The Nautilus, designer Javier Senosiain’s bizarre, snail-shaped dwelling, is a mind-bending union of artistic experimentation and simplified living. Inspired by the work of Gaudí and Frank Lloyd Wright, Senosiain has brought to Mexico City another sparkling example of what he calls “Bio-Architecture” — the idea that buildings based on the natural principles of organic forms bring us back to local history, tradition and cultural roots, in turn creating harmony with nature.
More ironic than practical, Swiss designer Michel Bussien’s Growing Chair evokes pertinent ideas for the 21st century: nature trapped within the confines of man, manicured at his whim, or a specimen preserved behind glass - like fossils in a museum. On the other hand, when I look at the Growing Chair, I see the proliferation of life despite artificial boundaries. But, perhaps it’s something much simpler than that - a lush little greenhouse with a seat to enjoy it?
Here at Inhabitat we are big botanical architecture fans, but we also love seeing ideas that stand to add an extra bit of foliage to our lives. So, if you are a fan of Patrick Blanc’s Vertical Gardens or even Mass Studies’ Foliage Covered Botanical Building and you fancy your very own extra bit of wall-mounted greenery, the team behind ELT Easy Green have the perfect solution in a whole range of beautiful Living Wall products. Their beautiful modular panels are made from 100% Recyclable HDPE and they’re a great way to add a little bit of green to your home.
Traditional medicine may be the best choice for some ailments, but sometimes all we need is a little help from Mother Nature. Samantha Lee’s Farmacy is a floating urban farm that grows medicinal plants and herbs in a series of nets along the brick wall of Regent’s canal. The factory’s design employs a waterwheel to wash, dry, grind, and distill herbs into their commercial state.
Gardening enthusiasts living in cities will certainly cheer for Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray’s Window Farms experiment. The artist-in-residence duo at Eyebeam have teamed up to develop a DIY system for creating “suspended, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield light-augmented” vertical gardens that will enable anyone to start their own garden right in their very own window. Britta and Rebecca were showcasing their prototype at Eyebeam last week and have enlisted a dozen or so volunteers that are building their own farms — all to go on display in windows throughout NYC from May 31 to July 14.
Fading right into the Big Sur landscape, this three-bedroom house is nearly invisible when viewed from certain angles. And that’s just how Mickey Muennig, the mastermind behind the project, wanted it. The 74-year old architect kept the environment in mind when he designed the sod roof and seeded it with native grasses and wildflowers. The roof is part of a garden that starts at Cooper Point, Big Sur, and stretches out to the Pacific Ocean.
While most people might see New York City as a densely developed, built-up city with little space for greenery, Brooklyn-based Alive Structures sees the opportunity to make open green space — and has actively created it up on the rooftops of NYC buildings. The business, founded by Marni Horwitz, has made a name for itself by planting native groundcovers and wildflowers in their green roof and living wall installations. Green roofs, besides being more pleasant to look at than concrete, improve air quality, reduce energy dependence, and provide native habitats for wildlife. And what’s especially exciting is that Alive Structures will be offering tours of one of their installed green roofs in East Village, the Wild Project Theater, for NYC Wildflower Week on May 2. Tours of the Wild Project Theater green roof will be given from 10 am to 5 pm at 195 3rd Street in the East Village.
Groundbreaking advancements in the realm of space engineering may soon see the moon sown with the first gardens to grow on the lunar surface. As part of the Google Lunar X Prize, Paragon Space Development Corporation has recently teamed with Odyssey Moon to develop a pressurized mini greenhouse to deploy on the surface of the moon, grow a plant from seed, and hopefully see it flower and seed itself. It’s a complicated endeavor, but it marks a critical stage of development for extending life beyond the confines of our planet.
Not many people would be envious of you if you were living in a cave — but they might be a little envious if you stayed in this hotel, located in Tanzania and designed by WOW Architects. The hotel is comprised of two buildings and its overall design was inspired by geological processes that shape rock formations in nature. It is no surprise that we are fans of the greenery that spills out of the buildings’ windows, but we also found the concept development of this project quite interesting. The architects were inspired by nature’s way of creating hills or mounds, and how these hills are eventually inhabited by living things.
From the manicured forms of French estates to the sculptural gestures of Japanese gardens, the adjectives we use to describe a garden are often subject to the characteristics of the plants (or lack thereof) that grow there. No wonder horticultural research and experimentation have long been a fascination of scientists and gardeners alike. Which is why The World Horticultural Expo, slotted for 2011 and located in the city of Xi’an in China, will gain tremendous attention. The commission of designing the event’s masterplan was recently given to winning design team, Plasmastudio and Groundlab. The project, entitled The Flowing Gardens, was inspired by the convergence of the different types of expertise that will be brought together by this event; principally horticulture and technology, and landscape and architecture.
