Tree Art

A couple of recent projects take a different look at plants - particularly by juxtaposing the natural with the cultural - providing a way of thinking about urban nature - or our relationship with our ecosystems, in new ways. Firstly, via Dezeen: "Dutch architects NL created a forest of 100 trees planted in shopping trolleys at the Urban Play event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, which ended earlier this month. The project, called Moving Forest, was inspired by a children’s story about a forest that moves at night so people trapped in it can never escape."






:: images via Dezeen

The idea of adaptability and change is imminent in the proposal, NL’s Gen Yamamoto gives some insight: "...he could imagine people adopting a tree .e.g. homeless could start to take one on their journey through the city. The trees would pop up unexpectedly in small side streets or dark corners or be pushed over a big public square. They would group in smaller groups or be sparkled over the town."




:: images via Dezeen

I think that it's unfortunate that due to liability reasons, the shopping carts had to be pinned in. I see an interesting evolution based on the distribution of these miniature ecosystems throughout the urban fabric. While some would inevitably perish, others would drop seeds, become more permanent, and permanent alter the vegetative cover of our urban fabric - similar to the mobile seed bombs of Bloom, or the temporary occupation of Park(ing) Spaces... Inclusion of GPS tracking would allow for distribution patterns, which tell much about our social lives and movement. See more at Adam's great recent post on the subject over at Design Under Sky.

A more stable pattern of vegetation, but compelling nonetheless is found in the work of Ilkka Halso, whose work has been featured prior on L+U here. A few more images that celebrate the meshing of industrial forms with plantings, evoking the post-industrial landscapes of Peter Latz, perhaps.


:: Tree Museum - image via Treehugger

Tandin Wangmo, aka Landscape Architeck gives another ethereal glimpse...


:: image via Landscape Architeck

And an interesting Christo-inspired art project spotted on Inhabitat. Lea Turto, a Finnish artist: "...covered a series of tree stumps in Helsinki’s central park with red felt in order to highlight and celebrate their natural forms. The piece is called The Sacred Realm of the Forest Elf, in deference to an old Finnish word and spirit: Hiisi."






:: images via Inhabitat

I see it more as a way of perhaps of giving visibility to the severed remnants of the forest. Is it a coincidence that it's blood red and I think of a scar on the landscape that is being revealed perhaps? These seem interesting in pointing out some detail of the forest - while not being as trite as the silly varieties of 'Tree Pants' that donned the pages of Landscape Architecture magazine a while back.


:: image via Studio International

But art is subjective - and who is to say what is appropriate. So in the spirit of the season, perhaps just a simple living Christmas tree... with the hope that it could be replanted in the city, like this program in San Francisco. Multi-use vegetation, now that's art.


:: image via Inhabitat

Veg.itectural Mash Note #44

Well, alas I'd like to think my love is more one-dimensional than just swooning over the work of James Corner. Austria, for one, sounds lovely this time of year, i hear. Vegetated architecture on the other hand, is my one true love ... and here's a real mash note to those vertical, vegetated, and very verdant. After finishing an article recently on the work of Ken Yeang (to be posted after publication in December), it is truly time to demonstrate the irascible savoir faire that has vaulted L+U to such great(ish) heights... over these long, long year. :)


:: High Line Renderings - image via Landscape Architeck

Some new additions to the long-running mash note... a couple of green rooftops on Ninetree Village via Dezeen, from David Chipperfield Architects, in Hangzhou, China.




:: images via Dezeen

Jetson Green brings us some tasty vertical green panels on the Nzinga Town Homes, designed by Garrison Architects.




:: images via Jetson Green

The Design Blog offers some great views of the Vauxhall Sky Garden in the United Kingdom. Aimed at high density living that encourages social interaction, the vegetation provides an antidote to proximity and urban ills.






:: images via The Design Blog

The Elok House by Chang Architects in Singapore (via World Architecture News) offers a variety of landscape types including living walls, and some unique multi-story trees winding through the spaces: "A rich array of garden types was arranged; a kitchen entrance grove of trees, a 2-storey internal enclosure of fern walls to the living spaces, moss pebble entrances to bedrooms. The design has a living, organic quality, where the plants grow and mature, where the smell of wet soil fills the air, where the leaves drop and wither in the house. The configurations of the spaces and luxuriant use of plants and water elements generate a cool microclimate within the house, reducing the need for air-conditioning and artificial lighting. This house offers a congenial atmosphere, where residents can enjoy quality of its spaces and be in sync with nature."








