Jeremijenko’s “Urban Space Station” Seen at Emscherkunst Biennial in Germany

From June 4 to September 18, 2016, Prospectus artist Natalie Jeremijenko’s U.S.S. – Urban Space Station was on view at the Emscherkunst Biennial in Germany’s Ruhr Valley. The Urban Space Station was a closed system combining agriculture and architecture, and, “reminiscent of a space ship, address[ed] multiple ecologic and social problems, as the constant rise of CO² in our atmosphere, the forming of waste air and smog, the growing concentration of buildings and people in agglomeration areas, and also lacking or too little upgrades in the area of planting and green spaces in the densely populated areas.”

Jeremijenko created a greenhouse-like architecture with U.S.S. – Urban Space Station, on top of an existent building at the Lake Phoenix See and pointed to new possibilities of the use and capacity of buildings. Placed on a passage-building between the so-called Swan Complex at the densely populated Lake Phoenix, “its insect-like outside reminded of a parasite that has docked onto the building. The second glance uncovered the symbiosis of the two architectural structures: The USS docked onto the air conditioning of the surrounding buildings and created a cleaning circulation. The building’s waste air and warmth was filtered by the USSs plants, cleaned, and enriched with oxygen before it is led back into the building.”

Jeremijenko’s Prospectus projects can be seen here.