16 Vertical Farm & Skyscraper Park Designs

In increasingly dense urban areas, sometimes the only way to build is up. And with a movement to grow more food locally and to add more green to our urban environments so too has grown the impulse to build skyscraper farms, solar tower parks and other unique and uncanny forms of vertical vegetecture such as the sixteen shown here.

Green roofs have recently become almost the industry standard for urban architectural designs, found on many major civic projects but also in residential complexes and office parks. In turn, these have given way to vertically vegetated surfaces and structures – skyscraper farms were the almost inevitable next step.

Many initial vertical urban farm ideas were theoretical, at least to begin with. They involved layering buildings with levels of greenery or applying a green layer to their facades – in short, they were attempts to integrate green alongside traditional architectural forms and functions.

Subsequent ideas for building up and green have further integrated greenery into the very function of buildings, from pragmatic passive cooling and filtering systems to organic forms that reflect the function of these hybrid structures.

As the idea of an urban green space within a city has evolved so too have the functional complexities of the proposals, from solar-power-generating modular park towers to mixed-use office, residential and agricultural structures.

Many current urban farm and skyscraper park proposals are also incredibly thought-out to the tiniest details, including the species of plant that will work best in various positions throughout the structure.

If this all still sounds far-fetched and futuristic to you, consider this design competition for downtown Dallas which involves structures with all of the above: green roofs, vertical vegetation and layered park-and-farm levels throughout.

Still, while some remarkable green buildings are being built tall in the here and now and near future, many of the most remarkable ideas will not be constructed for decades. This Dragonfly design for downtown New York has sustainable solar, wind and waste management systems – a self-sufficient ecotopia – but is beyond anything likely to be built for many years to come.

Via: http://dornob.com/green-in-3d-16-vertical-farm-skyscraper-park-designs/#ixzz2UO99A4fk

Unique Underground Home Design Plan

Underground homes tend to conjure mental images of hobbit holes and otherwise rounded, earthen residences. This extremely modern house by KWK Promes defies popular conventions and, despite its organic green roof, is constructed of clean lines and clear shapes.

Viewed from above or around, the house blends wonderfully into the landscape – even the gentle curves and straight lines seem to work with the horizon and trees in the distance. The grass also absorbs moisture and helps regulate temperatures inside of the home.

The barrier between inside and outside is highly permeable, providing continuous connections for residents with the natural world around them through giant sheets of floor-to-ceiling glass.

Best of all (for the owners anyway): the lush green roof is only accessible from inside of the house through a set of secure stairs, reserving it as a private getaway for the home.

While from certain perspectives the home blends visually with its surroundings, from other angles it appears to be simply a well-designed modernist house like any other.

Via: http://dornob.com/underground-home-modern-house-with-a-green-roof/#ixzz2UO8a8xCA

Sky Garden House

               Stuck in a small lot with nosy neighbors?

 No worries: just built up instead of out, like the architects of this home on the remote island Sentosa (near Singapore).

Guz Architects‘ plan was, in part, to create something that felt like a one-story dwelling but sat up above the neighbors, treating the first floor like a basement (conceptually) and the second story with its green deck like a main-floor house and garden, with yet a third story and green roof on that.

A central stair and atrium channel light, breezes and occupants up and down through the core, connecting a sublime terrace above with the more secluded living spaces below.

None of this focus on the upper levels is meant to suggest the actual entry floor was not well-designed, with its own secluded outdoor space as well as relatively-small exterior deck leading out to the water’s edge.

Via: http://dornob.com/roofception-sky-garden-house-takes-green-to-new-levels/#ixzz2UO7f1RzR

Vertical Garden: Home Covered in 25 Kinds of Plants

Unlike its horizontal equivalent, pruning a vertical surface can be a tricky proposition at best, so species selection done from the outset is a crucial key to success. You need rugged and robust plants fit for the region, for starters.

Rebelo de Andrade thought carefully about the plants picked for the outside faces of this stunning four-story structure, selecting varieties that would weather well and grow (but not too much!) in their environs in Lisbon, Portugal.

The result is a green wrap that provides shade, fresh air and, critically, appealing aromas – smell is another critical consideration in living walls, particularly when you have a rooftop deck with a sunken swimming pool that runs along the outside edge of the greenery.

Nearly five thousand total plants now thrive along the multiple vertical surfaces of the building, creating a dynamic, slowly-evolving facade as the species vie for water, sunlight and space. As fascinating as it is now, it will be even more interesting to see how this looks in five, ten and twenty-five years.

Via: http://dornob.com/vertical-gardening-home-facade-covered-in-25-kinds-of-plants/#ixzz2UO61sa9q

Small Green Structure: More than an Urban Object Building

An entirely offbeat green covered building decked in geo-textiles to form living walls and roofs. In its scale and proportions, it seeks a balance between the existing residential texture of the neighborhood and the new layer of commercial

being introduced.

Outside of those gestures, however, this is a green building like few others. It is perhaps less about sustainable than about bringing the comfort and camouflage of nature into the heart of a busy urban area, as illustrated by the sectional drawings shown below. Nonetheless, its perennial wall plants will improve air quality and reduce noise – at least for those within the building – thus cutting down an air and sound pollution at the least.

Within the building it quickly becomes evident that the purpose was not just to create an attractive and unusual object from the outside but also a series of rich spatial experiences within the building, one in which the horizontal bleeds into the vertical and nature moves through architecture. Curved concrete surfaces share spaces with sweeping slopes of green, all mingling in an interior not revealed in the comparatively simple facades.

Via: http://dornob.com/small-green-structure-more-than-an-urban-object-building/#ixzz2UO4p3l8D