Part 1: Demystifying Living Walls – Facts & Fiction
Living walls are igniting the imagination of designers everywhere. And what is not to like, for as encapsulated visions of nature with their seemingly perfect beauty contained on a wall or screen, they tend to idealize nature in the urban realm.
So let’s talk about living walls and demystify some facts and fiction. Not the kind of walls that have existed naturally on a rocky cliff for the past thousands of years and not the traditional “green” wall that is composed of vines such as ficus pumila or bougainvillea voraciously growing up a building façade looking as if the architecture is being consumed by nature; and, not even the romantic notion of a hanging garden wall a la the Gardens of Babylon. While all of these planted walls are lovely to look at they are not the new urbanized version that is getting the heavy media play today especially in the green building industry. With the onslaught of sustainable ideas and products touting their green credentials, many terms such as “living walls” are being used without a shared understanding of what they really mean and how they really perform. Yes they include plant material but are they all environmentally sustainable? Are they easy to construct? What about maintaining them? How much do they cost? How well do they perform as a sustainable model? Do they really provide for better air quality? Well, if you are as curious as I am, then come along for a little exploration on what living walls are all about. (more…)
