Green·in·Emotion

The moss bathroom rug finally available!

2010-08-17T16:49:00.004+02:00

Imagine getting out of your bath or shower and delicately setting foot on a moss rug. Now imagine the water running down your legs and watering that unique carpet. There is an obvious natural cycle there: the rug “Larosé” by LA CHANH NGUYEN collects the water while you enjoy a soft contact with this ﬂora, which is reputed for its ideal massage of the acupuncture points situated on the sole of the foot.

“Larosée” is an ecologic and live rug: the moss composing it evolves through time on a base made of recycled latex. The moss likes shadow and humidity and stays green throughout several months. The air cells (moss) form (of the) a carpet which shape and color might vary (depending under which tree they have been collected). The edges are shaped like a wave in order to allow several rugs to ﬁt together to cover the surface you desire.

Beyond its original aesthetics “Larosée” is a subtle invitation to reﬂect on the importance of ecological challenges: water is a vital element which was thought to be an endless resource, free and pure, but nowadays everyone is aware that access to water, its quality and a moderate consumption are among the key challenges of the future.

Here you are the base of the moss rug: made in vegetal recycled latex, nice anthracite grey that can accommodate everywhere, absorbs water and humidity. The outline with its wavy shape, allows the rugs to be stackable like a puzzle, so in case you’d wish making a larger rug or doing a vegetal pathway, it’s possible.

As many customers have asked for it, we now propose to only buy the base. This way you can aggregate the mosses yourself or others substances of your choice (preferably vegetals but the creativity is about liberty!)

The window of the future: an Active Glass from Philips.

2010-06-29T11:36:00.003+02:00

The latest ‘Daylight’ concept by Philips is really a massive monitor resembling a real world window with a variety of customizable, on demand “scenery”: it's called Active-Glass, basically an “In-Air” Touch Interface using Glass as the display area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lRlp61jMpY

‘Daylight’ is considered the hotel scenario for the future, this is how Philips describes it [...] "Imagine what it would be like if your hotel was not just a temporary roof over your head, but a journey of the senses. Imagine being able to stimulate your senses with sound, light and imagery, day and night. Imagine a room whose very uniqueness leaves you refreshed, energized and ready for the new day.."

http://elitechoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/ph.jpg

The company’s announced the product is still at least ten years away from production.

Zurich: a very special museum.

2010-06-28T10:16:00.003+02:00

The Tree Museum opened outside of Zurich in Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland, showcasing an incredible collection of 2,000 different species of trees. Designed and built by Swiss landscape architect Enzo Enea with the help ofOppenheim Architecture + Design (OAD), who designed Enzo Enea’s new headquarters, the museum and the sustainably-built headquarters are located on the grounds of a 14th Century monastery and displays Enea’s personal collection of trees, which he has gathered over the past 17 years.

The innovation of Enea's approach is not just in creating a museum made of trees but in changing the common relation between buildings and its sorrounding landscapd areas. Infact, the headquarters are designed to act as the perfect backdrop to showcase the trees, exactly 2,000 trees on 2.5 acres, with a special installation of about 50 species personally curated by Enea from around the world. Trees are highlighted against sandstone wall backdrops and include 22 different varieties ranging from Taxus baccata to English yew, Pinus sylvestris, and Scotch pine. Enea has collected these trees over the last 17 years during various projects when trees had to be removed from the site. So instead of getting rid of them, he kept them and now has his own special museum, where visitors can view hundreds of trees for a reasonable fee.

http://inhabitat.com/2010/06/15/tree-museum-with-a-collection-of-2000-trees-opens-in-switzerland/

Jardin plume: the quintessence of sensual gardens.

2010-06-22T13:55:00.004+02:00

[...] "Sylvie and Patrick Quibel are hortics who built the garden to promote their nursery. Now the nursery funds the garden, and the garden, JardinPlume, has been voted Garden of the Year by Those That Know.

It is on flat ground in the middle of farm land in Normandy. The Quibels based the design on the principles used at Vaux le Vicomte by Le Notre. There are grand allées, formal hedging and tightly clipped parterres. The house is raised above the land, and extra land is ‘borrowed’ by carrying the eye seamlessly into countryside beyond. There is a potager as purely ornamental as Marie Antoinette’s, a pool to reflect the heavens, and secluded spots for indulgent reverie. So far so déjà vue, but what makes the garden modern is the way all this is done."

[...] "It is this mixture of formal and natural, control and laissée faire, old fashioned structure and twenty-first century planting that makes this garden special. It is a very sensual garden, crammed full of colours, scents and movement, and the French are very sensual about their plants. Nursery catalogues talk of finding the plants that have ‘seduced’ you in the gardens, and to overhear the eager replies to Patrick’s question ‘Do you want it?’ (vous le voulez?) in the nursery, you can see why."

http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/2009/10/11/please-visit-the-jardin-plume-before-it-becomes-over-copied/

http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/le_jardin_plume#

2010-06-21T14:51:00.002+02:00

At Jardins,Jardin 2010 grass is running everywhere: new interpretation of green roofs and vertical gardens.

http://www.jardinsjardin.com/

Christian Fournet for Jardins, Jardin 2010.

2010-06-21T14:09:00.006+02:00

Christian Fournet, a Paris-based landscape designer, is the author of this garden for Jardins, Jardin 2010. Its works has always been characterized by formal elegance and attention: though conceptual thinking is at the base of his gardens, it never overtake the practical side. The result is a new, very personal interpretation of formal garden as exemplified in this work for the Parisienne Festival: a contemporary solution as a source of inspiration for any urban garden.

http://www.jardinsjardin.com/jardins/les-jardins

The Laurent Perrier Garden at Jardins,Jardin 2010.

2010-06-18T08:50:00.006+02:00

The Laurent-Perrier garden for Jardins,Jardin 2010 has been designed by the 2007 Chelsea Gold Medal designer Jinny Blom who decided to represent in this work of hers the birth of Champagne. The garden tries to evoke not only the creation and elegance of the wine itself but also the place where it comes from, its landscape, its lines.

Infact, the garden is the representation of the fragmented aerial view of the Champagne region: flowery spots among meadows areas whose pattern is interrupetd only by long white stripes.

A central white path crosses the whole garden, passing through a grape broken in two which are 6 mt long and 2,5 mt wide: the pure white sculptures reveals a black pattern of broken bottles inside. The overall effect is magnificent and very sophisticated.

