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 a tropical forest more than a concrete refinery, John Todd’s Living Machines offer an attractive solution to waste-water management. Consisting of a series of ecosystems that work together to break down water contaminants, Living Machines present a natural and eco-friendly way to filter and clean waste-water. The concept was recently awarded a Buckminster Fuller Award for its elegant application in cleaning up Appalachia’s water supply, and the innovative approach to waste-water management is currently being 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.
In a stunning example of biomimicry, Scottish architecture firm ZM Architecture have come up with a brilliant scheme to provide solar power to the city of Glasgow - and do so in a way that is provocative, creative, and aesthetically appealing. The proposal? To design Solar Lily Pads which will float in Glasgow’s River Clyde and soak up the sun’s rays, sending electricity to Glasgow’s grid while also stimulating urban riverfront activity.
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