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--- urban_permaculture_kits [2008-04-01 10:54] – sanjeev
+++ urban_permaculture_kits [2008-04-09 08:09] – sanjeev
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 . To create **green spider kits** which result in **spatial green micro environments** at an architectural level. Initially a playful framework which can be installed on existing vertical faces of buildings and finally creating a green envelope at a local level. The framework could be made of thin, colorful bamboo rings/loops combined with a tensile wire frame which supports appropriate plantations requiring minimum maintainance. The frames could be modularly attached over and over again. Over time the spatial framework will become invisible and the plantation layer ubiquitous. Such green bubbles would gradually become **spatial green rivers**, a regular feature in urban settings and over time evolve to become self sustaining ( they might develop features to catch mist from the air and fulfill their water requirements ! ) An important issue here would be to make this kit playful and modular such that middle class families could assemble and install it at an individual household level or community level. Further the source of the plants: the seed pod, could be residing inside these homes. This would create much needed awareness and sensitivity through a participatory approach resulting in effective, collective action. In certain areas which have buildings close to each other, say around a courtyard or continuous open space, these rivers would be more like green bridges, creating numerous overhead cross linkages through which sun light sprinkles down. The bridges could also be made of a string or a wire generating and evolving in a manner depending on what form the communty wants it to take. One of the interesting possibilities could be using seed balls which are strung together and suspended between buildings. Overtime these would sprout and act as green catalysts. As humans we would provide the structure and the geometry for the plantation. Some of the plants suitable for this could be **epiphytic or air plants**, for example orchids, ferns, mosses to name a few.
-. **Green strings**: A natural fibre string (possibly jute) which holds seed balls and can be strung between buildings. With time the seeds germinate and we have suspended plantations. Interesting possibilities could result over time with plants growing at an angle or upside down. The kit could actually pick up on the way prayer beads and flower garlands are assembled in India and would be an interesting add on to the existing trend of seed-balling.
+. **Live threads**: A natural fibre string (possibly a locally available material: jute or coconut husk) which holds seed balls and can be strung between buildings. With time the seeds germinate and we have suspended plantations. Interesting possibilities could result over time with plants growing at an angle or upside down. The kit could actually pick up on the way prayer beads and flower garlands are assembled in India and would be an interesting add on to the existing trend of seed-balling.
-. To have ubiquitous planting we can create a series of green tiles which can be used in a modular manner in the construction and automobile industry. _ **a green brick**_ a brick which breathes and lives like a plant_ you could call it a plant tile too: a properly designed intelligent green organic modular brick which can have a range of plants/seeds which can be incorporated in it based on the city/geographic location it is being used in, like any other modular brick ( for example a hollow concrete block ) this would find direct use in the construction industry and go with curtain walls/acoustic panels/aluminium sections/glass blocks. This will not be an add on like the current trend of bio-climatic walls but would be a structural repetitive element which would be like a green virus. The facade itself would be like one majestic green skin, made up of a thousand green tiles and a city would be associated with these green tiles and the specific plants they give life to. Scores of barren concrete walls which are commonly seen in cities like Dubai, Brussels, New York would give way to entire exuberant and fertile communities... known as ''Orchid city'' or ''Jasmine city'' or ''Tulip city''.
+. To create a green tipping point, the researcher proposes the design of a green, intelligent, modular, structural, climate specific 'brick' which would have specific native plants and/or seeds integrated with it.  The 'plant tile' would act like a **living brick**, integrated with the building structure and in the process trigger ubiquitous greens and diverse layers of green clusters within a city. This would gradually transform the city's infrastructure into a productive, healthy, edible and playful green fabric; a vision which goes beyond manicured lawns, horticultural imports, bonsai's and golf parks. The proposal strives to bring back native plants at the core of our daily life by integrating them with the built form and other symbols of 'growth' within a city.
-The form of the tiles could be inspired from the field of biomimetics and would be strategically adapted to solve pressing problems specific to urban realms:
+People will buy this off the shelf and use it directly in construction, just the way conventional bricks and concrete blocks are used today. This would not be an add on. It will be indispensable for constructing any habitat. It could be integrated with curtain walls/acoustic panels/aluminium sections/glass blocks/concrete slabs and become part of the building structure. It could be used inside or outside.  Over time, cities would have innumerable green tiles and become associated with the diverse plants they give life to. Barren concrete walls, commonly seen in cities like Dubai, Brussels, New York would give way to exuberant and fertile green communities.
-* Generate fragrance to counter foul smell of urine or rotting garbage which is so common in Delhi (e.g.: using queen of the night)
-* Predate on pests and act as repellents for termites (Lantana is a pest repellent)
-* Absorb noise and act as acoustic buffers. They could even generate light(bioluminescence)
-* Become a source of nutrients, vitamins and herbal medicine ( Leucus aspara cures bronchitis and asthma, Lia Indica cures ulcers
-* Become a source of additional revenue (Flowering plants and natural herbs like acaranthus used by dentists)
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+The choice of plants could be adapted to address pressing challenges within a city:
+  * The bricks could become a source of nutrition, vitamins and herbal medicine. They could together create home herbal gardens(Leucus aspera cures bronchitis and asthma, Lia Indica cures ulcers, amaranthus is used by dentists). Each home could become an independent seed bank, a space for abundant biological exploration and a living, evolving bio-archive.
+  * The integral plants could pre-date on pests and act as repellents for termites thereby substituting currently used chemical solutions(Lantana is a pest repellent)
+  * They could together create a green cushion which absorbs noise and acts as an acoustic buffer
+  * They could generate fragrance to counter foul smell of rotting garbage and urine which is common in numerous Indian cities (e.g. integrating epiphyllum oxypetalum, commonly known as 'queen of the night' with the tile)
+  * They could act as green filters creating protective micro climates in polluted urban realms, much like the delightful and defiant growth which emerges through the building cracks in dilapidated and derelict urban settings.
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 The message here is, //we will not step back//, we will not cut back on the scale and pace of growth in urban realms but we //can// feed life and fertility into that growth and make it a green growth.