Floriade 2022 #CelebrateGreen

Floriade, the World Horticultural Expo, will open its seventh edition in spring 2022 in the Dutch city of Almere. NorthernLight and BLOC were responsible for the concept, including the general plan, identity, storyline and marketing strategy. Under the theme Growing Green Cities, Floriade will zero in on the implications of worldwide urbanization on food, health, energy and biodiversity. A living lab, the expo will be transformed from a horticultural exhibition into an entire city district that celebrates green.

For a period of six months, Growing Green Cities will be seamlessly integrated into Almere, offering visitors the chance to experience the world’s most innovative, green and health-conscious city district. As part of a team that includes MVRDV, the architects behind the spatial planning of Floriade, we are developing a testing ground for innovative systems in such areas as residual flows, water purification, mobility and food production.

Thought-provoking installations will explore sustainability and biodiversity. The expo is also living proof of the latter, containing the widest variety of plants and trees ever seen in a city district. The garden cities of the 1960s and ’70s may have been green, but they weren’t diverse. All the plants were the same; every building looked alike. The Floriade Expo represents the garden city 2.0. Built elements vary in function and expression, and each plot incorporates different plant species.

Wild and wonderful ideas will take shape over the expo area’s 130 plots – from practical concepts to inspiring experiences. Cradle-to-cradle, zero-energy garden villas might demonstrate how to live in a completely self-sustaining way; houseboats get upgraded for a conscious future; gnarled tree roots form bridges; and homes are propped like bird’s nests in the woods. Expo guests will be able to pick their own lunch from the garden and take a stroll down a solar boulevard, or attend a concert amongst strands of tall grass.