Green walls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_wall) seem to have captured the imagination of Indian architects. It's not an original concept, and like most things happening in the Built Environment sector, this too is an idea which has been lifted from the West. It goes around in many names -Living Walls, Green walls, Vertical Greens etc.
My office too has been working with it on some projects simply because there is no other way to have "landscaping" in the architectural design. But is it the most sustainable way to introduce nature in our projects in India? Why is everyone trying to ape Patric Blanc minus the "system" behind the scintillation? (Patric Blanc is the international face to the concept, with his academic-technical background giving shape to amazing installations. See http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/)
My reasons for believing that it does not work every time for Indian Architecture, is due to the following:
I think it is a concept equivalent to the "control" that gardeners of Versailles and Japanese Bonsai experts prided themselves to have, coupled with the Gardenesque era method of application of horticulture to architectural settings. I say this given the high proliferation of this art and science, resulting in ready-to-use green wall kits yet with all due respect to Ken Yeang and Patric Blanc. Alluding to the Hanging gardens of Babylon, (tremendous) reduction of urban albedo runoff control etc. to me seem just clever marketing.
Given the largely Tropical climate that we habit in India, such installations add a degree of humidity to the micro-climate. So, such ideas may be wonderful for Jodhpur, but not for Mumbai. Then again, because the imagery (M/s Blanc and followers) is of tropical plants, the same system may fail horribly in Jodhpur.
As a vegetal system, a green wall is (should be) a stratification of vegetation that is found in the Forest Type of the region. So a Jodhpur green wall and a Solapur green wall will not be the same; should not be the same.
The reason Blanc succeeds in his work is due to his innate understanding of the same, coupled with architects who value the same understanding and are willing to work with it, rather than around. Yet his most geographically disconnected works seem to be similar... which is strange.
Trees, in comparison, provide shade and scope for orchestrating a "baithak"- the informal sit-out space below a tree. No matter how progressive and affluent we become as a society, this archetype of outdoor use is ingrained in our genetic code and our cultural use of open space. It does not happen in Europe, due to climatic variations and their societal nature. It is time we understood this.
The same climate engenders the need for shade and outdoor installations that have a intangible effect on groundwater, sequestering air pollution, promoting avian and insect habitat (i.e. trees again). Green walls with their low bedding depth and high proximity to living spaces, cannot afford to be hotbeds for such activity- deemed as Pestilence in tropical climes. It is necessary to understand that all vegetation "flower" either visibly or inconspicuously, in lay terms. Having plants on the green wall that "do not flower", is not exactly a easy brief to follow.
Factors like Embodied energy (in its most simple calculable sense- the energy used in assembly at site) pitted with Cost per square foot and longevity, if taken as benchmarks tell us that Green walls are way behind Trees. Having "no space for trees" is the sorry reflection of the state of affairs of our failed Urban Planning, and the preoccupation with looking at land as media for development only. What good is such development? But then, Who is asking, and Who is bothered to look up the answer?
My office too has been working with it on some projects simply because there is no other way to have "landscaping" in the architectural design. But is it the most sustainable way to introduce nature in our projects in India? Why is everyone trying to ape Patric Blanc minus the "system" behind the scintillation? (Patric Blanc is the international face to the concept, with his academic-technical background giving shape to amazing installations. See http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/)
My reasons for believing that it does not work every time for Indian Architecture, is due to the following:
I think it is a concept equivalent to the "control" that gardeners of Versailles and Japanese Bonsai experts prided themselves to have, coupled with the Gardenesque era method of application of horticulture to architectural settings. I say this given the high proliferation of this art and science, resulting in ready-to-use green wall kits yet with all due respect to Ken Yeang and Patric Blanc. Alluding to the Hanging gardens of Babylon, (tremendous) reduction of urban albedo runoff control etc. to me seem just clever marketing.
Given the largely Tropical climate that we habit in India, such installations add a degree of humidity to the micro-climate. So, such ideas may be wonderful for Jodhpur, but not for Mumbai. Then again, because the imagery (M/s Blanc and followers) is of tropical plants, the same system may fail horribly in Jodhpur.
As a vegetal system, a green wall is (should be) a stratification of vegetation that is found in the Forest Type of the region. So a Jodhpur green wall and a Solapur green wall will not be the same; should not be the same.
The reason Blanc succeeds in his work is due to his innate understanding of the same, coupled with architects who value the same understanding and are willing to work with it, rather than around. Yet his most geographically disconnected works seem to be similar... which is strange.
Trees, in comparison, provide shade and scope for orchestrating a "baithak"- the informal sit-out space below a tree. No matter how progressive and affluent we become as a society, this archetype of outdoor use is ingrained in our genetic code and our cultural use of open space. It does not happen in Europe, due to climatic variations and their societal nature. It is time we understood this.
The same climate engenders the need for shade and outdoor installations that have a intangible effect on groundwater, sequestering air pollution, promoting avian and insect habitat (i.e. trees again). Green walls with their low bedding depth and high proximity to living spaces, cannot afford to be hotbeds for such activity- deemed as Pestilence in tropical climes. It is necessary to understand that all vegetation "flower" either visibly or inconspicuously, in lay terms. Having plants on the green wall that "do not flower", is not exactly a easy brief to follow.
