KOOZ What prompted the project?

Ssu Kuo Oscar Lo The project asks "what is the future forest?" Throughout history, the definition of "forest" has continually changed. Forests have been imagined as realms for mythical creatures and spirits, the dwelling for gods and goddesses, the homes for outlaws and criminals, the hunting grounds for the privileged or fertile land for endless natural resources. However, as technologies become more pervasive in what new ways might we interpret the forest through this increasingly technological lens?

What questions does the project raise and which does it address?

Social Media could be considered as one of the most revolutionary inventions of the modern era. It has triggered a new, virtual form of interaction, which exists in "media culture" or "image culture" which has the ability to shape our behaviours, way of thinking and even our personalities.

As social media becomes one of our daily habits, we are heavily subject to this media culture in which hierarchies form between each post, depending on engagement — likes, shares etc. This system incentivises the construction of photo or posting oriented installations or to create posting-oriented sites. In Indonesia, the transformation has already begun. Many forests have now been populated with artificial structures to facilitate backdrops for these images, many of which are featured in Instagram tours for tourists.

This leads to a new interpretation of natural scenery and forests as commodities and advertisements online to promote tourism. How could humans re-connect with forests in the age of social media?

The project addresses this question through the concept of symbiosis. The number of likes now is not just the measurement for the importance of a post but also a measurement of how many trees are planted. The newly-planted tree will be registered with a unique QR code that will be delivered back to the poster for them to oversee and to interact with the trees generated by their posts.

How does the project explore and challenge the potential of social media within our contemporary society?

Social media has been conceived as a convenient tool for connection forming between people, their friends and a wider public online. This project challenges the status quo of this understanding of social media, which could now work as a medium between humans and non-humans.. Social media now could also work as a medium between human and nonhuman.

How does the concept develop into an architectural proposition? What informed the design of these 'creatures'?

The concept can be broken down into three key components: the system, the creatures and the post-planting recreational parks. These three components provide a possible resolution and consequences for the idea where the system is responsible for translating the number of likes into the number of trees, the creatures for planting the propagules, and the recreational parks for generating more likes. The architecture becomes an endless loop in the project.

The creature is designed as an exotic but relatable mechanism. The exoticism differentiates the creature from the very dense city of Jakarta. However, along with the exoticism, the creature should maintain the ability to communicate, interact and collaborate with the city. The articulation of local materials and vernacular like bamboo and the palm leaf-like shelters and the requirement of flat, open meeting space add the layer of familiarity to the city and the people. 

What technologies do these devices rely on? How will they continue to develop throughout time with the evolution and propagation of social media?

The creature is intentionally designed not as an autonomous machine but rather a collaborative entity that requires human participation. This collaborative nature allows the creature to interact with the local communities and its surrounding environment.The creature relies on the cooperation between three key elements: receiving technologies, planting mechanisms and human involvement. The receiving component collects social media posts with the #wounderfulindonesia tag and translates the number of likes into the number of trees to be planted, with every 10 likes corresponding to one tree. The data is processed decrypted by the receiving component and will be used to trigger the planting mechanism. The data processed by the receiving component triggers the planting mechanism. The planting mechanism consists of three parts, a seeding/planting mechanism, the basket dropping mechanism , and the mobile mechanism which moves along the riverbanks and estuary. Each planted-tree will be registered with a unique code which is sent back to the original poster through the creature’s delivering component. Humans operate on and alongside the creature, weaving and installing the bamboo baskets and ensuring they are placed correctly on site. After completing a planting cycle, the creature is transferred to another part of the city to restart the process. The planted sites are later developed into recreational parks that use augmented reality and the unique characteristics of the forest to encourage further social media engagement. These posts then activate new planting cycles, thereby forming a continuous loop between social media, reforestation and recreational parks. Over time, these media-activated planted trees spread throughout and within the city, gradually forming a new and future urban forest.

What is for you the architect's most important tool?

Criticality is undoubtedly one of the most essential tools for architects. Architects should have the ability to spot the extraordinary within the ordinary and have the courage to question, critique and challenge it through their works.However, I believe that understanding the context and the traditions of the site is far more important than the criticality. Every culture and tradition has its uniqueness, and architects need to have a clear understanding of these conditions before making any critique or intervention. Without this understanding, architectural work risks becoming an isolated object placed within a context to which no one can relate.

Bio

Ssu Kuo Oscar Lo is an award-winning architectural designer and alumnus of the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture, known for his work in Diploma 6 and recognized in the 2025 Architecture Drawing Prize.