Sunday, March 13, 2016

Greenery walls in Singapore

I remember reading about greenery walls in London and a museum in Europe and wondering how they worked. If you've ever had greenery growing on a house you know it's a real nuisance, and can damage the walls and cause costly repairs. Once system for growing is to keep the greenery on a trellis in front of the wall with a barrier between the wall and the trellis. The word facade, or false face, comes to mind.

In a previous century trees in the street were the novelty. Hence the book title No Trees In The Street. London has streets lined with tall plane trees, plain trees whose chief advantage is that their peeling bark survives traffic pollution and smog.

Driving though France and Italy, those old, straight Roman roads are flanked by tall poplar trees.

Then along came entire garden cities. In England we have Welwyn Garden City. In the Far East Singapore is the garden city with flower-bedecked bridges, a Disneyesque litter-free fairyland. the Skyscrapers are growing. The early four storey buildings were replaced by those ten stories high.


This picture was taken from CapitaGreen building in the Central Business District of Singapore. The nearest MRT (train) stations are Downtown and City Hall. A friend remarked not he swimming pool on the roof of a nearby building. Another building also has a rooftop swimming pool. Rooftop swimming pools often have trees around them to provide shade and the illusion of being out of the city.

Driving back from CapitaGreen, we passed another striking green-covered building in an area I have visited several times, next to an MRT station.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer  

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