Michele Brody: Ricardo Solar

My initial topic of research was the lace, however I decided to research vertical gardens first, thinking it could be relevant to the Seed Post. Through this research I stumbled onto several other topics such as the use of felt as a hydroponic material, and an interesting metal lace artist!

I knew I had seen architects use vertical gardens before especially in Paris. Well, his name is Patrick Blanc, blogged as 'the father of vertical gardens,' not an architect but a botanist, this guy has specialized for decades in making plants grow vertically.

If you follow his website >walls>detail presentation, you will find a,well, very detailed presentation of his philosophy and his process; along with a ton of pictures of how architects and even some people in the fashion industry have used his method.

Basically , a 1inch layer of PVC is attached to a metal frame, then and a layer of a certain non-rotting felt that is stapled to the 1in pvc. The plants are then embedded on the felt as seeds and the the whole thing is irrigated from the top. The results are i think very beautiful, and I think also relevant to the Ecological Pageant project.




In my research i also found what looks like people trying to build a seed post on their back yard-- not very elegant but i thought it was worth mentioning.

Regarding the lace which was my initial topic of research. Brondy mentions wanting to replace the polyester lace with something more sustainable. Could perhaps the use of other materials such as felt substitute the need for lace?
Or, keeping with the lace idea, perhaps a metal mesh be more elegant and durable.
Here is a link to an artist that does sculptures out of 'Copper lace' her name is Lieve Jerger . Could something similar but less elaborate perhaps be a more durable replacement to the polyester lace?