G R O O F
Low-Cost Greenhouse Redesign
In collaboration with Colivando, Politecnico di Milano (2018)
Team: Alberto Bettega, Aniko Biro, Jervenne Teo, Marta Fancellu
BRIEF
Reinventing Coltivando*: To design a greenhouse that protects Coltivando's garden greenery in Milan, and create a system for the elderly gardeners to independently implement this product.
* Coltivando is a shared vegetable garden located in the green spaces of the Candiani campus of the Politecnico di Milano.
RESEARCH
Working alongside the gardeners, we identified several problem areas with the current greenhouses: Bulky, heavy and difficulty for storage when not in use. Prototypes were implemented to select the most suitable material and most efficient method of keeping.
INTRODUCTION
Groof is a collapsible roof for your greenery, protecting them against the wintry frost.
Groof is a collapsible roof for your greenery, protecting them against the wintry frost.
Designed with and for the elderly Coltivando gardeners, it consists of 4 simple and easily sourced materials: elastic hooks, PVC tubes, TNT fabric and a pipe cap.
Together with the product, an instructional booklet was designed to enable the gardeners to recreate this product independently
Providing information from the purchasing of materials, to setting up.
Current issues faced by the gardeners
Explorations and trials with different set up and materials
CONSIDERATIONS
Low fidelity prototypes and discussions with gardeners informed our design and material choices. These were some of our considerations:
1) Method of storage: all-in-one, portable, lightweight, suitable for all seasons (also consider product storage when not in use).
2) Material: easily sourced, cost-effective, best to reuse existing materials or to suit existing structures.
2) Material: easily sourced, cost-effective, best to reuse existing materials or to suit existing structures.
Video showcasing the concept, set up and tear down of Groof
music by Alexandre Desplat
Groof is an all-in-one lightweight solution, quick to set-up and is very compact for easy storage.
An exhibition booth was set up during the summer term in Polimi, to exhibit and explain our design process and material choices to the gardeners and visitors of the garden space.
