Transmaterial Greening

The books and companion website Transmaterial is required reading for any discerning designer on the lookout for innovative and interesting materials to incorporate into designs. The site mostly focuses on a range of architectural materials, but offers a great resource as well for exterior solutions and even a few in the vegitectural realm. Here's a few:

The most recent addition:, "Parabienta is a vertical greening system for buildings developed by Japan-based Shimizu Corporation. Composed of units that incorporate Excelsoil solidified soil base in stainless steel wire frames, a lush green wall may be achieved quickly with the installation of the system. Parabienta has been shown to reduce solar heat gain on facades, thus reducing building energy costs. The system mitigates noise transfer as well, especially in the high frequency range."


:: Parabienta - image via Transmaterial

Also: "Live Within Skin is a wall system comprised of engineered layers of lightweight plant-growth medium. Designed by Greenmeme ecological designer Freya Bardell, the modular vertical garden integrates living vegetation with the built environment so that the walls can be proactively used to address issues of air quality, storm-water runoff, thermal insulation, and sound attenuation."


:: Live Within Skin - image via Transmaterial

Finally, one most people know about, the ubiquitous: "Greenscreen is a landscape trellis system for fencing, wall-mounted applications, or freestanding enclosures. When combined with a variety of climbing vines, Greenscreen becomes a “living wall” that can provide privacy, shading and cooling, security and spatial definition, and acts as an effective antigraffiti treatment. The main component of this modular system is a 3D welded wire trellis panel, which is manufactured in Southern California from recycled-content galvanized steel wire."


:: Greenscreen - image via Transmaterial