Green Wall at Earth Day!
Posted by tracey on:
Be sure to check out the work of Francis M. Dawson in the Living Green section of Earth Day! He'll be working on a living wall display organized by the folks at LoaTree.
You've also seen his work at the Jardin de las Granadas on Anapamu just across from the Library. It's a work called Stochastic Probability which refers to a sequence of random variables which make things happen, in this case, of how plants grow. Check out the video below to see how the sculptures were planted. Then see it for yourself as you head over to Alameda Park and Earth Day!
From Wikipedia:
The concept of the green wall dates back to 600 BC with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. More recently, the larger green walls concept has been utilized with innovative hydroponics technology.
Green walls are found most often in urban environments where the plants reduce overall temperatures of the building. The primary cause of heat build-up in cities is insolation, the absorption of solar radiation by roads and buildings in the city and the storage of this heat in the building material and its subsequent re-radiation. Plant surfaces however, as a result of transpiration, do not rise more than 4–5 °C above the ambient and are sometimes cooler.
Living walls may also be a means for water reuse. The plants may purify slightly polluted water (such as greywater) by absorbing the dissolved nutrients. Bacteria mineralize the organic components to make them available to the plants.
Living walls are particularly suitable for cities, as they allow good use of available vertical surface areas. They are also suitable in arid areas, as the circulating water on a vertical wall is less likely to evaporate than in horizontal gardens.
The living wall could also function for urban agriculture, urban gardening, or for its beauty as art. It is sometimes built indoors to help alleviate sick building syndrome.
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2 Comments
Comment by Lemonjelly on
I saw a demonstration of a similar living wall at the Sojourner at April's First Thursday. This was a free-standing tower, called a Garden Growing System created by Juice Plus+. Unfortunately, no photo of it. I also saw a wall of green plants at the new Indigo Hotel, second floor, although I didn't get close enough to see whether it was real plants or fake ones.
Comment by Tracey on
Apparently they are really popular in places like New Orleans to mitigate the extreme heat. I think they can be really beautiful as well as practical. Of course here we use succulents, but other places they are vines. You could also grow edibles in a vertical system. Yum!