Permanent exhibition for Block S entrance hall of the University of West England in Bristol.
The design for Block S entrance hall is inspired by Farnon Ellwood's study involving PhD students of the University of West England. This research group studies the relationships between tropical arthropods and their ecological interactions. The experimental work focuses on the inhabitants of bird's nest ferns and its developing this plant into a general ecosystem model for studying the functional significance of our world’s biodiversity, and its fate under global environmental change.
Palm oil is the world's most widely consumed vegetable oil, used in everything from soap to biscuits and cosmetics. It is the highest yielding vegetable oil, but production often comes at the cost of the rich of biodiversity in the rainforest.
The purpose of this permanent installation is to increase people's awareness about a subject that is so important for our environment and can change consumer's decisions about palm oil.
Concept: A forest is full of colours, textures, sounds, and smells. This concept uses plants, moss and the texture of wood to recreate the forest inside the University entrance hall. All the wood elements are made of off-cut plywood and reclaimed wood. The wall is composed of slats and moss and the pathway has a beautiful green wall with bed plants, slats, and infographics explaining the project.
Deliverables:
Concept Design
Interior Design
Digital Design
Graphic Design
Video editing
Website
Branding
Upcircle developed the visual identity of #fernpalmoil project, which included the spacial space, branding, graphics, social media campaign, video and website.
The entrance hall has been divided into two areas, the first symbolising the rainforest and the second the palm oil forest. This is to present the dramatic change palm oil plantations create in the landscape. The windows of the hall also show this difference, displaying an illustration of rainforest on one side and palm oil forests on the other side.
Panels and tables with graphics explaining the research are displayed together with a puzzle that shows a world map made of innumerous insects to illustrate the importance of biodiversity for the survival of Planet Earth.
Wall panels for the two sides of the installation, representing rainforest and palm oil forests
