An urban jungle too green
We all look for that connection with nature and of course, for years now, architecture is rapidly evolving towards that trend.
The increase in social awareness to respect the environment has completely changed the real estate market (See article here) and the way we build today; buildings with renewable energy, more efficient facilities, more vegetation, trees and plants in the buildings, etc. Every building or construction is required to bear the "green" label.
Obviously, this change in mindset is bringing great benefits to everyone, but sometimes the “green building” badge is not always an advantage for the occupants of a home.
We have to move to the other side of the world, to the city of Qiyi (China), to see how a building representing the icon of the largest vertical forest in China, has become the nightmare for the few tenants in the building.
In 2016 the Qiyi City Forest Garden project. Eight 36-story towers with common spaces and, above all, the promise of living in an urban jungle; landscaped areas everywhere, from the common areas, to huge landscaped balconies where the vegetation would be exuberant, turning each building into a huge imposing vertical garden.
At the beginning of this year, the sale of houses began. According to the real estate agency of the project, in the month of April, A total of 826 apartments were sold, crazy! In the mouth of the promoter of the project.
So far, everything perfect; the developer jumping around, the real estate agency who didn't believe it, investors rubbing their hands, and new users eager to live in the largest vertical forest in China.
After a few months, not everything is so pretty. In place of a modern ecological paradise that was promised, now, the towers look like the setting of a desolate post apocalyptic movie. But … what happened? Well, mosquitoes are also great plant lovers.
According to the state newspaper Global Times, only a few families have moved to live directly in the building. The rest of empty houses; Some because they are from real estate investors, and others, from owners who do not want to go live in the "mosquito building." This has meant that no one takes care of the plants on the balconies (See article on indoor plants).
Due to the lack of tenants, the plants located in the houses have not been maintained by anyone, making them the perfect "house" for mosquito pests.
According to the tenants … «It's like living in the middle of the jungle! And although you feel trapped by nature, it is impossible to live by being endowed the day with the mosquitoes ».
It's like living in the middle of the jungle! And although you feel trapped by nature, it is impossible to live when you are aware of the mosquitoes.
We can learn a lot from here; from whether the occupants are willing to invest their time and money in maintaining lush vegetation, to taking special care when we talk about the external parts of the houses, such as balconies or what vegetation we will include inside a house and in what amount, and of the possible difficulties in maintaining plants inside a private house, for example.
Without having the water necessary for maintenance, without a proper water reuse and optimization system, there can be many problems. As a curiosity, in the following article we explain how to make a homemade water filter with basic materials and tree branches according to MIT, almost nothing!
This is a clear sign that, planning and projecting the greenest building in a city, must be considered in great detail and many doubts formulated before starting construction. We can also see an example of green architecture from Italy with a well-planned building or the advantages of the green building.
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