Vegitecture: vertical gardens make buildings visibly green
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
Imagine a city that is completely green - not just ecologically sound and sustainable, but literally, visibly, green as far as the eye can see? This fantasy is becoming a reality around the world. The movement known as vegitecture, or vegetated architecture, is taking off, and is not just beautiful, but is also an environmentally friendly way to literally add life to a city.
The Musee du Quai Branly in Paris has an 8,600 square foot vertical garden featuring more than 170 different plant species. The walls use a combination of sunshades, solar panels, and ventilation to catch water, making them self-sustaining ecosystems. The benefits aren’t just aesthetic — the walls reduce noise and provide natural cooling for the surrounding buildings because they soak up noise and heat, whereas concrete just reflects those things. Architects imagine people one day being able to grow and harvest food from vertical gardens.
One of the main leaders in the field is Ken Yeang, a Malaysian-born architect and writer who first designed the Tropical Skyscraper in 1992. Examples of his visionary work can be viewed here. The technology required to create and sustain a vertical garden is rather complex, but considering it can reintroduce biodiversity to urban areas and even cut down on air conditioning and air purification costs, maybe Ireland’s urban planners could start including vertical gardens to their designs - we certainly have enough rain to water them!
