Comments on: Patrick Blanc green walls are beautiful – but are they sustainable?

By: David O'Neil

David O'Neil — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:35:16 +0000

I have a major client with several large distribution / logistics “shed” developments in planning where we want to find commercially achievable “green walls” so the building can be part of a gateway to a city and not so much a steel wall. Any examples would be welcome! Please reply to david@nortoft.co.uk

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 10:39:15 +0000

Thank you for the information and good luck with the project. I love green walls and want them to succeed. Please keep us informed about the progress of your project.

By: paul exall

paul exall — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:33:23 +0000

We are just about to build our first green wall today, for a hotel in central Manchester.It will have edible plants, herbs and flowers to go to the kitchen! After a fair bit of research we are going with the patrick blanc model of building and some vertical hanging felt tubes. On the sustainable side we found the corrugated plastic for the backing though the felt underlay was shop bought it is from recycled materials, wool and synthetic but in theory could be got from a carpet fitters as they pull it out from under old carpets, dusty but maybe good.The frame to house it in is 2 by 4 pine and was saved from going to landfill by me jumping in the skip and grabing it.Our wall will be will be fed by a rainwater butt and with worm and green manure teas for food, also supplied by the pump. The pump is the main expense and the most potentially unsustainable thing there but could be done away with if there was a tank at the top of the wall so fed by rain,hand and gravity (easy).
We hear a lot of talk about sustainability but when we get together as friends and do a bit then we can realy talk about it! for i as a artist and potential green wall roof expert see the city as green in my minds eye and how it would feel… Lets push each other up rather than drag down, do a bit and give suggestions after we have thought and figured out a bit for ourseleves…Those that do do!

By: Adam Hodge

Adam Hodge — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:57:45 +0000

Dana I’m intrigued to know how your wall works out and what plants you select..I have a client who has a wall I want to clothe in herbs, Dianthus and mediterranean plants with a long flowering period. Keep me posted…adam.hodge@oxfordbotanica.com

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:18:38 +0000

I’m actually building a vertical wall myself, one on a much smaller scale than patrick blancs(1.2x1m)..and I planted some perennial edibles, along with drought resistant plants native to Lebanon. The point of my project is to contribute to biodiversity, and to create a semi self sustainable wall that can be hung on a balcony wall. Therefore I am with Adam in that combining the two brings out a much better result, and is also aesthetic (not as beautiful as Patrick Blancs though). I’ll make sure to post a picture when its done

By: Is Ken Yeang’s brilliant landscape architecture sustainable? | Garden Design And Landscape Architecture Blog – Gardenvisit.com

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:26:40 +0000

[...] is Ken Yeang’s landscape architecture subject to the same criticism as Patrick Blanc’s green walls? I would of course be much happier if these approaches to landscape architecture were genuinely [...]

By: christine

christine — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:52:05 +0000

Tom perhaps you speak here of the rise and fall of cities? [ http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/1282 ]

By: Adam Hodge

Adam Hodge — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:42:52 +0000

Who can possibly match such a distinguished recent blog !!

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:13:12 +0000

Some ancient texts give me an even better feeling than archaeological remains – and it may be that when the Cities of the Future are as vegetated as they might well be we will have canopies of luxuriant vegetation and rich wild life above our heads. This is from the Oxford Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Inana and Ebih:

121. jickiri6 mu2-bi kurun im-la2 giri17-zal im-du8-du8
122. jic mah-bi ur an-na ni2-ba u6-di-de3 ba-gub
123. ebihki-a jic an-dul3 pa mul-mul-la-ba ug tab-ba mu-un-lu
124. ceg9 lu-lim-bi ni2-ba mu-un-lu
125. am-bi u2 lu-a mu-un-gub
126. tarah-bi ha-cu-ur2 hur-saj-ja2-ka e-ne-su3-ud-bi im-me

121-126. “Fruit hangs in its flourishing gardens and luxuriance spreads forth. Its magnificent trees, a crown in the heavens, …… stand as a wonder to behold. In Ebih …… lions are abundant under the canopy of trees and bright branches. It makes wild rams and stags freely abundant. It stands wild bulls in flourishing grass. Deer couple among the cypress trees of the mountain range.”

But in early 21st century CE cities:

265. uru2-ju10 u8 zid-gin7 ba-ra-ma-lu sipad zid-bi ba-ra-jen
266. urim2ki u8 zid-gin7 ba-ra-ma-lu kab-bar-bi ba-ra-jen
267. gud-ju10 tur3-bi-a ba-ra-mu-un-cub mu-lu-bi ba-ra-jen
268. e-ze2-ju10 amac-bi-a ba-ra-mu-un-cub na-gada-bi ba-ra-jen
269. id2 uru2-ja2-ke4 sahar ha-ba-nijin2 e2 ka5-a ha-ba-an-du3
270. cag4-ba a zal-le ba-ra-mu-un-de6 mu-un-kud-bi ba-ra-jen
271. gana2 uru2-ja2-ke4 ce ba-ra-ma-al mu-un-gar3-bi ba-ra-jen
272. gana2-ju10 gana2 jical-e ri-a-gin7 mul-gana2 bil2 ha-ba-mu2
273. pu2-kiri6 lal3 gurun dirig-ju10 jickici16 kur-ra ha-ba-mu2
274. edin giri17-zal-bi du3-du3-a-ju10 gir4-gin7 ha-ba-hur-hur

265-274. “My city no longer multiplies for me like good ewes, its good shepherd is gone. Urim no longer multiplies for me like good ewes, its shepherd boy is gone. My bull no longer crouches in its cow-pen, its herdsman is gone. My sheep no longer crouch in their fold, their herdsman is gone. In the river of my city dust has gathered, and the holes of foxes have been dug there. In its midst no flowing water is carried, its tax-collector is gone. In the fields of my city there is no grain, their farmer is gone. My fields, like fields from which the hoe has been kept away (?), have grown tangled (?) weeds. My orchards and gardens that produced abundant syrup and wine have grown mountain thornbushes. My plain that used to be covered in its luxurious verdure has become cracked (?) like a kiln.”

PS to be fair, we still have the tax-collectors!

By: Adam Hodge

Adam Hodge — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:42:31 +0000

et ait germinet terra herbam virentem et facientem semen et lignum pomiferum faciens fructum iuxta genus suum cuius semen in semet ipso sit super terram et factum est ita
et protulit terra herbam virentem et adferentem semen iuxta genus suum lignumque faciens fructum et habens unumquodque sementem secundum speciem suam et vidit Deus quod esset bonum

And God said, Let the earth put forth [tender] vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees yielding fruit whose seed is in itself, each according to its kind, upon the earth. And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed according to their own kinds and trees bearing fruit in which was their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (suitable, admirable) and He approved it.

Genesis 1 v.11,12

It could even apply to a wall of a building…..perhaps !!