Images via http://www.jardinier-amateur.fr/reportages-jardin/2010_salon_jardins_jardin_aux_tuileries_75,259.html

http://www.jinnyblom.com/Jardin.htm

Jardins,Jardin : the garden festival in Paris.

2010-06-18T08:18:00.003+02:00

The chic-est garden festival of all has reached it's 7th edition: located in the magnificent Tuileries Gardens in the very heart of Paris, Jardins, Jardin gives us an idea of the latest trends in gardens and the "green world". For 2010, the organizers of the event have challenged designers to propose a contemporary and innovative vision of the garden, able to change our perspective and make us consider in a different way the connection between nature and cities.

Ecology and sustainability have been the favourite themes but with a twist. Infact, designers are not simply making "ecologically correct" gardens, they are re-inventing our role towards nature itself as exemplified by Amaury Gallon (designer at Jardins,Jardin 2010) "I consider the garden as an ecosystem with its animal or vegetable biodiversity. The Man must be able to express himself artistically but also respect the balances of this natural space."

Art and Nature are effectively combined in most of these gardens, creating interesting, poetic places.

Festival des Jardines Chaumont-sur-Loire 2010

2010-06-08T14:24:00.007+02:00

"The International Garden Festival has been providing a unique panorama of landscape design all over the world since 1992. In 18 seasons, almost 400 gardens have been designed, which are prototypes of the gardens of the future. This year, around twenty gardens have been selected by the Jury from over 300 proposals that came in from all over the world. Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands are represented in Chaumont.

At the same time a source of ideas and a nursery for talent, the festival gives an extra boost to the art of gardens and gains the interest of both the public and those in the trade by displaying new flower arrangements, new materials, new ideas and new approaches. The diversity and the high quality of the projects have contributed to the festival’s international reputation, which has become an indisputable meeting place for displaying the work of a new generation of landscape gardeners, architects, designers or gardeners."

http://www.domaine-chaumont.fr/index-en.php?page=festival&cat=102&expandable=2

Here it is a small selction of my personal favourite ones.

Garden n° 18 - The garden that sings by Rosalie Zeile and Amalia Besada, landscape architects, Germany.

“Listen” and “contemplate” are the key words of this garden. It devotes a large area to birds, whose presence enables people’s bodies to be cared for and their souls to be assuaged.

Garden n° 16 - Posh Tea, Posh People by PiP Partnership - George Richardson and Jules Arthur - landscape partnership, England.

“Posh Tea, Posh People” takes you on a voyage of discovery of the traditional uses of native plants in making herb teas and of the possibilities of incorporating these plants - so often disregarded - into contemporary beds. Every weekend at 4 pm, tea will be served in the garden. Visitors will also be invited to taste a herb tea, made using only the plants that are around them.

Garden n° 19 - Angels' hair by Christophe Marchalot, government approved architect, and Félicia Fortuna, author, France.

“Tillandsia usneoides” is a plant without a beginning or an end, light and rootless, untouchable in its glass box. It lets you see its silver hair transparently. This supernatural hair, like angels’ hair, appears to be an extension of the soul. It floats above an unknown surface, water and sky, light and mirror with multiple reflections. On this strange cloth, garden chairs invite you to have a rest. They are alongside a constellation of white and red water lilies, which gravitate around the plant, a symbol of the mystery of the soul. It might make you think of a merry-go-round that has slowly come to a stop, time for contemplation, time for a garden.

Garden n° 21 - Calligr-âme [Soul poem] by Hélene Le Merdy, government approved architect, Michaêl Ripoche, horticultural engineer, Jean-Michel Letellier and Miki Nakamura, artists, France & Japan.

In Japan, paper allows you to correspond with the Gods, either in the form of little folded papers attached to trees, or during ceremonies when the Shinto priest blesses the faithful with a paper branch. In Japanese, “Kami” means both “paper” and “God”.
With this relationship between the body and the mind as their starting point, the Franco-Japanese artistic couple and the two architects who work with them imagined a garden where the pathways form the ideogram of the soul: “Tamashi”.
The garden offers paper artworks made with mulberry bark. Only plants used to make paper were chosen (bamboos, hemp, grasses, poplar, papyrus). The absence of flowers contributes to stressing the vibratory effect caused by the leaves and their shades of colour.

Garden n° 3 - My Earth Mother by Olivier Hostiou, landscape engineer, Marie Forêt and Laurent Weiss, wicker worker , France.

The earth is mother to all of us, she gave birth to us through the alchemy of her elements: reestablishing this initial contact with our “Earth Mother” is the purpose of this garden.The garden welcomes you for a new gestation and invites you to walk slowly, to get caught up in this mysterious whirlwind.

Floating Gardens: contemporary solutions.

2010-06-02T21:06:00.005+02:00

The founders of Studio Noach, Kizito Musampa and Michel Kreuger together with the architect Anne Holtrop have designed this wealth centre and Spa in Amsterdam, a floating building made in PFC. Walls and ceilings are covered with flowers and plants designed by the French designer Patrick Blanc.

The Floating Gardens/ SpaWellness Amsterdam has been designed to be located in the lake next to the city, an area rich with high quality fresh waters: the building-garden will be a susteinable floating biotope, made by recycled materials and covered by planting, that will literally take oxygen from the "holes" of the building itself.

The material is called GreenRexwall and it was developed together with the German Aquahouse GmbH: it is so strong that concrete, wood or bricks are not necessary. Moreover, the nnovative building techniques allow to decrease the amount of energy necessary for the building: the water all around works as a "inter-changer" of heat, a sort of refrigerator, and the building results to be 70% more efficient than a conventional system.

http://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/2010/03/20/jardines-flotantes-spawellness-studio-noach-anne-holtrop/

Contemporary parks in Spain: Parque Atlántico de las Llamas by Batlle y Roig, Santander.

2010-06-02T20:47:00.007+02:00

The Santander City Council bought the area from private owners and the works started in 2006. The project should be the Great Green Area of the city that will work also as a preservation area. Infact, the main feature of the park is representd by the lagoon, an area of 45.000 sqm with a great variety of wildlife. Moreover, the site will be planted by a wide varieties of botanical species typical to the Cantabric Region.

http://www.vulgare.net/parque-de-las-llamas-by-battle-roig-santander-spain-2007/

Contemporary Parks in Spain: Pinar del Perruquet Park, Salou.

2010-06-02T20:27:00.006+02:00

In La Pineda, Spain, this 28000 m2 square has been remodeled by Arteks Arquitectura. The existing pine trees were kept in place on one side, while there is no obstruction on the other side, just a view of the sea.

