MSP's Pollinator Machine: Walk-Through Magnolia at Shanghai Flower Show

Martha Schwartz Partners (MSP) has unveiled 'Pollinator Machine,' a giant interactive installation at the 2026 Shanghai International Flower Show in Taipingqiao Park, Shanghai's Xintiandi district. The work enlarges a tulip magnolia's reproductive structures to nearly ten meters in height, creating an inhabitable space that lets visitors experience pollination from a beetle's perspective. The magnolia, a 'living fossil' that has survived multiple mass extinctions over 95 million years, relies on beetles for pollination—a strategy predating bees. The installation's design references the flower's sequential maturation of female carpels before male stamens to prevent self-pollination. By shifting scale, the project highlights biodiversity, pollination, and environmental adaptation, linking to current discussions on biodiversity loss and mass extinction. The installation is part of the Shanghai International Flower Show and was submitted to designboom via its DIY submissions feature.