Factors like Embodied energy (in its most simple calculable sense- the energy used in assembly at site) pitted with Cost per square foot and longevity, if taken as benchmarks tell us that Green walls are way behind Trees. Having "no space for trees" is the sorry reflection of the state of affairs of our failed Urban Planning, and the preoccupation with looking at land as media for development only. What good is such development? But then, Who is asking, and Who is bothered to look up the answer?
Coming then to the title of this post, are Green Walls then the Brise Soliel of today's architecture?
What does a green wall do to a building facade? Does it really activate the facade as a relief? Does it delicately spell out the porosity seen in the Islamic Jaali? Here, one is reminded of Corbusier's fascination with the sun and thus the Brise Soliel and the consequent impact on his architecture, before the theory became bigger than the act and before the clones proliferated mindlessly (For e.g. many of the PWD- designed buildings of Independent India)
Do green walls help reveal the depths and shadows of a facade and how the sun moves across it? Beyond their skin deep existence, how do they contribute to the form, proportions and finesse of assembly of the building- factors that were once the hallmark of all good architecture (and thus the ones that are atleast 200 years old and still around for us to admire).
Do green walls help reveal the depths and shadows of a facade and how the sun moves across it? Beyond their skin deep existence, how do they contribute to the form, proportions and finesse of assembly of the building- factors that were once the hallmark of all good architecture (and thus the ones that are atleast 200 years old and still around for us to admire).
What about the Indianness and the facade of our architecture? (that is a loaded question but at this point I venture to think of it as an amalgam of thresholds, terraces and cutouts which allow the experience of the breeze and the rain and a view, albeit of a lone tree in a mudcaked courtyard). Our traditional architecture had a physical and a psychological facade.
Who sees and experiences a Green facade from one of the windows cut out from it? Definitely not its users. And since we are moving rapidly towards gated communities (unfortunately), it is only self-fooling to think that our green walls will be touched and experienced as seen in European images. The realization that we have paid for something beneficial to the community at large but we cannot "use" ourselves, is a concept that Modern day India just cannot bring itself to value. Take Groundwater recharge as an example. Likewise, we have major issues if we pay for "landscaping" and do not get to "use" it.
It is necessary to ask these questions before falling blindly for the charm of the Musée du Quai Branly.
Yet, I won't be surprised if Green walls become the easy way out to design a facade, and make a project "green" and thus join the likes of Aluminium composite panels and Curtain glazing.
Who sees and experiences a Green facade from one of the windows cut out from it? Definitely not its users. And since we are moving rapidly towards gated communities (unfortunately), it is only self-fooling to think that our green walls will be touched and experienced as seen in European images. The realization that we have paid for something beneficial to the community at large but we cannot "use" ourselves, is a concept that Modern day India just cannot bring itself to value. Take Groundwater recharge as an example. Likewise, we have major issues if we pay for "landscaping" and do not get to "use" it.
It is necessary to ask these questions before falling blindly for the charm of the Musée du Quai Branly.
Yet, I won't be surprised if Green walls become the easy way out to design a facade, and make a project "green" and thus join the likes of Aluminium composite panels and Curtain glazing.
The hard analysis is essential, of "Factors like Embodied energy (in its most basic sense), Cost per square foot and longevity." That's the kind of hard green thinking I'm hoping to see really bear fruit at Appropedia.org.
ReplyDeleteGreen needs to be green on the bottom line, the real impact, not merely in the appearance. Some good thoughts, thanks.
hi Gannuman,
ReplyDeletei would like to share a different opinion. I feel that it is more like a terrace or roof top garden, just that instead of "traditional" use of the horizontal plane we also have a choice of using the vertical plane.
The choice of plants and thus its resulting irrigation and subsequent drainage is entirely dependent on the site location, orientation, etc.
yes, people can try and get away with a monotonous "green" wall, but that should not take away from the fact that this as a system is quite flexible, and can be used quite innovatively, to provide relief along with other elements in the composition
i look at it, not as a competition to trees, but as another shade in the vast palette available to a landscape architect.
thanks,
chhitiz
I actually install these systems as part of my ecological design systems (www.oikos.co.in), and in some ways, I am inclined to agree.
ReplyDeleteI studied a lot of Blanc's research when I was at university, and my approach would happily be that of subsistence vertical farms for slums, or greywater recycling systems using phytoremediator plants, however, the aesthetic appeal seems to be the big thing at this point.
I think from an economic standpoint, I think green walls work well for energy savings when designed into the steel/glass works that are fast becoming the mainstay of today's commercial India.
Still. We are stuck with what an architect or client is looking for, and unless we are working with forward thinking designers who actually value the use of these for either the vertical dimension, for waste treatment use, community development, or energy savings, we are doomed to see this as a product that becomes another fad in a series of 'greenwashing' experiments.
G