...and put up a parking lot, why not make it a green one? In fact, why can't all buildings go a deeper shade of green? Urban landscapes are often grim: high-density buildings, acres of concrete, not exactly eco-friendly – or human-friendly for that matter. But today's architects and urban planners are coming around to the idea that green buildings can be good for cities – and the people in them.

 

BioTecture ('biological architecture') won the top award for Innovation in Sustainable Design and Construction at the recent EcoBuild show and recently launched the modular BioWall™ system. BioTecture is keen to promote the positive benefits of living walls, including:

 

*Eye candy. Living walls look great and have a dramatic visual impact similar to that of public art.
*Reduced thermal load, leading to lower heating and cooling needs (thereby lower carbon emissions).
*Reduced 'heat island effect' of cities, partly caused by the lack of vegetation in urban areas, which inhibits cooling by evapotranspiration.
*Eased pressure on storm drains. Panels can absorb over 30kgs of rainwater per square metre.
*Reduced air pollution. Plants are efficient pollution filters.
*Reduced noise pollution.
*Increased urban biomass.
*Increased ecological habitat (even with non-native plant species).

 

And last but not least:

*Kinder, gentler cities and citizens. Say what?

Green walls make people feel good, and we could use some positive urban psychology right about now.

 

I can vouch for this one personally. More than once I've stood on a crowded 436 bendy bus travelling through Vauxhall, feeling my life force ebb away. The sight of the Oval cricket ground's living wall has lifted my spirits just enough to stop me from asking a surly youf to turn down his iPod (a fairly effective suicide method). And when I lived on South Beach in Miami, I always smiled when I saw Arquitectonica's car park on Collins Avenue (top), even whilst recovering from a particularly messy love affair. Perhaps not quite so effective as a bucket of Häagen-Dazs for mending a broken heart, but every little helps.