Spacefarming

Creative direction and curation for Next Nature Museum, Eindhoven (NL). Spacefarming explores how we can grow our food differently in the future, or even on other planets. Central questions that drive the exhibition: How can we feed 10 billion humans by 2050? Where will this food come from, and how will it be made? Visitors explore these challenges through cutting-edge innovations from farmers, scientists, food startups, artists and designers.

Food in 2050

Spacefarming encompasses a main exhibition (400 m²), a pop-up exhibition for Dutch Design Week (35 m²) and a printed publication (176 pages). The main exhibition features 30 projects, presented within a spatial design of colourful geodesic domes, reminiscent of Buckminster Fuller. Set in the year of 2050, each dome narrates a scenario in which nature and technology are profoundly interconnected.

Space as a metaphor

The exhibition is structured both narratively and spatially into two distinct parts. The ground floor presents food futures, while the basement delves into food production in space. The title of the project refers on the one hand literally to farming beyond Earth, but also functions metaphorically: space is often used to project our future dreams and ambitions upon. In this way, Spacefarming explores not only the practical challenges of cultivating food in space, but also invites to radically imagine new ways of growing food—both on Earth and beyond.

Scientist-in-residence

Key collaborators in exploring the complexities of food production in space include the European Space Agency (ESA) and Wageningen University & Research (WUR), both of whom have generously contributed their expertise to this forward-looking exploration. Exobiologist Wieger Wamelink (WUR) has been appointed as the exhibition’s “scientist-in-residence.” Together with his team, he cultivates a variety of crops in simulated Martian soil, provided by NASA.

European Space Agency

The interactive table shown above visualizes ongoing research conducted by ESA. The MELiSSA project aims to develop a closed-loop system for long-term space missions. This system is designed to maximize the reuse of waste materials by employing specialized microbes capable of breaking down waste and converting it into reusable resources. In the fully realized loop, these recycled materials are transformed into essential nutrients, supplying astronauts with oxygen, water and food.

Thank you

  • • Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap
    • Provincie Noord-Brabant
    • Stichting Cultuur Eindhoven
    • Brainport Eindhoven

  • Bazelmans, Dutch Design Foundation, Dutch Design Week, Eiwit Magazine, European Space Agency, Philips, Rotterzwam, SEA Water, Vermaat, Wageningen University & Research.

  • Alice Wong, André Kuipers, Arne Hendriks, Bram de Vos, Charlotte van der Woude, Chloé Rutzerveld & Organism Studios, Dirk-Jan Visser & Gus Drake, Driessens & Verstappen, European Space Agency, Fides Lapidaire, Jeroen Junte, Koen Vanmechelen, LIQUIFER, Laila Snevele, Malu Luecking, Marrit Ko Schakel, Phood Farm, Pleun van Dijk & FRED ERIK, Robuche, Rogier Klomp, SPACE10, Sharp & Sour, Solar Foods, SoylentBlue, Those Vegan Cowboys, Uli Westphal, Wieger Wamelink.