Overview

Chlorophyll Printing: An active learning station and exhibition design for Phipps Conservatory that reimagines environmental learning at Phipps Conservatory by enabling young visitors (ages 15–30) to view plants as practical, technological tools through embodied, hands-on chlorophyll printing and other botanical crafts.

The Problem

Learning Gaps identified:

According to a client-provided survey from the Fall Flower Show (Phipps Conservatory, 2024)

• 40% of visitors were unsure if they gained any sustainability-related knowledge during their visit
• 35% reported that the trip did not provide them with ideas for home improvements
• 53% of visitors visit Phipps less than 3 times per year

This learning gap affects Phipps Conservatory visitors, who are not developing personally meaningful or environmentally sustainable relationships with plants during their visits. As a result, Phipps Conservatory’s broader mission to inspire and educate the public about sustainability is not being fully achieved.

Stakeholders

Our primary stakeholders include young adult visitors (15–30 years old), Phipps educators, and broader Pittsburgh communities. Visitor statistics from Phipps Conservatory in 2024 indicate that men made up 23% of visitors in spring, 20% in summer, and 19.15% in fall, showing that this demographic visits less frequently than women.

Recognizing this, we saw an opportunity to expand Phipps’ visitor base by designing interactions that would better attract and engage young men.

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Audience + Context

Audience

Although our primary focus is on programming for visitors aged 15–30, we envision our audience as all Phipps Conservatory visitors-both members and non-members-who are curious about plants and sustainability. This group is digitally connected, eager to learn, and increasingly interested in sustainability, yet may lack access to approachable, hands-on educational tools (Massarat, 2022).

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Feedback from Phipps staff throughout our design process indicated that the Chlorophyll Printing workshop would also benefit older adults, highlighting the broad appeal of our offering.

Context in which our Botanical Crafts Series Resides:

Designed specifically for Phipps Conservatory, which is a nationally recognized leader in environmental education and stewardship, the workshop can be delivered as an in-person, hands-on activity. While DIY instructions for chlorophyll printing are available to all visitors through a QR-code and free booklet, visitors also have the option of purchasing a ready-made chlorophyll kit in the gift shop that has everything they need. Phipps staff also mentioned that the kit could be made available to those who register for the envisioned botanical craft workshops held within the conservatory. By leveraging the unique educational context of Phipps, our goal is to provide a tactile, reflective learning experience that not only enriches a single visit but also encourages repeat engagement with the broader Botanical Craft series.

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The significance Of The Topic

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Project Goals

1. Connect Phipps Conservatory more closely to the city of Pittsburgh and its unique story.
2. Engage young people, particularly those ages 15–30, as active participants in environmental education.
3. Inspire all visitors to take meaningful actions as stewards of the environment.

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Design Challenges

How might we?

• Design a more active and embodied learning experience that encourages and deepens understanding of plants’ biological and ecological roles
• Inspires visitors to take sustainable action

Research

Our initial stage focused on understanding the problem. To gain deeper insights into Phipps’ visitors and the challenges they face, our team conducted immersion sessions at Phipps, using a mix of observational and interview techniques to capture general visitor behavior. The map below offers a glimpse into the diverse behaviors we observed.

Notably, photography emerged as a popular activity among visitors. Our observations also confirmed our initial hypothesis about visitors’ limited understanding of Phipps’ broader mission, as reflected in comments like:

“It’s only pretty and peaceful, and quiet-that’s why I’m here,”

“There are just plants anyway-if you see one room, you’ve seen them all.”

According to a client-provided survey from the Fall Flower Show (Phipps Conservatory, 2024

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• 40% of visitors were unsure if they gained any sustainability-related knowledge during their visit
• 35% reported that the trip did not provide them with ideas for home improvements
• 53% of visitors visit Phipps less than 3 times per year

Armed with this knowledge of how people perceive plants at Phipps, we decided to leverage their natural inclination toward photography. We set out to bridge sustainability and photography, while also celebrating Pittsburgh’s unique culture. When we discovered chlorophyll printing, we realized it was a perfect fit: not only is it far more eco-friendly than traditional printing and photography-using only natural leaves and sunlight, with no chemicals, ink, or synthetic materials-but it also produces unique, one-of-a-kind images directly on plant material. This process minimizes environmental impact and fosters a deeper connection with nature.

