Too Much of a Good Thing

As a follow-up to my previous post that referenced the minor annoyance (ok, maybe not minor) that requires an urban adaptation that residents of Venice must make to navigate the watery public spaces during high water seasons. Through puddles and raised walkways, urban dwellers deal with this in fine form by the age-old tradition of adaptation. What happens when minor annoyance becomes major problem?


:: images via The Telegraph

The Telegraph offers a more dire look at when the waters don't just rise, but flood to extreme levels: "More than 95 per cent of the historic city centre, including St Mark’s Square, was under water as the city was swamped by the most severe flood since 1986...




:: images via The Telegraph

Perhaps as a precursor to a future hydrological disaster due to global warming - Venice may be our canary in the coalmine for rising waters - "...Venice’s lagoon often rises to 40 inches above its normal level during 'acqua alta’ or high tides, particularly in autumn and winter. But anything above 50 inches risks flooding the city and causing chaos for its 60,000 permanent residents and the tens of thousands of tourists who descend on it each day."

:: images via The Telegraph

Or perhaps a case study in ways to adapt to rising waters in cities, as these professional wakeboarders show in the following images... when in Venice...

:: image via The Telegraph

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