We have a carbon problem with construction, but putting trees on tall buildings solves nothing and could make it worse, and these images are everywhere now.
We can't grow enough trees to produce the construction materials to build everything out of laminated structural timber like you want. And since cities typically ONLY grow bigger, you need higher density, which means taller and more closely-spaced buildings—unless the thought is that we can have sprawling cities of 5-7 story structures everywhere.
Completely agree that putting trees on balconies on buildings is the opposite of carbon smart architecture. We do have a problem in that we can’t immediately see from a rendering what is sustainable architecture. Certainly an all glass building is not, but what is? We need to look beneath the surface and that requires going beyond a rendering.
What happened to vernacular architecture? What happened to the use of naturally occurring, local resources. What happened to the use of local labor, skilled at working with those local resources?
What happened to the pleasure one gets when seeing the intimate imperfections of the human hand verses the cold, straight lines and square corners of machined materials? What happened to beauty, grace, charm and wonderment?
If you check through the sub, there should be some more reasonable examples of future architecture present now. Although Clean and Green, does seem to speak to people's twin fears of chaos and devastation.
This was lough out loud funny. Always educational and I 100% agree. As the head of marketing of all companies I've worked at/started/consult with, sustainability-driven buildings is a tough stock image to curate. Foliage on and around buildings ≠ sustainable.
Having the courage to acknowledge and apologize when we f’up, and we all f’up occasionally, is something we could all work to nurture in ourselves and to teach to others by example. Your note does both without diluting the important message you were trying to convey in the first place. Hopefully Zero will take a lesson here too about the profound power of images and consider a bit more carefully how it ties them to their words.
A similar issue, on a smaller scale, is the so-called green roof. Put plants on your house roof! Sure, the roof needs to handles much heavier loads. More robust framing. Somebody needs to lug the stone (for drainage) and soil up there. And it better be permanently waterproof, so a nice thick rubber membrane is a good idea. Somebody needs to climb up there to weed it or you'll end up with trees growing through the roof.
We can't grow enough trees to produce the construction materials to build everything out of laminated structural timber like you want. And since cities typically ONLY grow bigger, you need higher density, which means taller and more closely-spaced buildings—unless the thought is that we can have sprawling cities of 5-7 story structures everywhere.
Completely agree that putting trees on balconies on buildings is the opposite of carbon smart architecture. We do have a problem in that we can’t immediately see from a rendering what is sustainable architecture. Certainly an all glass building is not, but what is? We need to look beneath the surface and that requires going beyond a rendering.
Is there a less tall (and dense) model that incorporates greenery sustainably? Terraced maybe?
What happened to vernacular architecture? What happened to the use of naturally occurring, local resources. What happened to the use of local labor, skilled at working with those local resources?
What happened to the pleasure one gets when seeing the intimate imperfections of the human hand verses the cold, straight lines and square corners of machined materials? What happened to beauty, grace, charm and wonderment?
I think a few of those images may be my fault, from early on in https://au.reddit.com/r/SolarpunkAiArt/
If you check through the sub, there should be some more reasonable examples of future architecture present now. Although Clean and Green, does seem to speak to people's twin fears of chaos and devastation.
Our cities could certainly support much more biodiversity, it’s not just about us but it would improve our chances of surviving.
FYI: Forget trees on buildings. New York City has a total of over 800,000 mapped street trees.
Stormwater intercepted each year
1,332,786,162 gallons
Value: $13,194,576.34
Energy conserved each year
801,466,523 kWh
Value: $101,181,047.39
Air pollutants removed each year
1,521,995 pounds
Value: $7,958,026.51
Total Value of Annual Benefits
Value: $127,526,883.03
This was lough out loud funny. Always educational and I 100% agree. As the head of marketing of all companies I've worked at/started/consult with, sustainability-driven buildings is a tough stock image to curate. Foliage on and around buildings ≠ sustainable.
And trees don't generally like growing in pots anyway.
Having the courage to acknowledge and apologize when we f’up, and we all f’up occasionally, is something we could all work to nurture in ourselves and to teach to others by example. Your note does both without diluting the important message you were trying to convey in the first place. Hopefully Zero will take a lesson here too about the profound power of images and consider a bit more carefully how it ties them to their words.
A similar issue, on a smaller scale, is the so-called green roof. Put plants on your house roof! Sure, the roof needs to handles much heavier loads. More robust framing. Somebody needs to lug the stone (for drainage) and soil up there. And it better be permanently waterproof, so a nice thick rubber membrane is a good idea. Somebody needs to climb up there to weed it or you'll end up with trees growing through the roof.
Wondering about root pressure as trees grow and force apart concrete sidewalks etc that they my destroy the building planters with time.