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Design Process

Our second stage involved ideating and shaping the experience. We defined the key components of the interaction, considering the various touchpoints and the specific experiences each would provide. Although chlorophyll printing is a relatively simple technique, we anticipated that visitors might be hesitant to try it without understanding the process or seeing potential results. To set expectations, provide context, and generate excitement, we decided to offer the experience as a take-home kit. We tested different components of the kit through a “speed dating” activity in class, rapidly gathering feedback to make each element more cohesive and to ensure our users’ perceptions and expectations aligned with our design.

At this stage, we integrated several learning theories into our intervention:

• Lovett’s Cycle of Practice and Feedback: This helped us teach visitors the “how-to” of chlorophyll printing, allowing them to practice the technique and receive feedback-whether from staff during live demos or through the activity booklet. (Lovett, 2023)
• McCarthy’s 4MAT System: We used this to encourage visitors to think about other botanical uses and how they might incorporate plants from their own environments, helping them find personal value in the activity and consider broader applications beyond leaves. (McCarthy, 2006).
• Dirksen’s Structured Flow of Goals: While not always explicit, we saw this as a way to support a gradual shift in mindset-from botanical craft enthusiasts to environmental stewards-over time. (Dirksen, 2012).

Leveraging these theories allowed us to scaffold learning for our users, making the experience accessible and engaging without overwhelming them.

Our final stage centered on prototyping and refining the take-home kit. We experimented with various materials-from corrugated cardboard to chipboard and thinner cardboard-and tested different sizes to find the most optimal form. We also tried chlorophyll printing ourselves at home to assess the process’s accessibility and ease. Since most of our team had never done chlorophyll printing before, we closely mirrored our intended audience. Through multiple rounds of iteration (and the hard-earned realization that abundant sunlight is essential-Pittsburgh winters and early spring just don’t cut it!), we arrived at our final design.

Final Design

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Booklet:

Hands-on Botanical Art series

We are heavily inspired from ethnobotany - which is the study of how knowledge about plants is passed through generations, and how cultures have used native plants for essentials like food, medicine, shelter, and art

Print Exhibit Featuring Historic Photos of Pittsbugh

Poster

Design Approach

Our design approach centers around reframing plants as living technologies through the hands-on process of chlorophyll printing, embedded within a broader Botanical Crafts Activity Series at Phipps Conservatory. We applied backward design and a custom learning cycle model to shape the entire visitor experience.

Conceptual Model: Our Learning Cycle Framework

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So… why chlorophyll printing? By practicing this technique, we aim to position plants not merely as aesthetic objects but as technological entities with unique capabilities. This learning cycle begins with a clear goal: develop a mindset where plants are understood as useful. Visitors move through practice: they make a chlorophyll print, by observing the instructional booklet, and compare outcomes with instructions for feedback. This is a hands-on approach that creates a memorable, embodied learning experience.

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Our Botanical Craft Series follows a thoughtful learning cycle centered around a core question:

How can visitors learn practical uses for plants through hands-on practice?

Through activities like chlorophyll printing, visitors practice and ‘Apply’ knowledge by creating chlorophyll prints that demonstrate practical applications of plant properties. This application phase transforms abstract understanding into concrete skills that visitors can implement in their daily lives.

The learning cycle also encourages visitors to ask ‘What if?’ questions that extend their experience beyond Phipps’ walls: They might ask ‘What if I use leaves from my yard to make chlorophyll prints? AND What other sustainable projects could I make with plants?’ These questions promote self-knowledge as visitors reflect on their own relationship with technology and nature, inspiring them to apply sustainable and biomimicry principles in their everyday environments.

The ‘Explain’ component of our learning cycle helps visitors understand that chlorophyll, found in plants, responds to light; It’s not just for photosynthesis but can be harnessed for creative purposes. The ‘Interpret’ component encourages visitors to see natural plant processes as technology by comparing those processes with similar mechanisms in our human-created technologies (such as photocopiers). This parallel helps reframe how we perceive the natural world.