We loved MIO’s Flat Pack Origami table at first sight and couldn’t wait to see what would come next from this Philly fave. Luckily for us, Brothers Isaac and Jaime Salm do not disappoint. Just in time for the long dog days of summer, the duo has teamed with Target to launch a new line of beautiful, sustainable, and affordable eco-outdoor goodies, like the herb planter pots made from recycled paper (above), all for under $100.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s World War II-era Victory Garden was a shining example to Americans that they could grow their own food. And now Michelle Obama is following in her footsteps, taking up the cause by planting an 1,100 square foot edible garden on the South Lawn of the White House. Her hope is to educate children about locally grown food, inspiring them to eat healthier and encourage their families and community to follow suit.
Soil naturally contains energy conducive metals like zinc, copper and iron, and microbial fuel cells (sometimes referred to as an earth batteries) are capable of converting electrolytes in soil into usable energy. Dutch designer Marieke Strap’s Soil Lamp uses conductive plates made from copper and zinc buried within the soil to provide constant and (nearly) eternal light for an LED bulb. Maintaining a Soil Lamp is as simple as watering a plant - just feed it a splash of water every now and then to keep the energy flowing.
Wondering what to do with all those old greeting cards and thank you notes? Now you can stick them in the ground and sprout wildflowers with Botanical Paperworks plantable greeting cards.. We’ve written about sprouting stamps and blooming business cards before, so …
Here at Inhabitat, we have a soft spot for all things green. But we have to make an exception for this rather colorful “Christmas tree” that took center stage on the ground floor reception at communications agency, AMV BBDO throughout the month of December. The rescued dead tree was given new life with the help of graphic designer Alex Ostrowski and illustrator and set maker Hattie Newman who thought to embellish the branches with colorful paper leaves.
Every year it’s a bit heartbreaking to see all those clear-cut christmas trees lining city streets, and evergreen plastic alternatives are hardly eco-friendly. Imagine our excitement when we ran across this gorgeous flat-pack christmas tree by Buro North. This update on the standard tree is constructed entirely of plywood that has been CNC-milled into a beautiful modern form that is ready to be decked out with ornaments …
San Francisco residents looking to deck their halls with green holiday decor will be excited to hear that for a limited time the SF Environment Department is teaming up with Friends of the Urban Forest to offer living Christmas trees that will be replanted in neighborhoods after the holidays! Although they’re not your classic x-mas evergreens, these adopted saplings offer an excellent alternative to clear-cut trees, and will live on as a gift to the community long after the holiday season.
Two years ago, Matt Blesso, a real estate developer, bought a 3,100 sq ft apartment in lower Manhattan. He dreamed of an apartment with beautiful rooftop gardens, and wanted to be surrounded by nature even in the heart of the city. Not having much of a green thumb as a real estate mogul, he turned his apartment over to two Yale professors. The duo was comprised of Joel Sanders, the architect, and Diana Balmori, the landscape architect, who teach a course together called Interface, all about uniting architecture and landscape design.
Every once in a while we come across an idea so fresh and simple it seems incredible that it has not been thought of before. The Rainwaterhog is just such an idea - the H2OG system is a modular rainwater harvesting system that is a ‘game-changer’ in the water harvesting and storage industry. The easy-to-install system “boldly fits where no water storage has fit before” and is expandable, reusable, and 100% recyclable.
After nearly a decade in the making, Renzo Piano’s California Academy of Sciences is set to open this week - and Inhabitat recently took a sneak peak inside the incredible new institution! A crowning achievement of sustainable architecture, the Academy will house 38,000 live animals and is on track to receive LEED platinum. It is currently the only institution in the world to feature an aquarium, a natural history museum, a living rainforest, a planetarium, and world-class research and education programs - all housed under a 2.5 acre green roof. Read on for a tour of the museum’s many splendors!
There are few experiences closer to foodie heaven than the stunning table set by this year’s Slow Food Nation. Hosted in collaboration with the 2008 Architecture and the City Festival, the event saw San Francisco erupt in a momentous celebration of good, local, and sustainable food. From the beautiful Civic Center Victory Garden to an excellent assortment of films, lectures, and music, the event united over 60,000 people in honest appreciation for the food that sustains us all. One of our highlights by far were the architecturally inspired Tasting Pavilions, offering a culinary tour-de-force of the finest and freshest in 15 food groups. Each innovative pavilion was designed a top bay-area architect and many structured their stands around sustainable building practices. Read on for our favorites!
Green Living Technologies is an innovative landscaping company that is taking advantage of an oft forgotten space to grow plants - walls. Their Green Living™ Wall system uses specially designed recycled aluminum panels to grow herbs, vegetables, fruits and even perennials. These beautiful creations not only enliven a space, but can also provide locally grown food.
We’ve all heard that growing food for ourselves is good for the planet as well as the soul, but between finding the space and then remediating the soil, growing an edible garden can go from being a simple idea to a gargantuan task. Fortunately for space-challenged gardeners, Food Map Design’s growing container offers an incredibly easy and sleek solution for those with little room to grow.
