In these weary times I’m one of the likes of many who quietly questions the role of the designer. It’s ongoing transformation holds the best of reasons, I try to conform through my curiosity and empathy.

Standing on the car park at Hofs Lifs during earth week, I do have to ask, what does it actually mean now to be a designer in this space and context?

The stories surrounding the car parks past, its present and the ”what if’s” leaves few untouched, subtle frustrations is in close orbit but surely fails to overshadow peoples good spirit.

Here from the midst of the parking lot, I can emphasise with peoples immediate response – ideating on tearing the tarmac up. We can’t quite equal the amout of ideas to the numbers of white stripes but to their defence, the trees already started. Tearing things down made me think of what kind of design holds such qualities? What kind of design would send a message across? How is tearing something down embedded in natures own change agent?

The catapult is designed to tear something down, demolish what has been and give room to something else or new. Thorough history it has been used to conquer new lands, new spaces (shaped cultural ways of being?)

By catapulting mushroom remediation, we could potentially remediate the surroundings and the soil underneath the tarmac. The act of catapulting is also to deploy our comment of preferable future and current frustration back to Växjö muncipality and their newly built ”wooden castle”.

We imagine one day to celebrate by, instead of parking cars we will be parking mycelium Piñatas, one for every parking slot. The piñatas could be seen as designed to be smashed broken as part of the celebration, breaking the tarmac, breaking perspectives,  unfold a remediating soil mushroom, unfolding a preferable future

From the midst of the parking
Role out the trebuchet… Release the Piñatas!