I have written on this research blog about vertical space being an underused resource in cities. Many walls could serve as gardens, habitat, and “green curtains.” There is also room for art on the countless dull urban surfaces. The photo above shows graffiti by the aptly named Jef Aerosol, who contributed to a fun art [...]
Posts Tagged ‘vertical’
21 Nov
Gardex, International Garden Expo Tokyo
Arriving at Gardex, the International Garden Expo Tokyo, was a bit of a shock. First, I could not believe how far it was from Tokyo. Past Disney. Past IKEA. Past Costco. Gardex occupied a portion of one of the five mega-halls. The first impression was overwhelming: a hum of electricity and a burst of fluorescent [...]
9 Nov
Marui department store brands itself with plants
Several months ago Marui opened up another department store in Shinjuku san chome, along with at least three other existing ones and retail competition that includes Isetan’s flagship across the street. It is interesting that one of its defining design themes is green space. If you arrive by Tokyo Metro, you can see strips of [...]
8 Nov
Nodai fall festival
Last weekend was Nodai’s 118th annual fall festival: full of plants for sale, silly costumes, various pageants, ethnic food from world students (Chinese, Brazilian, Korean, Filipino, Mexican, Nepalese and more), and the nationally famous radish dancing.
The main gate was decorated with this amazing live plant wall full of flowers and textures. One of the students [...]
13 Oct
Vertical garden using ceramic pots
Just off Omotesando on Aoyama Dori is a three story vertical garden of ivy growing in giant ceramic pots. The load bearing structure must have added something to the cost, but the ceramic pots and ivy create a simple and low-cost vertical garden.
The garden wall is on the side of an office tower, and adds [...]
6 Oct
“We do Eco” from Tokyu
In the subway, I noticed this striking image and cloying tag line from Tokyu. The ad talks about the importance of growing plants on buildings, and cites a hospital they are building at Oookayama station (大岡山駅).
Tokyu Group is an old-style conglomerate built around a railway company, and including other businesses that enhance the value of [...]
13 Sep
Skyburb: High-rise suburban living in the city
From Inhabitat (click for more images), I read about a design concept for high-rise suburban living called Skyburb. It’s designed by Sydney architects Tzannes Associates to provide flexible, modular, and park-like vertical spaces in densely built areas. I am a bit skeptical about the idea of “introducing qualities of the suburbs into denser urban environments” [...]
12 Sep
Residential Green Wall
On a small street, a residential building with pavement extending to the street has a fantastic, thick green wall of morning glory and bitter melon. The “green curtain” is growing from two pots on the staircase landing, with a simple next extending to the roof. It’s a great example of adding greenery on a lot [...]
31 Aug
Patrick Blanc’s Vertical Gardens
My friend Bryan Wu sent me this Wired article about Patrick Blanc’s enormous vertical gardens. The one pictured above is on the exterior of London’s Athenaeum hotel. It is eight stories tall, with 260 plant species and 12,000 plants.
What’s remarkable is that Blanc is a botanist who carefully selects plant species for climate, wind, and [...]
28 Aug
Bitter melon green curtain
On my way to the Kyodo train station from Nodai, my Research Fellow colleague noticed a two-story bitter melon green curtain. We were impressed by how full it is, how tidy and well trained. There were a number of large bitter melons on the vines. Bitter melon is certainly hardy, and the whole large vegetable [...]
22 Aug
Summer fruit outside small apartment
Framing a second floor apartment entrance, this mature grape vine’s fruit are turning purple in mid August. I blogged earlier about the elderly woman who takes care of this garden. I have not seen her since she told me, “I like flowers, but I also like flower lovers.” She also mentioned how much she enjoyed [...]
17 Aug
Suntory Midorie
Recently I visited Suntory Midorie’s showroom in Aoyama. The entrance vertical green wall with their company name was most impressive in terms of plant diversity and aesthetics. There are also about ten other designs showing the variety of looks they can create with wood frames and internal pump and watering system.
Suntory Midorie has created these [...]
16 Aug
Feria nightclub in Roppongi
A friend guided me to an amazing green wall outside Feria, a nightclub in Roppongi, in a small alley across from Midtown. Climbing the entire front facade, this four story vertical garden is densely planted and lush. I was told that it’s about three years old.
Here’s an image of the context.
And lastly the view from [...]
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