Resembling something like a tropical forest, John Todd’s attractive solution to waste-water management uses plants to clean up water. Consisting of a series of ecosystems that work together to break down water contaminants, Todd’s approach offers a natural and eco-friendly alternative to costly traditional water treatment plants. The concept was recently awarded a Buckminster Fuller Award for its elegant application in cleaning up Appalachia’s water supply, and has been adopted and adapted by many eco-minded individuals around the country.
In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijing has festooned the Olympic grounds with lush sculptures portraying a greener version of China than we’re used to seeing. Over the last few decades China has become a country of rampant unbridled consumption (not unlike the U.S.), leading to devastating environmental consequences with little to no government regulations. Pollution is at its acme in Beijing and the wider world is pretty well aware of this problem. So what is China doing about these serious environment issues? From these eyecatching photos it appears Beijing is trying to attack (or obfuscate?) the problem with a little bit of shrubbery!
Mathieu Lehanneur is known for his modernist designs that have a ecological purpose. We previously wrote about living air filter that uses plants to naturally purify the air in a neat little capsule. And now, this French designer has another amazing installation that brings the benefits of nature indoors into a self contained living local river ecosystem. This aquarium is not only an interesting home décor piece, but also a fish hatchery and vegetable garden.
This summer PS1 Contemporary Art Center, an arm of MOMA, celebrates the 10th year of Warm Up, its annual summer music series, in New York. This year folks who go to catch the DJs and live music will have the opportunity to also visit a farmers market, dip their feet in a cool pool, and generally chill in the shade of Public Farm 1, by Work Architecture Company. It’s a series of recyclable cardboard tubes that grows rainwater-irrigated veggies while providing solar-powered cell-phone charging and community playspace. Whew!
Dutch designer Daniel Schipper created the foldable greenhouse for city gardens and rooftop terrariums. Made from recycled plastics, the greenhouse roof folds up flat for easy storage and transience. The base is also made from recycled plastic composite and its lack of framework or support materials makes it a minimalist no-fuss appliance. Just unfold, snap, and water.
One of the most effective ways to cut down the ecological footprint of buildings is to follow the lead of nature through biomimicry. Habitat 2020 is a future forward example of biomimetic architecture that fuses high-tech ideas with basic cellular functions to create ‘living’ structures that operate like natural organisms. This nature-inspired approach to city living looks at the urban landscape as a dynamic and ever-evolving ecosystem. Within this cityscape, buildings open, close, breathe and adapt according to their environment.
Any of us who live in NYC know its not always the ‘greenest’ place - at least when it comes to flora and fauna and botanical spaces. Thats why we are enamored with TODO Design and DAS Studio’s urban design proposal to take over New York City billboards and greenify them with living air gardens. These forward-thinking designers were recently awarded first place in the iDA Land & Sea Competition for their brilliant Garden Spots - an idea to green our gritty urban landscape by seeding gardens on the flip sides of commercial billboards.
The long-awaited competition results for the Design 21: Power to the Pedal contest have finally been announced, and although there are some outstanding and innovatively green winners in the top finalists list, there is one entry that did not receive a top award that we were particularly impressed by – enough to give it some call-out attention. The Bloom bike device by Society Creative, LLC, puts a whole new spin on ‘exhaust plumes’ by attaching a reservoir-like-tube that emits bubbles and seeds as you peddle along pathways and paved surfaces. We think that Bloom is a clever way to encourage bike transport as well as greening strategies that literally clean up the streets with vegetable based soap and seeds. What better way to subversively draw attention to guerrilla gardening tactics than on a bicycle built for (seeded) spew?
If only plants could speak, it would be so much easier to take care of them. Thats why our faces lit up when we spotted this awesome Digital Pot by Junyi Heo. Designed to relay the needs of individual plants through an interactive display of simulated plant ‘facial expressions’, this idea just might make green thumbs out of the most challenged window gardeners. Trying to make plants speak might be a bit challenging, but with such a cute face on this design, we couldn’t resist learning more.
Being the Dutch design aficionados that we are, we don’t think we’ll ever get tired of playful Dutch design, especially when it’s as sustainable and delightful as Krejci’s ‘Let’s Grow Some Balls!’ chair, which is both a planter and chair all in one. A garden chair that IS the garden, users are brought closer to nature by being surrounded with it.
Sick of rain-slicked slippery floors? Looking to take your rainwater recycling to the next level, while simultaneously improving your green thumb? This Umbrella Plant Pot by Kyouei Design offers a beautiful solution to the soggy umbrella dilemma, and allows you to turn that excess, unwanted rain water into nourishment for a plant! It’s a simple ceramic umbrella jar with an ingenious twist - watershed from your soaked brellies collects in a pot at the bottom of the vase to sustains a tiny potted plant.
It has been almost 20 years since the EPA confirmed the dangers of indoor VOCs (volatile organic chemicals), yet so little has been done to make the air inside our homes and offices and less toxic. Poor ventilation systems, sealed buildings and our use of synthetic products in the home are the main causes of our inner-pollution and, for most of us, these problems can’t be reversed overnight. But with the help of plant therapy, we can combat household VOCs and breathe easier. That is why we are super excited about this excellent Plants for Your Health chart from Good Magazine.
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