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Just ask the French: plants don't actually need soil.
This was botanist Patrick Blanc's conceit when he began growing Vertical Gardens on the indoor and outdoor walls of some of Paris' most design-forward museums and ateliers.
Unlike, for example, the temples of Angkor Wat (left), Blanc's gardens don't damage the buildings on which they grow. Instead of taking root in the walls, Blanc's gardens use a layer of thick felt as a substrate for plant growth, and are separated from structural walls by PVC, which also acts as a vapor barrier. The gardens and are watered from above by drip irrigation systems:
Musee du Quai Branly, Paris
The Vertical Gardens provide insulation, noise control, and a little urban reminder of the world outside.
How's that for seeds of peace?
Comments
Fascinating! However, I'd be interested to know if they've developed any weed problems and how they handle them.
Posted by: chezjake | January 18, 2007 12:03 AM
Nitpick: I think that's actually Ta Prom, which I happened to visit along with Angkor Wat and a number of other temples about a week and a half ago. I didn't see any trees actually growing on Angkor Wat.
Not that this negates your main point, mind you. Restoration work is sort of proceeding around the trees at this point, because removing them is problematic.
Posted by: Genevieve Williams | January 18, 2007 2:12 AM
Genevieve-
You're right. It is Ta Prohm, near Angkor Wat. Good eyes!
Posted by: Sarah Dasher | January 18, 2007 11:28 AM
Wow, this is a great addition to the notion of living roofs. I have been involved in beefing up the sub-structure of a small office/apartment building. The company that manufactures the actuall flats the roof grows in, installs them as well, but we did the increased structural support and basicly created a copper lined, rectangular basin on the whole roof. It looked really neat when it was done, the ivy that makes up the roof only grows about two inches off the substrate, rounding over the edge of the roof.
The owner of the building I helped put that roof together for, would just love this. He was really bummed that they couldn't put ivy in that would drape over the side and eventualy cover, at least the upper floors of the building.
The picture of Ta Prohm, has me condisering the engineering requirements for a structure that could survive that sort of tree growth. The problem of course, is the hydraulic pressure that I would imagine continualy increases with growth. I daresay that it would amount to staving off the inevitable destruction for as long as possible. I just love the picture I am forming of a small house, draped nearly solid with these roots - boxed back around windows and doors.
The sad problem being, were the engineering requirements met, the builder would be long dead, before it really started to shape up. Although, I find the notion sort of attractive. I have always found the notion of buidlings that take more than one lifetime to complete, that the architect might never see the fruits of their design. There is a profound sense of devotion to craft, that allowed people to create such amazing designs, under such circumstances.
Sorry, for the lengthy response - I am a huge architecture geek. And I am also very keen on the interface of architecture and ecology. Living, symbiotic, roofs are a fantastic way to insulate and protect structures, while obsorbing pollutants and rain runoff. Living siding would be a great addition - this is really exciting to me.
Posted by: DuWayne | January 18, 2007 1:32 PM
I think it's interesting you should use the phrase "seeds of peace" because that's the name of the organization I work for, which I would urge you to check out. We develop and empower young leaders from regions of conflict, mostly Israelis and Palestinians, to work towards peace through coexistence and conflict resolution.
We recently entered a partnership with Marithe+Francois Girbaud, the french designers and they have a vertical garden in their NY store. That's in line with the advertising campaign that we have developped together, which you can see in many magazines worldwide, such as Vogue, Elle, Glamour and many others. Check out our website www.seedsofpeace.org and the girbaud site www.girbaud.com
Have fun
Sophie
Posted by: sophie | February 18, 2007 12:56 AM
I love buildings covered with plants. I think it adds so much beauty to the surroundings. Not to mention, we could possibly plant rambling flowers. How gorgeous would that be!
Posted by: Rahmi on Ta Prohm | March 1, 2010 4:55 PM