Some are of the view that any spare patch of bare earth in an urban space should be planted. If it’s there and available, it should have a tree at the very least. As a city, we have the best public parks in Europe, but out on the street, it’s not looking as green as it could. A step in this direction would be to clad more buildings in non-invasive climbers – rambling roses, for example, trained along wires; vines and climbing hydrangea.
At the extreme – it ought not to be such, and perhaps it’s early days – is The Muse, Hackney. This is an architect’s house that plays host to a rich and natural landscape…on its roof. Yes, on its roof. There is a wild meadow above the sitting room, a Hazel woodland on the roof deck, and a stand of Hawthorn on top of the bedroom. The building is on the site of an old sausage factory, surrounded by high residential blocks; yet within this urban jungle is an oasis of green - provided by plants incorporated in the roof structures. There is no doubting the positive effects on those lucky enough to look out onto them. Locals frequently stop by to thank the architect, and I can believe it. Standing on this roof terrace felt rare and special – it wasn’t your run-of-the-mill olive trees and lavenders, but native species for attracting wildlife (a blackbird was busy finding food for its babies while I was there). The really wonderful part of all this is that it has been created in the sky, where to some, roof tiles would have done.
I left the site wondering why this isn’t the norm yet. Isn’t it a no-brainer?
No comments:
Post a Comment