The shape of the shade canopy with its organic design was inspired by the pine trees.

Images via http://www.archdaily.com/9654/pinar-del-perruquet-park-arteks-arquitectura/

More info on:

http://www.landezine.com/?p=1234

Next Design Hotspot: è il Belgio la prossima capitale del design?

2010-05-31T13:14:00.010+02:00

As Michael Cannel wrote, "Ten years ago the fashionable destination for design-minded travelers was the Guggenheim Museum, where Gehry's titanium acrobatics famously cast their spell. When design tourists pack their black clothing this month they will more likely head to Barcelona or Stockholm. Next year it may be Belgium. [...]" The big question is : why Belgium?

Here are some reasons to keep an eye on the Flemish country.

Martin Margiela

The first one is Antwerp, home to a lively community of fashion designers, including Martin Margiela, Dries van Noten, and Ann Demeulemeester: any fashion designer knows what's the quality and creativity of this city. Secondly, a distinct Belgian style of interior design is emerging. Unlike its neighbor, the Netherlands, Belgium has a great disparity between rich and poor. The wealthy serve as patrons of a national design style that is suited to the mood of the moment: large in scale but simple, with untreated woods and other quiet materials with muted color. The mood is Scandinavian minimal, but with a hint of grandeur.

Then, Belgian Architecture, a mixutre of tradition and sensitivity to its surroundings, like this converted barn by Rita Huys of Buro2.

They probably have the best small design show in Europe. Big shows, like Milan Furniture Fair, seems to capture less people's attention, who's more in favor of smaller shows where they can get noticed and do business in a more relaxed manner. The Interieur Biennale in the small city of Kortrijk is gaining a reputation. It is no doubt helped by Belgium's proximity to a cluster of other countries.

Jardins du Carousel, Les Tuleries, Paris by Jacques Writz.

Last but not least, one of the greatest living landscape master is Belgian: Jacques Writz, who's evergreen sculptural landscape is world-wide famous. A space created by light and shadow, evoking the atmosphere of the great Flemish painters of the past.

Box scupltures by Jacques Writz.

More reading on http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/michael-cannell/cannell/so-long-stockholm-six-reasons-why-belgium-will-be-next-hotspot-design-0?partner=rss

Rain Water collector

2010-05-30T21:24:00.007+02:00

The 'city eco lab' had a couple of possible solutions for the collection of rainwater. one was fréderic ruyuant's prototype which had three long pipes with shower heads at the end of each, extending from a toilet's water tank. ruyant asks, 'rain comes to us from the sky, it waters our soils and fertilizes our land. what about rain water in our urban environments, which disappears into the bowels of the city before flowing back into our rivers?' his protoype acts as a visual metaphor for this situation. 'Ondée' is a rainwater collector made from ceramic and 3D textile by olivier gassies of école boulle, 2007

The ‘Rain Storage’ Bench is a water container that stands outside park and garden. It reduces the amount of raindrop from sky going straight into a gap. Saving water is one of the world’s environmental problems.

WATERFULL is an effective private upper-well that can be integrated in the home environment as a multi -season water collector as well as a shading element. In the reality of global warming and evident lack of water in many areas around the world, WATERFULL creates a self-sufficient platform that enables the home-user to collect dew and rain water for everyday needs. Doing so, one is able to make use of the natural abundance available in his surroundings.

The 'dropnet' by german designer imke hoehler is a fog collector which has the potential to provide drinking water supplies to areas with low infrastructure. Using natural and local resources, the collector filters tiny water droplets from fog clouds causing the droplets to coalesce. The piece has been designed to be built up on flat and uneven ground in situations with or without hillsides. The best conditions for installing the fog collectors are in especially arid, coastal areas with altitudes between 400 m and 1200 m which exhibit a lot of fog accumulation. Such locations include chile, haiti, peru, nepal, spain etc. depending on the conditions, 'dropnet' can collect 10 to 20 liters of water per m2 a day.

All images via designboom.com

Freitag Compost Bags: from fashion to horticulture.

2010-05-30T20:35:00.005+02:00

Swiss bag producers markus and daniel freitag of freitag were invited by the walking chair gallery to create an installation/exhibition as part of vienna design week 09. Titled 'urban gardening', the show aims to direct the general public to be involved in recycling and encourages

people to get involved in gardening within their local community.

The duo designed 100 limited edition freitag compost bags for the installation, each were given to guests on the opening night, granted that they would return to the gallery with their compost and place it in the compost bin within 3 months.

The freitag brothers specially prepared a soup for guests on opening night, using their food scraps to start the compost bin.

Urban gardening

2010-05-30T20:10:00.008+02:00

This is garden composting shed by groves-raines architects located in Edinburgh. The project, designed by nicholas groves-raines of

groves-raines architects, has won an american institute of architects (AIA) excellence in design award for 2010. Conceived as an extension to the garden at inverleith terrace, the organic form embraces a 5 tonne boulder and provides a point of interest to both garden visitors and walkers alike on the adjacentwater of leith walkway to the north. ( It s a very striking feature, especially while you walk by the Water of Leith, the river that crosses Edinburgh).

The structure which serves as a composting area and garden store is made entirely from industrial concrete reinforcing bar and is constructed using a technique similar to traditional willow weaving. The construction method minimises any impact on the ground and surrounding mature woodland as the vertical reinforcing rods are driven straight into the ground rather than using traditional foundations. air and sunlight pass naturally through the structure providing ventilation for composting while creating light patterns which change constantly throughout the day.

'The farm proper' is a mobile, urban farm under development by interdisciplinary creativestudio set & drift in collaboration with mi-workshop in barrio logan, san diego. Maintained by artists, designers and backyard growers, this experimental project uses abandoned and repurposed shopping carts as the main tool in growing organic vegetables. in doing this, the goal was to create a replicable model for urban cultivation and pocket farms.

'Urbanbuds' project is a portable garden, shaped in the form of movable suitcases and filled with soil by eindhoven-based italian designer gionata gatto of studio atùppertù's . The design of this project involves the metaphor of a suitcase as a symbol of cultural background and transforms it into the product of movable, soil-filled suitcases where families can grow vegetables and fruit on the sides of the bags. Each one of them allows the growth of about thirty-six different plants, which can sprout vertically along the fabric.

Tree-trunk garden house by Piet Hein

2010-05-30T20:05:00.004+02:00

The tree-trunk garden house is a log house study in hilversum, netherlands for the dutch musical performer hans liberg, designed by piet hein eek.

