Flora ex machina
Walking through the Forest Park, you may be struck by how everything from transformer boxes to show cases to even the anti-slip strips on the steps have been designed to meld into and imitate the natural environment. The only exception is the mechanical installation piece The Sound of Blooming, an eye-catching giant red ball of flowers that seems to float above the sea of trees.
Designed by LuxuryLogico, who also designed the much-talked-about Universiade flame, The Sound of Blooming is another attempt at pushing the envelope of size and complexity. A huge ball 15 meters across, it incorporates machinery, optoelectronics, music, and video, and is composed of 75 segments and 697 “flower buds,” making it the world’s largest mechanical flower bed.
LuxuryLogico agreed to take on the challenge after seeing the support the government was giving to professionals on the project. But even so, turning out a massive art project like that in just eight months was going to be a monumental task.
During the concept development stage, LuxuryLogico thought beyond just budgetary limits, taking a higher perspective on the entire expo. However, even with a budget of NT$10 million, which would be more than generous for most public art projects, they were still a fair way off their initial rough estimate, and so the team turned to private-sector fundraising.
“We put our proposal and cost estimate to [Taichung Construction Bureau] Director-General Huang [Yu-lin],” recalls LuxuryLogico’s Chang Geng-hua. “He responded that raising that amount from private-sector donors would not be too difficult, but rather than sourcing components from mainland Chinese companies in order to try to keep costs down, why not get local Taichung firms to sponsor us with products instead?” It was this suggestion and Huang’s attention to “togetherness” that helped make the final piece a real “co-creation.”
With the support of several companies, they were able to hit a higher level of quality on the project, which also led to a higher cost—at NT$70 million, The Sound of Blooming is the most extravagant project in LuxuryLogico’s history.
Thanks to the use of computer code and artificial intelligence, the huge mechanical flower seems almost alive. Making use of many points of control, the individual buds are sometimes blooming, sometimes closed, interacting harmoniously with their environment as they respond to light, wind, and even people’s voices.
“When plants grow, the opening of flowers is like the most complex version of cell division,” the team say. “It is a complex coordination, like the relationship between ourselves, the government, and the private sector.”
And through such complex coordinations, Taichung is coming into full bloom.
Bringing together environmental education and technological experiences, the expo offers visitors a fun and invigorating time.
Inside the Blossom Pavilion is an orchid exhibition that showcases the strength of Taiwan’s orchid industry.
The expo has also provided the opportunity to give Huludun Park a big aesthetic upgrade with a number of new, floral-themed glass installations.
The Houli Forest Park expo site makes use of carefully selected exhibit content and well-designed visitor routing to depict the process from seed to bloom.
The Sound of Blooming, designed by LuxuryLogico, ncorporates machinery, optoelectronics, music, and video, and is composed of 75 segments and 697 “flower buds,” making it the world’s largest mechanical flower bed. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)
The Sound of Blooming, designed by LuxuryLogico. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)