Living Walls Growing in Prominence in Urban Areas

Mark Niu of CGTN America writes:

There used to be a time when plants growing on walls used to be a sign of neglect and aging buildings. But there’s a growing trend that is making use of green in architecture.

At San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art – SFMOMA-one of the most popular works is neither a painting nor a sculpture. At nearly nine meters high and 46 meters wide, it’s the largest living wall in the United States.

The SFMOMA living wall has 26,000 plants. There are 38 different species. About 20% are native to California. On average, these plants are only getting about one hour of direct sunlight per day. The man behind the living wall is horticulturist David Brenner, who began the project with designs on his iPad. Brenner served an apprenticeship at the Royal Botanic Gardens in London where he learned about plants that grew naturally on trees and rock faces. He brought that knowledge to a greenhouse at the University of California Polytechnic State University where he experimented with growing plants vertically. He’s also the founding Principal of Habitat Horticulture.

In this same article, Eric Westerduin talks about living walls: CGTN’s Rachelle Akuffo spoke to Eric Westeduin, president of Suite Plants, about so-called living walls and how cities are trying to be more green.