'the urgency to slow down' imagines transportation as giant green planters

as a creative response to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuous destruction of the planet’s natural resources, nicolas abdelkader presents a series of photo montages that question our relationship with mobility. by turning planes, ships and trucks into huge green planters, ‘the urgency to slow down’ imagines an alternative future after lockdown, one in which these symbols of excessive energy consumption have been left behind, only to become something beneficial for the environment. 

all images by nicolas abdelkader

abdelkader explains the reason behind the series: ‘I don’t know about you but I ‘naively’ thought that COVID-19 would allow us to glimpse a new world. however, in view of the planes in the sky at the time of writing, the number of engine’s covering the song of birds, the sending of rockets into space, and the governmental recommendations of these last days across the planet (particularly in france), one can affirm that the frenetic rhythm of yesterday is ‘naturally’ reclaiming its place to the detriment of biodiversity and our health.’

‘like many of us, for long weeks I fantasized about a more reasonable, calmer, and more harmonious world where our means of transport would literally become ‘augmented planters’. a world where to move an 80kg body thanks to a 2-ton car would only be a distant bad memory… continues abdelkader.

essentially, the images aim to create a sort of ‘asceticism by bicycle’ (or by foot if you prefer) and question our relationship with mobility in a time when the destruction of the natural world is one of the most urgent issues facing humanity. the project presents what might be a lost opportunity to transform how we live and find a more logical rhythm of life.

project info:

project name: the urgency to slow down
artist: nicolas abdelkader

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom