Zumthor’s spa in Vals Therme opens visitors to the surrounding natural environment. Although the building is stone, it’s made of stone from the mountains nearby, although the architecture can be cavernous at points, there is always an experience of moving from the earth-core, the stone-nest out into the open nature. Even in the dead of the Swiss winter, exposure to falling snowflakes while standing in the thermal waters outside felt like a ‘greenspace’.
Patrick Blanc extends the green roof idea to the external walls of buildings.
Why introduce green space into the Subway or any other public space? To encourage contact with so called ‘natural’ environments. Contact with non-toxic biological entities (plant or animal) offers potential to reduce suffering and encourage mental states of well being. For an introduction to the literature on the healing effect of ‘natural’ spaces see Hartig’s bibliography on the Uppsala University web site.
Johannes Hjorth added cotton and seeds to a keyboard - sprayed with water every day and…
Simon Haiduk created this “interactive permaculture learning module” reflecting the work of GaiaCraft. I posted this on re: religion and technology and then realized that this first cross post should be the impetus for re-launching this site. The subterrarium project has always been about introducing green space into the New York subways. Coming to realizations about the restorative power of green spaces in the city (and in the home in the city), I’ve decided to expand this blog to cover those places where plants, animals and technology meet with a focus on the environments that emerge.
