Inspired by creative thinkers with stratospheric ambition, we launch our very own Wallpaper* Moonshots Division, a design lab with extraordinary objectives. Watch this space for Earth-shaking new products, prototypes, experiences and immersions
Daan Roosegaarde is a tall, exuberant man with big, exciting ideas (the Dutch often are). Since establishing his design studio in Rotterdam a decade ago, he has created energy-neutral street lighting, energy-generating kites, an on-demand aurora borealis to illustrate the threat of rising water levels and, most famously, a smog-sucking tower. His latest mission is to dam or divert orbiting streams of space trash; 29,000 satellite bits and rocket pieces which, if left unchecked, threaten to block escape routes out of the Earth’s atmosphere. Or at least wipe out your Wi-Fi for a good while.
In October, his studio launched Space Waste Lab, the first move in a long-term effort to take down, or better upcycle, as much of this orbital junk as possible. To kickstart a space waste expo and symposium, Roosegaarde and his team set up camp at the KAF cultural centre in Almere in the Netherlands and aimed high-powered LEDs at scrap metal orbiting at altitudes of anywhere between 200 and 20,000km (they had spent over a year working with space agencies to develop tracking technology and obtain the requisite safety approvals).
This spectacular light show, with monthly repeats through to January next year, is an effort to illuminate and pinpoint just one per cent of space trash more than 10cm long (pieces much smaller than this, some travelling at a speed of 25,000km/h, can also cause catastrophic damage to satellites but they are almost impossible to map).
The three-month-long space waste expo, put together with advisors from Nasa and the European Space Agency, includes workshops or ‘living labs’. Amateurs and professionals, scientists and schoolchildren alike are encouraged to come along and throw in their own ideas and suggestions.
This story is from the November 2018 edition of Wallpaper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November 2018 edition of Wallpaper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
A Kind of Magic
Demna's breathtaking couture collection takes centre stage at Balenciaga's newly renovated couture salons in Paris
Building Site
Sun Tower, China, by Open Architecture
Circular Approach
Repurpose clothing initiative, by Oliver Spencer
CITY
Seoul's unique mix of culture, art and style goes global, thanks to an unstoppable new wave of dynamic creatives
RESTORATION KINGS
Laplace for Hauser & Wirth Paris
CARDBOARD CUTOUTS
'Box' furniture, by Max Lamb, for Gallery Fumi
URBAN BOLTHOLE
Pacaembu House, Brazil, by Arthur Casas
SURREALIST DREAMS
Weird and wonderful works to wake up to
CROWNING GLORY
15-step scalp treatment, by Eco Jardin by Park Jun
WEARABLE ART
Jewellery collection, by Lynda Benglis, for Loewe