{"id":105859,"date":"2022-02-22T08:15:39","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T13:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/?p=105859"},"modified":"2022-02-22T12:08:50","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T17:08:50","slug":"living-architecture-buildings-that-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/inspiration\/industry\/living-architecture-buildings-that-grow\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Alive! Architects Are Using Living Plants as Structural Building Components"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work by uploading projects to Architizer<\/a>\u00a0and sign up for our\u00a0inspirational newsletters<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Man-made structures will eventually be worn and weathered, losing their original form and texture after decades and centuries. Trees and plants, on the other hand, are born in nature and grow over years. Would combining the additive nature of plants with spatial designs result in structures that develop and renew themselves over years, rather than breaking and collapsing?<\/p>\n

While architects and designers have come under fire for greenwashing projects by simply decorating them with flora (whether in rendering<\/a> or reality<\/a>), the following projects push against these criticisms by using plants as building materials for both the fa\u00e7ade and the main structure. They point to a fledgling architectural movement to design buildings that grow, merging the built and natural environments and breaking the boundary between the two.<\/p>\n

\"urban<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"urban

Close-up of UMCC (above) and Urban Micro Climate Canopy at night (below). Photos taken by Lorenz Boigner (TUM), provided by Ferdinand Ludwig<\/a><\/em>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Urban Micro Climate Canopy<\/a> <\/strong>by Technical University of Munich, 2018<\/p>\n

This structure is made of resin-impregnated glass fiber; it was conceived as an incomplete spatial intervention that will finish itself over time. Constructed by robots, the fiberglass shell is the main structure of the project as well as a container that shapes the way climbing plants grow within it. The fiberglass structure is strong and lightweight, with gaps for leaves to come out.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the plants will fill the structure and continue to flourish, becoming a green canopy that connects the urban site to nature. By employing plants as a building material that forms part of the structure, the design team is proposing this project as a prototype for improving urban microclimates. The designer believes that if the strategy can be generalized to a wider extent \u2014 by replacing city surfaces made of stone, concrete and asphalt with plants \u2014 the urban environment will become cooler hence more comfortable.<\/p>\n