Outdoor Design under 35

2010-05-10T15:17:00.006+02:00

The competition-workshop of SUN dedicated to young design talents (under 35) from all over the world presented an amazing set of novelties, a great showcase of products non-products, of working prototypes, tested and created with the same materials and technologies provided for by the respective projects. A creativity that young people enforced on companies.

orto trasportabile BY zerotreunouno

The theme for this edition was the home garden, meant as a space to relax, focus on one’s well-being, organize sharing opportunities, cultivate hobbies. [...] The home garden is a theme intended to stimulate original design, brand new experiments on forms and materials to create products closely tied to the relation with nature and to the quality of the time spent in contact with it, both outdoor and indoor, according to the most recent trend towards the merger between the inside and the outside.

ORDINE by Francesca Boer

GRASSHOPPER by Emanuele Magini

TRA-VASO- Bianca Scarfati-Paolo Riccio

via http://www.e-interiors.net/staticpages/materiali/sunlab/Sunlab_ENG.html

Spanish Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 by EMBT

2010-05-02T13:48:00.003+02:00

http://www.dezeen.com/category/events/shanghai-expo-2010-all/

"[...] The project proposed by EMBT consists on developing the handicraft technique of the wicker into a practice of construction. With this goal in mind, the universal language of the material works to build a bridge between East and West, and among Spain and China. With the volumetric, material, and structural inspirations of a wicker basket array, the void of the stands will mold a pavilion in which tubular metallic supports will sustain a wicker grid that will filter the light and function as a climatic membrane that wraps the pavilion." Extraxt from El Pais Babelia 03.11.0 - Text by Anatxu Zabalbeascoa

http://www.mirallestagliabue.com/project_media.asp?id=131&idg=5

Designing with Tillandsia usneoides

2010-05-02T13:10:00.011+02:00

Spanish moss or Tillandsia usneoides is a flowering plant that grows upon larger trees, commonly Quercus virginiana and Taxodium distichum (Bald cypress) in the south east of the States. It is angiosperm in the family Bromeliacee (the bromeliads) that grows hanging from tree branches in full sun or partial shade. The plant has no aerial roots and its flowers are tiny and inconspicuous.

Its elegant appearance combined with very low maintenance makes this plants a great friend for who has just entered the gardening world. Here they are some ideas to play with it!

French designer Patrick Nadeau has created an installation for Italian brand Boffi, consisting of hanging domes covered in living plants.

Called Rainforest, the installation comprises a series of Corian frames held together with cable ties.

The domes are suspended from the ceiling and used to light the Boffi product displays.

via http://www.dezeen.com/2009/11/18/rainforest-by-patrick-nadeau-for-boffi/

Chinese inventor Li Fan has created an innovative system of living curtains for homes and apartments. Utilizing a simple paper-thin mesh support system, self-supporting plants are interwoven into the mesh, providing a Living Plant Curtain that always smells fresh while also filtering impurities from the air.

via http://www.greenmuze.com/nature/garden/2603-living-plant-curtains-.html

Archi Land II

2010-05-01T14:35:00.003+02:00

Tree houses by Spanish designers.

via http://www.urbanarbolismo.es/blog/

Archi Land I

2010-05-01T14:30:00.006+02:00

via http://www.altro-studio.com/index.php?/projects/lawn-house/

This project is an bio-compatible mobile house, characterized by still structure with envelope in plastic transparent panels (1,2mm depth). The “tray” system of the envelope allow the placement of the thin earth layer (3 cm) blocked by still grate. Over the envelope we think to put rolled lawn system (60 cm x 3,00 m).

Indoor Gardening: the URB Garden

2010-05-01T14:21:00.005+02:00

The Urb Garden’s composting system is simple to use. Kitchen scraps are fed to the worm farm and the resulting fertilizer, with the addition of water, is then fed to the plants via a drip system. The water filters through the Urb Garden soil and plants, and is then used again in this elegant and ingenious closed system indoor garden.

http://www.coroflot.com/public/individual_file.asp?from_url=true&portfolio_id=3253122&individual_id=291230

Crazy allotment gardens

2010-05-01T14:03:00.003+02:00

via http://gardenersindex.ning.com/group/containergardens

How to make your own kokedama

2010-05-01T13:21:00.010+02:00

(Ko Kay Da Ma) is a ball of moss covered soil with arranged plants. Unlike other bonsai styles, its history is not so old and it's said the idea originated from Nearai, which was a popular bonsai style during the Edo era in Japan, and is a bonsai grown first in a pot and taken out of the pot and set on a stand to enjoy without a pot. In the Nearai style, the bonsai was grown so fully and tightly in the pot that the root and soil would maintain its shape when taken out of the pot.

A variety of flowers, wild flowers, grass and other plants can be mixed and arranged to form a desired theme. Because of the small size of the ball the plants will typically remain small with the inside of the ball allowing for growth and development of the plant's root system.

Personally, I think it's a very poetic and sustainable solution for indoor or balcony gardens: my terrace is Barcelona is just 45 cm wide and it could solve all my space + need for greenery problems.

I'm not a bonsai expert at all and I'm not sure I'd be able to find all the materials listed in the website, so I'll try to make my own variation mixing coltivation soil with pumice (much easier to be found in Italy), wrap my ball in a coconut fiber fabric and using a nylon filament to fix everything.

Here are the instructions for kokedama, please have look: http://www.cutebonsaitree.com/how-to-make-kokedama.html

Back again with these marvelous String Gardens!

2010-05-01T13:04:00.007+02:00

www.stringgardens.com/

A contemporary version of the antique Japanese technique called Kokedama (koke-moss dama-ball). Created by Fedor in Amsterdam, these minimalist string gardens comprised of string wrapped around moss and placed in a net covering plant root balls and bulbs.

I'm lost in Paris.

2009-04-23T21:17:00.004+02:00

I'mlostinParis / 2008

Private laboratory as Duck Blind cabana / in Paris / 130 m² / 1200 Hydroponics ferns / 300 glass beakers ''blowing''components / collecting raining for watering plants / individual drop by drop system with nutritional adding on proportioning controls / insulation with high density PU foam by layers sprayed and covered by geo-textile /

It' s the story of an urban witch living behind a rear windows designed as a duck cabana. As alchemist, she feeds the plant with drop by drop hydroponics system watering liquid substances coming from the bacterian chemical preparation in 200 beakers disseminated in the ferns surfaces.The neighborhood is boh attracted by the green aspect and repulsed by the brewage and the process to produce it.
The house is composed by "living walls" created applying a hydroponic integrated system: ferns are placed all around the structure and feed by a liquid mix of bacteria that don't need soil to allow plants to grow. Nutrition is provided by a "drop by drop" system: 300 blown glass beakers with the bacterial mix already inside + rain to garantee humidity. The house structure is protected by root invasion through a special finiture.

