Green Roofs as Greenwash Come to China
Architects use all kinds of tricks to make their buildings look better in renderings; mirrored glass used to be a favourite, with renderings of buildings showing reflections of sky and clouds as the building just blended into the landscape. As we have noted before, green roofs are the new mirrored glass, as architects bring roofs down to ground level and blur the line between landscape and building. But just imagine what this project would look like if green roofs had not been invented.
Special attention to the environment has been taken into consideration in the design incorporating plants in order to reduce and save energy. The large amount of green space is the heart of the project. To lower the density of visible construction and significantly increase the area devoted to green, the project foresees the creation of 'hills' below buildings which require less direct light, such as businesses, shopping centers, boutiques, sporting centers, restaurants, bars and a lobby.
Green roofs are wonderful things. But perhaps there should be a rule that architects showing aerial perspectives should have to show them without the green as well, so people can see what almost two million square feet of building covering a site edge to edge really looks like.
Other green roofs:
With Green Roof, Nanyang University School of Art Tries to Disappear
Are Green Roofs the New Mirrored Glass?
Zaha Hadid Does a Green Roof in Seoul
Green Roof Mashup: Golf Course, Filtration Plant, Park and Prison
Green Roofs Meet the Ground in New Heden
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