:: images via WAN

And a tag-team of posts from WAN and Arch Daily for the Galindez Slope and Pau Casals Square by ACXT in Bilbao, Spain. WAN mentions the landforms, with the designers: "...shaping the embankment by using inclined polygonal planes of different materials, such as the existing rock, various vegetation and concrete, to accentuate and complement the unique topography of the area"






:: images via WAN

And a plan a few more pics from Arch Daily. Hot.






:: images via Arch Daily

For some more examples Web Urbanist offers a wide variety of 24 Fantastic Future Wonders of Green Design, with a bunch of projects (many seen here on L+U), including these cool Origamic Emergency Relief Shelters...


:: image via WebUrbanist

And for those jonesin' (or Jamesin' perhaps) check out 'Designing the High Line' - a new love note from Field Ops... I'm looking for a copy and will get a review in soon. Kisses.


:: image via Amazon

The Notorious H2O

Blue is the New Green - runs the headlines in last weeks NY Times blog, and not a moment too soon for that. Allison Arieff give an explanation: "A range of alternative energy technologies are available to us today; there is, however, no substitute for water. But there are new ways of thinking about water that can help us make better use of the available supply. ...there are innovations, large and small, now available that would provide for systematic management and optimization of our nation’s water."


:: image via Inhabitat

While this idea of peak-water is not news - it did spur an interesting debate. Arieff went on in the article to explain a range of strategies that aim to address the water dilemma, all of which are pretty common fodder on the landscape architectural front: Living Roofs, Living Walls, Greywater, and Rainwater Harvesting all focus around green building and sustainable sites.




:: images via NY Times

While many of the above examples ring truly green, the specific focus on blue, particularly in water conservation and stormwater strategies. Some other projects around the concept of water worthy of discussion. First, a great water diagram via a post from my buddies at Urbanarbolismo, (here's a link to the English translation) Jordi mentions: "Recently I published an article entitled: 10 original ideas for water treatment systems, without a doubt this project: "The mysterious story of the garden that produces water" would be the idea 11. This is a project for a garden that recycles waste water for the people of Cehegin (Murcia)." The idea comes from Monica Garcia and Javier Rubio from cómo crear historias - read more about the project at their site.




:: images via Urbanarbolismo

This may strike on one of those discussions we had related to telling stories with a minimal amount of imagery... in this case simple animated graphics that layer items upon each other to give relationships. Check these interesting and simple 'narratives'.



:: images via Urbanarbolismo

Pruned picked up a bunch of posts around water that are a fabulous cross-section. A snippet discusses the Central Arizona Project (if you've read Cadillac Desert you know this one)...


:: image via Pruned

...and follows up with a pairing that discusses the work Paisajes Emergentes and their second-place winning competition entry for an abandoned airport in Quito (Parque del Lago) with some amazing graphics - (be sure to click on the LONG site plan and exploded axon drawings below for sure).

:: images via Pruned

And some more focused imagery:

:: images via Pruned

While static, the following series gives another 'narrative' which is essential in discussing process-based designs involving water. This amphitheater / urban beach / rainwater harvesting storage tank is elegant and simple in design and function.

:: images via Pruned

This reminds me (albeit much more expansive and elegant) of a project I designed here in Portland (well Milwaukie, Oregon) that used the sunken amphitheater seating for additional rainwater storage in an urban plaza (i'll post some images soon)... the scale and quality of this are great in image - and from experience there are some logisitics that would need to be grappled with for sure to pull it off. More images of all of these projects are availabile via the Flickr site for Paisajes Emergentes.

Finishing off the triad - another project from Pruned that offers some interesting images (and fantastic graphic techniques) for the Marti Mas Rivera, of Universitat Politecnica De Catalunya, Barcelona, a rainwater harvesting project for the Arabic Fortress Hill of Baza in Andalucia. Check the full post, but check these amazing pics.

:: images via Pruned

eye candy offers a more simple view of an integrated rain chain via a project from David Baker + Partners Architects, showing the connection from imagery to action.

:: image via eye candy

There are definitely some other interesting phenomena out there. Lisa Town mentions in her recent trip to Venice, the phenomenon of rising tide intruding into public spaces: "In the areas where piazza is at it's lowest, which is in even outlined with lines in the paving that also used to provide an outline of the underlying cistern, the water sits in the plaza. It actually makes for beautiful pictures with the reflection of the surrounding buildings but is nevertheless an unfortunate event to see." Read her post for more pics... I'm particularly fond of the walkways where people patiently queue up to cross the water.

:: image via Lisa Town

Again, Lisa Town mentions the great Play Pump (see Aqueous Solutions for a reference here at L+U), which uses a merry-go-round to pump and store drinking water for use... particularly important in areas where access to fresh water may mean the difference between life and death. That's good, clean, and from the sounds of it, Green fun.

:: image via Lisa Town

Related: Aqueous Solutions Part I Part II Part III