The “oldest” Ericacea..Enkianthus campanulatus

2009-04-08T16:27:00.001+02:00

A dome-shaped shrub or small tree, the enkianthus has a bushy to umbrella form and small reddish-beige, veined, bell-shaped flowers in dangling clusters. There are also types with white or pink flowers. Plants may reach heights of 15 to 20 feet when mature, if allowed to grow in tree form. Leaves turn pumpkin-colored in fall before dropping.
The current understanding of the plant family Ericaceae (which includes rhododendrons, blueberries and heaths) suggests that Enkianthus are the “oldest” in evolutionary terms. In other words, Enkianthus has been around the longest.

How to grow: Plant in full sun to bright partial shade in acidic, well-drained, average soil. Prune for shape in late spring after flowering, removing sucker growth.
Uses: Use as an accent plant or in foundation plantings and shrub borders. This plant looks wonderful when seen from below, with the viewer looking up into the flowers.

For more info, check the following website:
http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2005/05/enkianthus_camp.php

A l’Ombre d’un Arbre: more Outdoor Crazy Ideas..

2009-04-06T20:13:00.004+02:00

"A l’Ombre d’un Arbre" by Elodie Poidatz and Rachel Pfleger for Pa Design.
A very bucolic solution for an outdoor meal. Would be the table cloth and the umbrella below too much? Maybe not for a very urban flat..maybe..

http://www.pa-design.com/

Outdoors crazy ideas.

2009-04-05T17:21:00.002+02:00

shady lace parasol by chris kabel for Droog design.
http://www.droog.com/products/furniture---objects

Seeds in my garden_Nigella damascena: ballerina in light tutu.

2009-04-05T16:08:00.007+02:00

Nigella, also called "naughty maiden" in Italian, is an old cottage garden flower, a favourite for scattering wherever there is a gap in the flower border, but also good for short-term massed bedding and for drying.
The best SEEDing time is between march and april, directly outside in Italy where tempErature is quite mild at this period of the year...but this year! Thus, I planted mine in container pots and I have located in the glasshouse, taking them out once a day to help plants to aclimatise and get some fresh air. I'm planning to locate them in bigger pots by the end of this week, hoping to be able to plant them in a sunny POSITION as soon as the weather gets a bit better (there's a very unpredictable british-like weather here in Venice these days..).
Se Dio vuole (if God wants..common Italian expression), my Nigella will FLOWER this summer! Waiting to take MY own pictures, I add some from Internet with some more info about different varieties. :)

BEST PLANTED _under a climbing rose (pink or apricot tones)_ around pink, blue or purple Delphinum_ together with dwarf or wheeping Tropeolum majus _in a meadow with Poa and Festuca, Veronica, Licnide Lychnis.

For many years 'Miss Jekyll' was the only widely available variety, and it is still popular for its dependable masses of sky-blue flowers. These last for about eight weeks, and it is worth deadheading or sowing a later batch to extend the season. Sowing in autumn or in March, in a cold frame in paper pots in cold districts, produces early flowers. In windy gardens, support the stems with twiggy sticks.

Introduced over 400 years ago, 'Persian Jewels' popular annual with its very finely divided, feathery leaves and showy flowers, which in this variety come in many shades of blue, rose, pink and white, is of the easiest cultivation needing little more than sow and forget. The flowers are splendid for cutting, and the attractive, inflated seed pods can be dried for winter decoration.

'Oxford Blue' is a tall annual, with featherly foliage and dark-blue, double flowers for a short-period in summer. Grow in well-drained soil in full sun. Sowing in autumn or in March, in a cold frame in paper pots in cold districts, produces early flowers. Plant with Salvia x sylvestris 'Mainacht'.

Hortus Temporarius: contemporary interpretations in garden design.

2009-04-04T10:26:00.006+02:00

Hortus Temporarius ( from the latin HORTUS-garden and TEMPORARIUS-linked to time, temporary) is a small garden designed for the Flower Show 2009 in Villa Farsetti, a Venetian Villa located 25 km from Venice. Being a temporary garden, it offer the chance to stress current positions within the landscape profession and to reestablish public space as a place for communication and interaction for people. Moreover, it encourages new possibilities and new visions by pushing the visitors to the limit of common perception. For these reasons, temporary gardens become first an invitation to make new experiences, to see in a different way places that, otherwise, would remain anonymous spaces within their environment.

For the complete English summary, please go to:
http:\\egardin-myworks.blogspot.com

Flora in Don Quixote's Land (2).

2009-04-04T09:26:00.004+02:00

Asplenium trichomanes.

Digitalis thapsi.
A small perennial from central Spain with spikes of pink flowers somewhat like a dwarf D. purpurea. Very pretty. Sometimes hybridizes with D. purpurea. Easy. Toxic. 30cm. Sun or part shade

Flora in Don Quixote's Land, Spain.

2009-04-03T17:00:00.006+02:00

Carrying out the botanical research for my last project (located in Castilla-LaMancha, Spain), I had the pleasure to discover some very interesting plants. Here are some examples.

The so called "French lavander" is an attractive and unusual lavender from hot, dry Mediterranean regions, and best grown in a warm position, sheltered from cold winds and frost if you are living in a continental climate.
It is an old variety, cultivated for more than 400 years, and a favourite both for its intense fragrance and also the short dense flower spikes topped with a flourish of conspicuous rich violet bracts, rather like a set of extravagant ears. The Royal Horticultural Society has given it its prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM).
It is not fully hardy, but survives well in a sunny corner or against a warm wall, and makes an excellent container plant that can be brought under cover in winter.

Illyrian Gladiolus is a winter hardy dwarf species native of the Mediterranean, growing in rocky, sun-exposed sites. Makes showy, quite large, dark lilac flowers with white streaks on lower petals on short stems. Easily cultivated in any rich, very well drained soil in full sun. Seeds from a wild collection in Southwestern Mallorca, Spain (La Trapa, 250m). In Spain, it's a protected species.

