Green Designs - First Vertical Skyscaper.

 

Several years ago a Swedish-American company called Plantagon unveiled plans for a series of massive skyscraper  houses that stood to transform urban farming in large cities. While the spiraling vertical farms seemed too good to be true at the time, Plantagon just broke ground on its very first vertical farm this week in Linkoping, Sweden! The “Plantscraper” will grow and supply fresh vegetables while creating solutions to some of the most vexing city pollution issues.

 

 

Plantagon seems to have traded in its initial geodesic dome design for a sheer tower that both contains and showcases the plants growing inside. This prototype building will be called the International Centre of Excellence for Urban Agriculture, and it will be a place for scientists to test new technologies aimed at improving urban farming.
Inside the massive glass walls, vegetables will be grown in pots and then transitioned to trays positioned around a giant central helix. The plants grow as the trays slowly migrate down the central core and are ready to be harvested once they reach the bottom. Plant residue and manure will be collected along the way and transformed into biogas to run the heating and cooling systems of the greenhouse. Scientists want the vertical farm to not only grow food but also help in developing sustainable solutions for energy, heat, waste, and water issues of daily city life.


 

Eco Offices ~ Sign of the Times

When an old technology office needed a makeover from its minimalist soviet modernism decor, they decided to go big -- and green! The wonder workers at TSEH Architectural Group in Kyiv, Ukraine have recently revitalized a hard, cold industrial office space into a luscious indoor garden. With green walls, trees, even grassy knolls to sit upon, employees can stop and smell the flowers without even leaving the building.

Upon entering the technology office space, guests are greeted with two vertical green columns at the reception area. The indoor greenery does not stop there, as a grassy wall fence leads back to the open offices. An amazing lawn-like cube is cut out of the center of the the main office, while trees and plants sprout out of the concrete floor throughout the rooms and hallways. Even a grassy hill sits under the stairs of one area, making for the most relaxing conference room ever! And what is any green office without a terrace? Employees can sit outside on breaks and take in the panoramic treetop views on their metal landing surrounded with shrubbery.
While greenery certainly brightens up a room, it is nothing without the right environment. The new office layout is open and light, with only glass partitions separating each room. Floor to ceiling windows create a fresh and bright space for air to flow freely and plants to thrive.

This eco-takeover incorporates a ton of green and grassy features, but it also preserves most of the original outlines of the industrial loft. The design was not to destroy the past of the space, but to build upon it, to give it a bright and fresh future. Many parts of the ceiling remain unfinished, exposing wires and pipes, while the original concrete walls and floors remain intact. This is definitely an office we’d love to work in!


 

The Dhankhar Initiative

Let's introduce you to Dhankhar, the once stunningly beautiful capital of Spiti, perched at a 1000-feet and overlooking the confluence of the Spiti & Pin rivers. Dhankhar is an important Buddhism monastic centres in Himachal Pradesh and a prime tourist destination. However, Dhankhar monastery in its state of disrepair has been listed among the World’s Hundred Most Endangered Sites. The Dhankhar Initiative is an attempt at restoration, Ecotourism & livelihood generation for the Dhankhar community. ~

The Garden of cosmic speculation. Scotland.

One of the best landscaped gardens in the world.

If only other govts would follow this example.

KOLKATA: The state government has made owners of heritage buildings an offer they cannot refuse. The state will reimburse 50% of the cost if they get their buildings renovated. If it works out, it will change the cityscape.

For now, the scheme is for Grade-I heritage structures. "We may extend it beyond government buildings. Grade-I private heritage buildings will be covered under the Great Kolkata Tourism project. The city's heritage is a major focal point of the scheme jointly implemented by the tourism department and ministry of culture," said principal secretary, tourism, Raghavendra Singh.

PARADISE GARDENS 
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Gardens aren't just a form of landscaping. To some, they're a refuge and a retreat from the hassles of everyday life, a physical embodiment of beauty, relaxation and abundance. This sentiment is echoed by the form of garden known as a paradise garden, an embodiment and reminder of heaven on earth.

Functionally, a paradise garden is an enclosed garden. The word “paradise” is derived from a Persian word meaning “walled garden.” The enclosure keeps out unwanted plants and blocks the outside world from view. Strong geometric motifs, specifically rectangles and squares, are common stylistic features of paradise gardens. Many paradise gardens showcase water with pools, fountains, ponds or streams. Fragrance and fruit trees and shrubs are often planted to attract birds.

The Moghuls adapted the Persian form of Charbagh garden since it was well suited for the climatic conditions of India. A Charbagh is a style of garden that originated in ancient Persia. This type of garden is generally very regular in design and layout, and is often split into geometrically identical portions, as evidenced by the fact that the term charbagh roughly translates as "a garden in four parts."

A Charbagh is typified by a careful and meticulously ordered layout. In a Charbagh, the space is typically divided evenly into four parts, with pathways or water used to divide up the garden. Any formal structures included in the Charbagh are usually located at the center of this organizational pattern or on the periphery. In larger examples of this type of garden, each quadrant may be further divided, yielding sixteen smaller gardens of identical size.

Normally these gardens are laid out at a lower level and have a Pavillion at a higher level from where the entire garden can be seen. An example of this is the Brindavan Garden of Mysore. This garden is laid on a North South axis and has three levels descending from the South to a large lake, and three ascending levels towards the North.

Green Architecture is an approach to sustainable building, which has become progressively more prevalent in the last three decades. Also known as sustainable design, Green Architecture is a method of simpler design that minimizes the impact of building on the environment. Green Architecture is not only designed for present use, consideration is also given to future uses as well. The materials used in its construction are designed to facilitate ease of recycling and reprocessing of materials at end-of-useful-life.

Buildings consume a variety of materials in their construction. Green design reduces the dependence on resource intensive products and materials. There are an increasing number of products available made from efficient,earth-friendly or recycled materials. In a green building, consideration is also given to the construction process itself. Materials that minimize waste or can be recycled, help contribute to an efficient and environmentally sensitive construction process. Attached are photos of the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University. Singapore. It’s covered with a green roof that blends with the environment and serves as a gathering place.The unique form of the roof sweeps down to the ground.

It also serves to insulate the building, cools the surrounding air and collects rainwater to irrigate itself and the surrounding landscape.The curved building is embracing a courtyard with water features and plants. The reflection of the trees and nature can been seen on the all-glass exterior.