Permanent? Hiatus

Due to a number of factors, Veg.itecture will be on hiatus (perhaps temporarily, perhaps not?) until further notice - as I concentrate on many other projects and the launch of my new firm.

The original point was to fill a void in the coverage of vegetated architecture proposals and projects - which have literally exploded in recent times. The scope is frankly overwhelming in sheer number, scale, quality, conflict, hyperbole, idiocy, brilliance and to pardon the pun - overall growth.

What is needed is a more robust dialogue and commentary on these projects - something that would require a very large amount of time to provide a contribution to the oeuvre - time of which I do not possess.

I will most likely include a post of two in this bent occasionally on Landscape+Urbanism, but rather than make Veg.itecture yet another parade of the latest/greatest items of note without any substantive content, displayed in a cursory fashion (which can be found on countless other blogs) - I thought it prudent to focus attention elsewhere.

Veg.itecture has arrived and will live on. This blog, well... who knows.

Hillside Terraced Green Roofs

Via Inhabitat: "Austrian architects Tobias Weiss and Gernot Reisenhofer have designed a beautiful series of terraced hillside homes that save energy by blending into their environment. Nestled against the surrounding hills, each green-roofed apartment takes advantage of passive solar design, rainwater recycling, and photovoltaic sunshades."


:: images via Inhabitat

More images and text at Inhabitat: "The community’s terraced layout ensures that each apartment has a beautiful view, complete with a stretch of green space out front that doubles as an insulating green roof for the unit below. The roofs are populated with local plants and feature rainwater recycling systems that help water the plants and provide greywater for use in the apartments. A series of pedestrian walkways winds between these rooftop parks, encouraging the use of sustainable transportation and creating a tightly knit community."




:: images via Inhabitat

Lincoln Center Atrium Green Wall

The previous post referenced the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts living wall in the David Rubenstein Atrium (by Plant Wall Design along with Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects) as an inspiration for exterior applications, so I thought it apt to post a few pics of this interior vertical installation. "The Atrium also features two vertical gardens; a floor-to-ceiling fountain; a media wall with performance information, which also serves as a canvas for video presentations; an art installation by Dutch textile artisan Claudy Jongstra; and 16 “occuli” lighting fixtures that bring natural light and state-of-the-art illumination into the Atrium's interior."


:: image via Lincoln Center


:: imagevia Salvini Architect


:: image via NY Eater


:: image via Inside Urban Green

The Sustainable Neighborhood

Architect Andrea Salvini offers a project in Caserta, Italy called The Sustainable Neighborhood, which features some interesting veg.itectural amenities: "In collaboration with Italian architect Barbara Berni, this mixed-use residential project was conceived as a large-scale, green building development on nearly 12 acres in the province of Caserta in southern Italy.




:: images via Salvini Architect

"The design and site plan, reflecting a direct response to the needs of this tightly knit community in which environmental regulations are becoming increasingly strict, is intended to be sustainable and improve its inhabitants’ comfort and standard of living."


:: image via Salvini Architect

Some info on the inspirations for the exterior green walls: "The vertical gardens follow the example of other architectural applications of this living, green façade, such as French botanist Patrick Blanc’s designs, Jean Nouvel’s Musée du Quai Branly in Paris and the recent indoor application in the Harmony Atrium at Lincoln Center in New York, where its purpose is cited as a “theatrical garden,” featuring 20-foot-high walls of plants and cascades of falling water. Another goal for this project is to integrate and extend the existing greenspace, making sure to give back twofold in green where the built space has been claimed. Contemporary architecture is evolving more and more to minimize its footprint on existing landscapes, where possible. In this sense, even the aforementioned vertical gardens would act as an extension, albeit abstract, to the existing landscape."




:: images via Salvini Architect

Thanks to David Savage of NYC for the heads up on this project!