Backyard signals

Final master project

When talking about climate change the framing is often on country level or a global level. Think off the classic example of polar bears. These scenarios are looking at things that don’t impact you or your environment directly. Proximity to a problem makes people more willing to act, so if something is happening in their own community or backyard, they are more likely to act.

Which is why this project looks at climate change in the backyard and how a backyard-based design concept, that collects local environmental data, can meaningfully communicate climate-related changes to Dutch garden owners.

In my design process I explored how climate change effects the backyard. Through literature and an autoethnographic study. I also explored different sizes of backyards, as well as different resources and skill levels users have. Ten concepts were developed through iteration and a workshop with designers. From these concepts the mushroom sensor was chosen to be develop further as it looked at a variety of data and could be used in most gardens.

The mushroom sensor is a log of wood on which mushrooms can grow. They like moisture and a warm ground temperature and they dislike frost. Therefore, mushrooms act as a natural sensor. On the log is a cap that has veneer wood on it. The wood reacts to humidity and temperature which makes it flex and shrink. Inside the cap are sensors which measure humidity and temperature more precisely. It is companied by a digital platform, on which the long-term data is presented, and climate adaptation tips are given. These together allow the user to see how climate change effects their backyard.