11 Buildings Wrapped in Gorgeous Green and Living Walls
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.24.08
Flower Tower by Edouard François
Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.” It turns out that his suggestion is also a good idea for creating handsome buildings. And who wants to hide an investment in green away on the roof when you can hang it out for everyone to see?
Vertical gardens reduce cooling loads in summer by shading buildings; this “blanket effect” also cuts heating loads in winter, with the green layer acting as extra insulation. As the plants grow, they trap carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, and soak up such pollutants as lead and cadmium. Green walls absorb noise; help reduce the heat island effect, keeping cities cooler; and provide a habitat or insects and spiders, which in turn feed birds and bats. And, as Wright noted, these interventions can hide a lot of ugly buildings. (Read article in Azure on Green Walls)
Green Façades by Edouard François
Randy Sharp of Vancouver's Sharp and Diamond describes two kinds of green walls: green facades, where a trellis structure is attached to the ground, and living walls, where the wall becomes the growing medium.
Edouard François is the master of the green façade, saying "'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!' Green facades are much simpler as they are planted in the ground and do not need elaborate watering systems.
More on Living Green Facades from Edouard François
Edouard François is also working on Eden Bio, featuring 100 terraced units set within dense organic gardens, with stairways enclosed in greenery. ::Eden Bio by Edouard François
Sharp and Diamond's Vancouver Aquarium
Randy Sharp of Sharp & Diamond, designed the Vancouver Aquarium’s 50-square-metre green wall of polypropylene modules filled with wildflowers, ferns and ground covers. It has a modular grid of wall panels, a soil or felt growing medium, and irrigation and nutrient-delivery system and a support structure; these are the virtually universal features of a living wall. That isn't a lot to grow on, but Sharp notes that there are many native plants that cling to rocks and shallow soils and survive harsh winters. The trick is to blow all of the water out of the system before it freezes, and the plants go dormant. More on Randy Sharp's Award-winning Vancouver Aquarium wall: 2008 Award-Winning Green Roofs and Walls
Patrick Blanc and Le Mur Végétal
But the reigning king of the living wall is Patrick Blanc. He invented a version that he calls Le Mur Végétal, or Plant Wall, a dense sheet of vegetation that can grow against any surface, or even in midair. It works by doing away entirely with dirt, instead growing plants hydroponically in felt pockets attached to a rigid plastic backing. His most famous is at the Quai Branley Museum; Read more at A Really Green Building: Quai Branley Office Wing
Blanc also built a big wall at Madrid's newly opened CaixaForum museum. It is 24 metres high and takes up one wall of the square in front of the building. It has 15,000 plants of 250 different species and has become an instant drawing card to the area. Read more at Madrid Gets a Vertical Garden Too
He is even working on a boat design with Dutch architect Anne Hotrop. "The effect of the plants will be double. First, they will make the houses look like green hills floating on the water. This underscores the idea of the landscape approach. Second, the plants produce oxygen, compensating for the CO2 produced when the houses are manufactured." More on Floating Homes Made From Coffee Cups with Green Walls
Next: More Living walls
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This is an excellent article , thanks a lot , I'm grateful to you .
Hi Llyod, the post was good, but 5 pages for 11 items?? It's pretty nonsensical. I would understand if you were to have 20 items on each page, but you don't!
Chris
You might have mentioned seneca college or the center for social innovation right here in your home town of Toronto.
Zurich, the insurance firm, has issued a report claiming that "green roof" materials and plants on buildings in general are a fire hazard, implying that policy costs could be impacted. This has set off a "firestorm" in Europe over exactly what the risk is and how to manage it. Expect it to arrive in North America soon.
These are awesome. Like living in a park.
This is marvelous. The merging of architecture and nature reminds me of a quote by visionary architect Bernard Maybeck, commenting on the prospect of preserving the original Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco:
"I think the main building should be torn down and redwoods planted around--completely around -- the rotunda. Redwoods grow fast, you know. And as they grow, the columns of the rotunda would slowly crumble, at approximately the same speed. Then I would like to design an altar, with the figure of a maiden praying, to install in that grove of redwoods. I should like my Palace to die behind those great trees of its own accord, and become its own cemetery."
@MarkSea
Great quote
*****
While I pretty much love green walls and subsequently this posting I'm still very concerned about this green (free) floating house as it's currently shown.
I know a little about marine design and one of my worries is storm waves capsizing or sinking this particular design.
Some of the buildings look very beautiful. Some of them I am not so sure about?
y not just grow algae on ur wall
the buildings with hydroponics are something else,i have been using these systems for years but never thought to use this tecniqe in an outdoor envierment,to the side of a building or a concrete,or block wall is awsome,to these most creative people my we should look to,with our ever growing world,we could look to this tecniqe to grow fruit and vegtibles in a much smaller space,why go out when we could go up!!!!
@John
According to this article
They are primarily concerned about improperly designed and poorly maintained green roofs becoming fire hazards and are requesting to be allowed input into green roof design and maintenance that complies with risk mitigation in relation to fire prevention.
Or in other words -- they want green roofs to have automatic irrigation systems so that the plants won't dry out and subsequently burn easily.
I'd be interested in information whether the plants affect the integrity of the wall.
Lee,
Because algae smells terrible and requires a lot of water to keep it contantly damp.
i love frank lloyd wright , very simple quote but so touching & definite
thanks a lot for the beautiful article & gr8 information , really we need to breath clean & keep our nature & buildings green
the pics really got my attention!! at school our class is doing a project for going green and alot of this is helping out!! thanks
brilliant, useful, close to nature.best use of dead,barren walls
hi.thanks for this site
so bieautiful bilding
Wow! Those are pretty cool, especially the Vancouver Aquarium. There needs to be something like that in Chicago.