the city and finds root. The participants geo-tags the location by sending a text message or picture on their cellphone to a website (http://k.ai/chengdu). The distributed, participatory, and evolving park is set in motion.

http://www.chengdubiennale.org/

http://k.ai/chengdu