Bryonia dioica belongs to the section of the genus Bryonia, with palmately lobed leaves. It is common among the hedges and in the borders of woods in Europe, especially in the calcareous soil of some parts of England, where it is quite ornamental. The stem, which is a rough annual, climbs to the height of several feet above hedges and undershrubs; the leaves are cordate and 5-lobed, the terminal lobe being longer than the others, and dissimilar. The flowers are of a light, greenish-white color, with darker green veins; they are perfectly dioecious in the young plants, although both sexes are often found on older individuals. The fruit is a bright scarlet berry (red bryonia), with several flat seeds. Bryonia has been used in medicine throughout sections of Europe for a great many years, and occupied a conspicuous place in the London Dispensatory, published in 1653. It is vulgarly known as snakeweed, devil's turnip, parsnip turnip, and bastard turnip. The root, the part employed, is from 2 to 4 inches in diameter, and about 2 feet in length, although occasionally larger. It is fleshy, and when wounded, yields a milky juice. Internally it resembles the root of Phytolacca decandra, maintaining the similarity when sliced and dried.

Calluna vulgaris is an evergreen, fully hardy bushy shrub which grows up to 30 cm in height though it is generally more compact amongst the cultivars. Foliage may be any shade of green, the autumnal hues of yellow and russet, or even grey. Spikes of urn-shaped single or double flowers run from white, through pink and mauve to ruby and deep purple, appear in mid-summer and persist until late autumn.
Native to the open uplands, these plants create a superb carpet for a moist but free-draining sunny bank.

Paeonia broteri is a fabulous species, limited to the Iberian peninsula from whence it was described as long ago as 1842 and it's now a protected species. It makes stems up to about 45cm tall with leaves, each divided into 10-20 narrowly elliptical, glabrous segments.
Above the foliage are held freely produced, bowl shaped flowers of bright pale pink, these tone to deep pink-rose at the petals edges whilst the whole bloom is contrasted with a central golden boss. Individual blooms can be from 8-15 cm in diameter. Under the flowers are densely tomentose follicles.
Becoming rare in the wild as progress and agriculture push back its already sparse distribution, it is now limited to the mountain areas of Spain and Portugal, but though rare it is totally growable, our plants stem from a long- established horticultural stock.
Garden soil, leaf enriched for best results, light shade and a site sheltered from strong winds.

Hortus Temporarius.

2009-03-27T10:53:00.002+01:00

More pictures on http://egardin-myworks.blogspot.com/
Description and technical data COMING SOON!

Aquatech: polyamide like straw.

2009-03-27T08:17:00.004+01:00

http://www.paolalenti.com/

Aquatech is produced with a polyamide yarn that, through several processing phases, gains the appearance of natural straw. The structure, composition and colours have been purposely conceived to produce rugs and upholstery fabrics for the furnishing of outdoor areas.

A Classic touch.

2009-03-27T08:10:00.005+01:00

A rug by Paola Lenti.

Acanto is an intricate hand tufted rug. The knots are produced with wool braids in different shapes and dimensions that are placed, one by one, with craftsmanship and patience to reproduce the movements, the roundness and the light and dark effects of ancient mosaics.

Contemporary shelter by Kazuya Morita.

2009-03-27T07:48:00.005+01:00

I loved this contemporary shelter, half-way between a sculpture and a japanese tea house.

From http://www.morita-arch.com:
"Concrete-pod" is the micro-space furniture for private and public use made of the concrete of extremely thin. In the dome, because of its minimal scale, it makes us more sensitive and relax like when we are in our traditional tea-house CHA-SITSU.
"Concrete-pod" is only made from the fiber reinforced concrete, which is the mixture of white cement and light-weight aggregate and glass fiber. By application of Japanese traditional plasterer's skill SAKAN, it was plastered on the dome-shaped mould by a trowel. After hardening, the mould of styrofoam was dismantled and removed.

Even when you are in the "Concrete-pod" which is tenderly covered by the concrete-shell, you can feel the outside environment through the number of the holes, so it makes us feel indoor and outdoor at the same time, and takes us to the sensitive feeling and deep relaxation in the nature.

http://www.morita-arch.com/works/11_concrete_pod/concrete_pod_data.htm

Villa Farsetti, 25 km from Venice.

2009-03-24T14:01:00.002+01:00

This Rococò Villa is located 25 km from Venice, in the mainland. Built on a pre-existing Gothic building, part of a larger architecture designed by the Roman Paolo Posi in the XVIII century. Various cultural meeting take place in the garden and within the villa and the next will be the 2009 FLOWER SHOW, which I'm designing a temporary garden for.
For further info, please check http:\\egardin-myworks.blogspot.com

Flowering shrubs in early spring

2009-03-06T16:59:00.012+01:00

Chanomeles speciosa 'Moerloosei'
Native to China and Japan, quinces are often called Japanese quinces or japonica. The simple, five-petalled blooms look a little like apple blossom, but last much longer, from February until early summer. The main flush of bloom usually occurs in April. A profusion of rounded buds unfurl in clusters along the twiggy stems producing flowers in pure white, the palest of pinks, coral, flame and darkest scarlet, depending on the variety. The flowers appear on bare stems, just prior to the emerging new leaves and are eventually partially hidden among the foliage.

One of the most decorative ways of using ornamental quince is as a wall plant. With a little initial effort, a plant can be trained as a fan against a vertical edge by regularly tying its shoots to horizontal wires. A finished specimen is easily maintained, needing only a summer trim to cut back any badly placed shoots near their base.
Chanomeles speciosa 'Moerloosei'is one of the best varieties for wall training, freely producing pale blossom-pink flowers over many weeks.

Stachyurus praecox
There are several species of stachyurus, the only member of its family and distinguished by its small bell- or cup-shaped flowers strung along catkin-like spikes or racemes. These appear in great numbers before the leaves, their soft colouring standing out against the bare reddish-purple stems. is a precocious species, as the name suggests, and the first to flower, from late winter onwards in a mild season. It will grow in most soils, but only succeeds in full sun if the soil is moist, and it prefers slightly acid conditions.

More of a giant deciduous shrub than a typical tree, its grown for its terrific leaves and flowers. The new leaves are a big attraction because they open bronze, but they give another very good show in the autumn when they turn reddish-purple before falling. In mid-spring the shrubby growth is liberally covered by a mass of large white flowers, which stand out even more because they appear before the leaves. 'Ballerina' is typically placed in the centre of an island bed, with an under-planting of spring bulbs, where it can be seen from all sides. Award of Garden Merit (AGM) by the Royal Horticultural Society.

