Living Green Facades from Edouard François
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 05.23.07
Holiday Houses in Jupilles
Edouard François says 'Man can live solely within architecture. He needs a complex building which must be decorated. Only in this way can he be happy.' Indeed, in François' view, working with nature offers a welcome complexity: 'Watch a tree. It has a thousand branches, it moves, grows, changes colour!' (Cafebabel) He has decorated buildings with planters, vertical gardens and trees. Designboom says Edouard François has become one of the protagonists of green architecture on an international scene. his work focuses on matter, context, use, economy and ecology, following the preoccupations of sustainable development."
The architect says (via Google translation) about his Sprout Building in Montpellier:
In the raised stages, Lez side like side park, of the balconies continue to decline the innumerable possibilities of this set of hide-and-seek. Floors of different sizes, bordered of a flexible guard body out of wooden.
Made simple protection of filling of branches of chestnuts squared and gauged, freely established for being better played of the neighbouring branches and foliations.
Each balcony has a flower stand in hollow, from where climbing plants, flowering and aromatic escape…
The base is more massive, fact of large blocks of stones which are degraded to the top, in the stages raised out of finer and light stones.
The whole of the frontages is colonized plants which live the interstices of the rocks. Our will is pressed on the mixture of luminous colours of the colonizing plants associated those dark of the stones of the gabions. warning: popup crazy site at ::Edouard François via ::Eyecandy
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Green architecture, as well as being good for the environment, is good for people. The proliferation of plants is calming because they clean the air, provide a place for wildlife to be observed and many people find the sound of wind rustling through leaves to be very relaxing. Additionally, by using select plants (i.e. lavender, rosemary, lilac, jasmine, magnolia, pine, fragrant abelia etc.) you achieve the aromatherapy effect. From an organizational psychology perspective, this can be a huge bonus. Relaxed, calm workers who enjoy being at their worksite are more producitve. Adding a small water feature also helps attract wildlife and increase the calming effect of the area.
Not all of us are blessed to be in a green building, but nearly everyone can make a green area. A habitat needs food, water, shelter and a place to raise young. A large plant saucer (drain hole plugged of course) filled with water, a bird feeder with black oil sunflower seeds, and a few select plants--ex. lantanas, pentas, milkweed, salvia, buddleia, lavender and rosemary make a wonderful start to a relaxing habitat.