Bennie Meek: Living pavement

The young Dutch designer rethinks the way nature and daily life intertwine, proposing a more invasive, undomesticated presence of nature in the lives of everyone, and using the city of Eindhoven as his case study.

Dutch designer Bennie Meek has recently presented his thesis project Living Pavement: A tile system to improve the rainwater drainage in urban areas as part of the Design Academy Eindhoven 2012 graduation show. The project proposes a radical rethinking of the way nature and daily life intertwine: Meek proposes a more invasive, undomesticated presence of nature in the lives of everyone, and uses the city of Eindhoven as his case study.

"In western culture, there is a unique and sometimes conflicting relation to greenery and the natural landscape," says Meek. "Once we had more contact with the natural world but as cities urbanized, we became more and more distanced to nature. Gradually, nature became something one should only look at. This undermines a sustainable relationship with the green, complicating appreciation for it."

With the goal of creating new relationships with nature within the city, Meek develops a new typology of urban green, materialised in a new kind of open pavement, where nature is allowed to thrive, in a combination of spontaneous plant growth and carefully chosen plant cultures. "In daily transit it will function as an endpoint," states Meek. "Before entering a house one will move through a green space instead of next to it."

Top and above: Bennie Meek, <em>Living pavement</em>, a tile system to improve the rainwater drainage in urban areas. Photos by Femke Rijerman — Top and above: Bennie Meek, *Living pavement*, a tile system to improve the rainwater drainage in urban areas. Photos by Femke Rijerman

A widespread use of this kind of open pavement in the city of Eindhoven would, according to the designer, improve the inner city climate while simultaneously help reduce the pollution of the Dommel river, itself connected to the overuse of the city's drainage system.

"By applying a new typology of urban greenery I address the conflict of Dutch urban design - the wish to enhance the well-being of the city-inhabitants while developing the urban infrastructure," says Meek. "An open pavement system addresses the increasing need for urban landscapes to cohabitate with residents and the surrounding ecosystem."

Bennie Meek, <em>Living pavement</em>, a tile system to improve the rainwater drainage in urban areas — Bennie Meek, *Living pavement*, a tile system to improve the rainwater drainage in urban areas

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