Finally our learning cycle also develops perspective and empathy. We ask: Can visitors consider plants as technology through a biomimicry lens? Can we develop empathy for plants by understanding their responses to environmental changes? These questions connect to our ‘Why’… why are we doing this? Because we want to help visitors realize they can use plants sustainably for practical and creative purposes beyond mere decoration. The active learning cycle turns abstract concepts into meaningful personal connections.

Scenario Design

We mapped a realistic user journey to situate the activity in Phipps’ physical space:

We envision a special exhibit centered on Chlorophyll Printing at Phipps. This map shows the two key locations: a Chlorophyll Printing Station Notice in Palm Court, and the main Chlorophyll Prints Exhibit in the Serpentine Room.

As Visitors enter Phipps, they will see the sign located in Palm Court. This sign introduces our botanical craft Series and invites them to the Serpentine Room to see the Chlorophyll Prints Exhibit.

As visitors enter the Serpentine Room, they will see the active learning station for chlorophyll printing. This station allows them to apply your knowledge through hands-on practice. The interactive table offers materials like leaves, which are collected from Phipps, alongside Pittsburgh historical negative photos for prints.

This station provides learning through direct, hands-on practice, with Phipps staff giving live demonstrations and guidance throughout the chlorophyll printing process. We also envision having signs with chlorophyll prints along the pathway.

At the learning station, visitors have all the materials they need for chlorophyll printing. They first gather all the materials and set them up as shown. Then, they sandwich the leaf and place it in direct sunlight, waiting several days.Step 3 will not happen on the same day because it’s a process that takes time. Although visitors will not immediately see the result from their own leaf, they will be able to take leaves that other visitors have left behind if those visitors successfully set up more than one.

Besides the instructions, here are the DIY directions for visitors on where they can source materials, including where to get the transparency sheet, what types of leaves are recommended, and how to make a photo frame.

However, it might be hard for visitors to find the transparency sheet and photo frame on their own, even if they want to try it at home. To make it easier, we have created a take-home kit for visitors to buy at the Phipps store. The kit includes all the materials they need, so they don’t have to source everything themselves.

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Immediately beside the active learning station visitors have the opportunity to walk through Pittsburgh’s industrial history and the history of Phipps Conservatory. This display features a history told through short text and visually by chlorophyll prints. This enables the learner to understand some of Phipps motivations for engaging visitors through mindful activities like chlorophyll printing and how they can bring this motivation and teachings into daily life.

Prototype Features

• Interactive chlorophyll printing station: Includes setup materials and live guidance from Phipps staff.
• Take-home kits: Provide all necessary materials and instructions to continue the activity beyond the visit.
• Instructional booklet + QR code: Offers access to a digital guide, helping scale the learning beyond Phipps.
• Signage and exhibit panels: Communicate key scientific principles and historical context linking plants, technology, and Pittsburgh’s industrial history.
• Social media integration: Encourages visitors to share their results, extending learning into community platforms.

By blending ethnobotanical inspiration, biomimicry comparisons, and interactive storytelling, we designed this prototype to foster a mindset shift: from viewing plants as passive decoration to recognizing them as active agents in sustainability and innovation.

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Key Learnings

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Through iterative prototyping and visitor interaction during our chlorophyll printing exhibit, we observed that participants were highly engaged by the tactile, self-guided experience. Visitors showed curiosity when comparing chlorophyll to photocopier technology, often expressing surprise that leaves could function as a medium for image-making.

Feedback suggested that the conceptual reframing of plants as technology resonated most when paired with historical imagery of Pittsburgh, making the activity both personally and locally meaningful. We also noted that clear visuals and physical instructions were more effective than dense explanations. These findings affirm the potential of hands-on botanical crafts to make sustainability education more memorable and reflective. Our next steps include testing other botanical activities in the series and evaluating long-term impact via social media sharing and kit reuse at home. Overall, Our team was grateful for the opportunity to work together and develop a novel learning experience.

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