The war-torn city of Beirut is burdened by dark smog due to severely congested roadways filled with old cars that emit high levels of CO2 emissions. The city of concrete high-rises was not designed with many public green spaces – it emphasizes large vehicles and transportation over park space. The citizens are resistant to abandoning their utility vehicles for greener small cars or bicycle transportation. As a result, Beirut’s air quality has suffered, and there isn’t much land available for new green spaces.
Studio Invisible’s solution is simple, low-cost, and does not disrupt the Beirut’s current focus on urban transportation. The proposal asks many, if not all, of Beirut’s high-rises to implement simple rooftop gardens. By planting trees and plants in pots, the city could introduce an enormous amount of green space that would contribute beauty, water and rain filtration, oxygen, and places for relaxation.
The trees would also provide shade and cooling on a city-wide scale, which translates to a large reduction in energy consumption. The roof gardens could also be used to raise fruit and vegetables, providing the city with a source of locally grown produce.
The Beirut Wonder Forest currently has a prototype underway, and if the plan is rolled it stands to benefit the city’s health and energy consumption, create public gathering spaces, and well as attract visitors who want to witness the world’s first sky forest.
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Can anyone explain to me how a tree can grow to normal size on a roof? Don’t they need a large depth and breadth of soil to grow? I’ve never really understood how that works.
Hello and Thank you Lori for publishing our story! Hopefully we will soon be sharing the completed prototype.
@youareme trees would be choosen due to their suitability to be grown in pots/have a shallower root system that can be contained in the area of a rooftop. Rooftops would have to be structurally assessed to determine suitability for load bearing.
You are right that trees need space for their roots to grow. But when “the pot”is big enough ( f.i.10 m3 of soil) a tree of 10 meter high can be expected. Google on Expo 2000 Dutch pavillion and you will find pictures of a forest in a building. I made this in 2000. Best regards, Huib info@greenwavesystems.nl
We are not expecting to have 10m high trees. We are aiming for 3-4m citrus/lemon and Olive ones (they grow perfectly well in Beirut’s weather, and in a 1m3 pot), Also, smaller shrubs and plants will also be used.
Concerning the extra load on the roof, we would be placing the Large pots exactly centered on top of the Concrete Pillars of the building, so there are no risks at all
Check our facebook page for https://www.facebook.com/Beirut.Wonder.Forest we have an image of one citrus tree in a pot we will be using, and more details and updates about the proposal.
Regs
ya3ne we cant say more than thank you , but when you ll begin exactly ?
stay in touch with our group, you’ll be updated of all our steps.