There are several Exochorda species, all very beautiful Chinese shrubs when in flower. They need some shelter from late spring frosts, which can scorch the young foliage, and most cannot tolerate a lot of lime in the soil. This plant is a garden hybrid between two of the best species, and is usually grown in the form 'The Bride', a more compact and shapely plant than the hybrid. The Royal Horticultural Society have judged it to be a plant of outstanding excellence, giving it their prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM).
Looks good with: Brunnera macrophylla, Helleborus argutifolius.

Ribes sanguineum 'Pulborough Scarlet'
A flowering currant which has exceptionally rich looking flowers. They are a wonderful deep rose pink, a beautiful complement to the pretty green leaves. The flowers swathe the shrub with pendulous blossoms during March and April. This forms a tall arching plant if properly pruned. It has reddish wood that shines in late winter.

Ceanothus (2)

2009-03-05T18:32:00.004+01:00

Ceanothus can be evergreen or deciduous shrubs or small trees, with simple leaves and small blue, pink or white flowers in profuse axillary or terminal clusters.
'Burkwoodii' is a compact medium-sized evergreen shrub, with shiny rounded or ovate leaves, grey-hairy beneath. Flowers small, rich blue, in rounded clusters to 6cm in length, in late summer and autumn.

'Concha' is an evergreen shrub of dense habit, to 3m in height and width, with arching branches bearing narrow, dark green leaves and profuse clusters of deep blue flowers in late spring.

'Italian Skies' is a spreading medium-sized evergreen shrub with small, glossy dark green leaves and small bright blue flowers in compact conical clusters in late spring.

Ceanothus (1)

2009-03-05T18:27:00.005+01:00

Ceanothus can be evergreen or deciduous shrubs or small trees, with simple leaves and small blue, pink or white flowers in profuse axillary or terminal clusters.

'Gloire de Versailles' is a vigorous medium-sized deciduous shrub of rounded habit, with broadly oval, light green leaves to 8cm in length, and large panicles of scented powder-blue flowers.

C. thyrsiflorus var. repens is a small, but vigorous evergreen shrub of low, spreading habit, but much taller when grown against a wall. Leaves ovate, glossy dark green. Flowers light blue, in compact panicles in spring and early summer.

'Trewithen Blue' is a large vigorous evergreen spreading shrub to 6m in height, with broadly oval or rounded leaves to 8cm in length, and slightly fragrant deep blue flowers in panicles to 12cm in length.

'Autumnal Blue' is a bushy, medium-sized evergreen shrub to 3m, with glossy dark green, 3-veined ovate leaves and compact oblong trusses of mid-blue flowers from late summer.

Lighting of Nature

2009-03-05T18:10:00.005+01:00

Design by Jungmo Kwon

GrassOn cube lamp from ITlab

Rainwater harvesting

2009-03-05T18:04:00.003+01:00

The CISTA rainwater harvesting system is a dramatic, elegant and space-saving solution for the urban environment that conserves water and increases green space. the CISTA is an 8-foot stainless steel column that acts as a kind of planted downspout. It can collect up to 100 gallons of water at a time, creating enough water pressure to operate a soaker hose housed in a storage compartment at the base of the unit. A climbing plant like ivy is planted at the base and naturally winds its way up into the frame. The LED water-level indicator lets you know if the CISTA needs a little help, the system can be expanded both horizontally and vertically.

http://mocoloco.com/archives/010493.php#more

Vertical garden and Dynamic Architecture in Brasil.

2009-03-02T21:19:00.002+01:00

Triptyque Architects designed this building in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The building has been called Harmonia 57 and it is an office building in São Paulo with a planted facade irrigated by a mist system. The concept is quite simple but neat: there are two major blocks of plant connected by a bridge and cut by metal, concrete and glass. Among the blocks is a square internal space opens as a local community, meetings and exchanges. Plants grow in “pores” set into the concrete facade and will eventually cover the building. Like a living body, the building breathes, sweats and modifies itself, transcending its inertia. The walls are thick and covered externally by a vegetal layer that works like the skin of the structure. This dense wall is made of an organic concrete that has pores, where several plant species grow, giving the facades a unique look.
In this great machine, where the rain and soil waters are drained, treated and reused, a complex ecosystem is formed within the local. This ecosystem is a multifunctional universe made of several interconnected machines. It’s a zone of multiplicity, where meanings and actions float between the unsaid, resulting in dynamic entities. Its insides are exposed in the facades while the interior spaces are well finished with clear and luminous surfaces, as if the construction was inside out. The pipelines that serve the whole building – as well as the pumps and the water treatment system – are showing in the exterior walls, embracing them like veins and arteries of a body.
TEAM MEMBERS:
Structure: Eng. Rioske Kanno
Hydraulic Installations: Guilherme Castanha
Air Conditioning: Disarcon
Wooden works: Libanio Justino da Silva
Wooden Decks: Zanchet
Glass: Revglass

http://www.triptyque.com/harmonia/
http://www.genitronsviluppo.com/2008/09/03/harmonya-57-un-giardino-verticale-ma-non-solo-architettura-dinamica-un-design-ed-unestetica-nata-per-il-futuro-frutto-dello-studio-brasiliano-triptyque/

Vertical Garden in a a frame.

2009-03-02T19:57:00.003+01:00

Very contemporary solution that brings together two very interesting themes: Succulent plants and Vertical Gardens.
http://floragrubb.com/florasblog/?p=32

Arte en el bosque

2009-03-01T20:42:00.001+01:00

Paper Carta Papel

2009-02-27T10:14:00.003+01:00

http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/
http://www.yukenteruyastudio.com/
http://momentodecatarsis.blogspot.com/2008/12/papel.html

Invisible streetLight

2009-02-26T20:40:00.004+01:00

Invisible StreetLight by Jongoh Lee is a study for a lighting system based on the integration to its sorrounding landscape. It is on a process similar to photosynthesis by collecting solar energy that will be transformed into light during the night.

http://www.trendsnow.net/trends_now_/2009/02/invisible-streetlight.html

The tree Hotel - Between Landscape and Art

2009-02-26T20:32:00.004+01:00

"Harads" is a new concept of hotel and accomodation, designed by the firm Tham & Videgard Hansson. Its cube shape covered by mirros contains a room, a kitchenette, a living room and a balcony. Incredible.

