Gewildgroei

Bennie Meek initiated the Living Pavement research project while studying Social Design at the Master Department of the Design Academy Eindhoven. Meek is predominantly interested in our relationship to nature in the urban environment.

Through his research, Meek realised local governments spend enormous amounts of money on maintaining planted urban greenery and removing spontaneous vegetation. For Meek, it is the urban environment’s loss to remove the plants that grow freely within it.

Meek’s Gewildgroei paving system challenges our understanding of weeds. The Dutch word for weeds, onkruid, also means unwanted, spontaneous vegetation. By introducing the antonym gewildgroei, which translates as wanted weeds, Meek confronts established attitudes towards unplanned vegetation in the urban environment. By facilitating the growth of gewildgroei using redesigned pavement tiles, he changes the perception of weeds and the fact they are considered weeds in the first place.

Working in collaboration with Vincent Wittenberg, they initiated the Gewildgroei project, which aims to facilitate a shift in attitude and enable a transition from urban greenery to urban nature. Meek believes that design can promote common goals and help implement new modes of thinking. Therefore, Meek has designed a mobile factory to inform the public about the project and its aims.

Made possible with the support of Stichting Doen and Woonbedrijf.