Bacche bacche bacche

2009-02-26T19:13:00.003+01:00

From top to bottom:

Callicarpa americana: it is an outstanding deciduous shrub that grows 1.8-2.4 m tall with a loose, open form and outward pointing branches. This shrub makes a coarse appearance large toothed green to yellow-green leaves 15-20 cm long and pubescent beneath. In springtime, tiny lilac flowers appear. These are held in clusters called cymes that arise from the leaf axils (where the leaf joins the stem). By autumn the flowers give rise to berrylike 0.6 cm drupes in striking metallic shades of magenta and violet in the fall. Very adaptable, even to low fertility soils. Broken shade is optimal.Requires well drained soil.

Euonymus europeus: A small native tree or shrub, found in native hedges and woodland.

Euonymus planipes: it is a deciduous shrub or small tree native to Korea, northern Japan and eastern Siberia. According to the USDA Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) website, one of the common names is “dingle dangle tree.” Sure it is. The name planipes means “flat stalk,” referring to the flattened petioles of this species.

Pernettya mucronata: arbusto sempreverde che in genere si mantiene al di sotto dei 50-80 cm di altezza; ha sviluppo tappezzante, e forma tondeggiante, con ramificazioni molto dense. Il fogliame è di colore verde brillante, di piccole dimensioni, cuoioso e abbastanza spesso; in primavera inoltrata producono moltissimi fiori bianchi, a cui seguono i frutti, che maturano in autunno, rimanendo sulla pianta fino alla primavera successiva: i frutti sono tondeggianti, con diametro di 1-2 cm, di colore rosso; esistono molte cultivar con frutti bianchi o rosati. Le pernettye sono piante dioiche, questo significa che esistono piante che producono solo fiori maschili, senza produrre frutti, e piante che producono solo fiori femminili, che producono i frutti. Per avere un'abbondate produzione di frutti è necessario piantare almeno un esemplare maschile vicino alle piante femminili. I frutti di pernettya sono commestibili.

Berries berries berries

2009-02-26T19:03:00.005+01:00

From top to bottom: Photinia davidiana, Poncitus trifoliata, S. albus var. laevigatus ‘Tilden Park’, Symphoricarpos doorenbosii 'Mother of Pearl', Symphoricarpos doorenbosii 'Ametyst'.

Berries are the greatest source of interest in gardens during winter, providing both food for birds and colours during gray long days.

Hydrangea involucrata Ortensia giapponese

2009-02-26T18:17:00.006+01:00

From top to bottom:Hydrangea involucrata 'Yohraku tama', Hydrangea involucrata 'Temari tama', Hydrangea involucrata 'Mihara Kokonoe tama', Hydrangea involucrata 'Hortensis'.

Hydrangea Involucrata
Charming species native of Taiwan and Japan, where it grows wild in some regions of the island of Honshu. It was introduced into Europe in the early 1900s. A deciduous shrub, it grows in woods and mixed forests, from sea level to 1500m.
Its name derives from the involucre, composed of six downy bracts, that contains the flower buds and forms a little ball (“tama” in Japanese).
The leaves are dull green and roughly hairy.
H.involucrata is a small shrub, seldom higher than 1m, but it is a real beauty in all its varieties and particularly interesting for both its flowering time ( from August up to fall) and the extraordinary length of the same. N.B.:
A shady position is fundamental for this plant, as the sun may cause burning damages to the leaves, starting from the margin.
It is a good habit to leave the dried flowers on the plant in winter, as they contribute to protect the flower buds from the cold.

VIVAI ITALIANI:
http://www.pbortensie.com/hydrangea_involucrata.htm
http://www.vivaioannapeyron.com/_frames/frameset-ortensie.htm

Between Landscape and Architecture

2009-02-26T12:56:00.009+01:00

"A perfect garden - no matter what its size - should enclose: nothing less than the entire universe." Luis Barragan

Mario Schyetnam talking about Barragan's work and its relationship with the garden: "`[...] It's a bout sky. It's about light and it's about the notion of connecting sky to the horizontal, with the ground. That's Landscape Architecture. [..] You do need the human aspect, that's why Landscape Architecture and Gardening are an art and, yet, the most human of all arts because you inhabit it. It's not a picture, it's not a sculpture: you are completely surrounded. It's about the space itself, it's about the void and the connection with the sky."
http://www.archidose.org/Jul00/070300.html
http://www.thequietman.org/?p=79

The Ethno-Botanical Garden, Oaxaca

2009-02-26T11:50:00.012+01:00

The ethnobotanical garden is one of the most extensive and complete collections of Cactaceae and Agaves from the State of Oaxaca.
It was begun in 1993 thanks to the efforts of Maestro Francisco Toledo via the ProOax organization that he leads.
This garden exhibits a collection of living plants as an example of Oaxaca’s rich biodiversity.
http://academictoursoaxaca.com/oaxacacity12.htm

For an idea of the plants present in the garden:
http://gardenerinmexico.blogspot.com/2007/08/oaxaca-ethno-botanical-gardens.html

The Aztec floating gardens of Xochimilco

2009-02-26T11:07:00.008+01:00

The famous chinampas (the super-fertile 'floating gardens' of the Aztecs) are still only now revealing some of their secrets. Today's farmers at Xochimilco ('The place of flowers') outside Mexico City still farm using ancient methods - incidentally, the construction of chinampas on the lake shore antedated the Aztecs by at least 1,000 years.

The canals of Xochimilco are remnants of the famed ancient Lake Xochimilco in Mexico Valley. The endorheic lake was part of a series that included Lake Zumpango, Lake Xaltocan, Lake Texcoco and Lake Chalco. Xochimilco is the only remnant of the lake system as the others were drained over time to protect against flooding.

Like the Aztecs, they still send their sewage into the canals, yet the water doesn't stink nor does it carry diseases, as we might expect. How come? Researchers have found a unique bacterium living in the sludge at the bottom of the canals which makes it an excellent composter, treating - and neutralising - the sewage organically (and speedily) as it converts it into nutrient-rich fertiliser. With its help, the Aztecs created 'one of the most productive farming systems ever known'.

The name, Xochimilco, is Nahuatl for flower field place and it’s not surprising with the brilliant display of floating gardens. Some locals continue the ancient gardening traditions and you may purchase flowers or even plants from the floating florists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZzMpo_R4Dk&feature=related

Romantic-techno outdoor furniture

2009-02-25T15:34:00.005+01:00

Amazingly creative pieces of design, all laser sintered.
All design byJanne Kyttanen.
http://www.freedomofcreation.com/

February in Edinburgh

2009-02-25T14:56:00.005+01:00