From the Blog

Much ado about gardening! Shakespeare’s flowery prose inspires rooftop oasis for children’s hospital patients

Posted on July 15, 2014 //

by EMILY HEWARD, Manchester Evening News, June 25, 2014

The Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital's rooftop garden Photo: Sean Hansford Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

The Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital’s rooftop garden
Photo: Sean Hansford
Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

The sensory space is being built by Manchester Metropolitan University students and Unilever staff as part of the Manchester Children’s Book Festival

Shakespeare’s flowery prose has inspired a new rooftop garden being built for young patients at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Plants and herbs mentioned in some of the Bard’s most famous plays will be grown in the sensory space, which is being created as part of Manchester Children’s Book Festival.

Poorly patients will be able to visit it to learn why fennel was mentioned in Hamlet, or what the connection is between Othello and lettuce, as part of the hospital school’s curriculum.

Sarah Naismith, the hospital’s head of charity, said: “The hospital school and therapeutic and specialised play services were keen for the garden to be educational, as well as therapeutic and a place for patients to have fun.

“The Shakespearean theme is a wonderful way to engage the patients.”

Among the plants will be thyme from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, lavender from A Winter’s Tale, rosemary from King Lear and parsley from The Taming of the Shrew.

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Daniel Buren takes over the rooftop of Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse with ‘Défini, fini, infini’

Posted on July 9, 2014 //

by JONATHAN BELL, Wallpaper*, July 8, 2014

Buren has toyed with Corbusier's composition, creating seven vast but integrated artworks to further the viewer's experience of this liminal space, a platform to look down upon Marseille Photo: Sébastien Véronèse Source: www.mamo.fr

Buren has toyed with Corbusier’s composition, creating seven vast but integrated artworks to further the viewer’s experience of this liminal space, a platform to look down upon Marseille
Photo: Sébastien Véronèse
Source: www.mamo.fr

Ora-Ïto’s gallery atop the Cité Radieuse in Marseille was a transformative intervention when it opened last year. We spoke to the French designer, curator and all-round motivator about the MAMO in early 2013 (W*169), and got the low-down on the lengthy process of turning this iconic slice of Le Corbusier into a must-visit urban gallery. Working alongside the Audi Talents Award, MAMO is both gallery and springboard, as well as a stunning restoration of the building’s original gymnasium. And now it is playing host to the work of French sculptor Daniel Buren.

For Défini, fini, infini, Buren has toyed with Corbusier’s composition, creating seven vast but integrated artworks to further the viewer’s experience of this liminal space, a platform to look down upon Marseille (the joint-winner of our 2014 Best City award).

Buren’s response has been to intersperse this rooftop landscape with his own aesthetic interventions, a series of long sculptural elements that respond directly to the raw concrete, bold flowing forms and the distant mountain ranges that fringe the city. The two dominant elements include the vast 400 sq m mirror designed to reflect the poured concrete perfection of Le Corbusier’s façade and the grid of Buren’s signature striped columns, this time set up as square protrusions that evoke the concrete frame of the building below.

Colour also plays an important role. As Ora-Ïto says, ‘Le Corbusier was very inspired by Mondrian,’ and Buren has deployed pure blocks of colour to contrast with the blue Mediterranean skies and grey walls. We spoke to the artist and designer about the project.

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Rooftop garden shines with OTR pride

Posted on July 4, 2014 //

by JESSICA BROWN, The Inquirer via Cincinnat!.com, June 25, 2014

Rendering of the Rothenberg rooftop garden Source: www.cincinnati.com

Rendering of the Rothenberg rooftop garden
Source: www.cincinnati.com

On Friday, Over-the-Rhine will celebrate progress on a project more than six years in the making – a garden at the Rothenberg Preparatory Academy.

But it isn’t just any garden.

The 8,500-square-foot roof and the raised beds constructed there represent a mammoth effort by the community – powerful persistence, neighborhood pride and good fundraising.

But at the core is education.

“This is the first time we can see the results of our efforts,” said Pope Coleman, who spearheaded the project. “Each teacher has a block of ground that’s theirs. And each child has his own plot of ground. They learn cause and effect in a chaotic neighborhood where that’s hard to come by.”

The project began in 2008 when the Cincinnati school district was in the midst of its districtwide construction plan to replace or renovate all of its schools.

The district initially planned to raze and rebuild the Rothenberg school. But the community rallied to save the beloved 100-year-old building. Residents persuaded the district to renovate rather than tear down.

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Bepos: quand les bâtiments positivent!

Posted on June 10, 2014 //

par  STEFAN LOUILLAT, Le Monde.fr, 5 juin 2014

Les Bepos kesako ? Cet acronyme désigne les bâtiments à énergie positive. Seuls 30 Bepos sont construits chaque année en France. Quels avantages présentent ces bâtiments? À quels critères doivent-ils répondre ? Comment peuvent-ils se généraliser ? Quelles sont leurs limites? Éléments de réponse avec Stéfan Louillat de l’Ademe (Agence de l’environnement et de la maîtrise de l’énergie).

Des bâtiments qui produisent plus d’énergie qu’ils n’en consomment. Voilà le challenge que devra relever tous les bâtiments construits après 2020. Selon la règlementation européenne, les bâtiments à Energie Positive (les Bepos) devront donc afficher une “énergie nette presque nulle”. Si les détails de ce bilan positif sont encore à définir, les grands principes sont, eux, connus. Le bilan s’entend en moyennes annuelles et la production doit être supérieure aux consommations dues au chauffage, à la climatisation, à la production d’eau chaude sanitaire et à l’éclairage.

Plusieurs dizaines de réalisations ont été accompagnées en Ile-de-France par l’Ademe depuis cinq ans notamment par l’intermédiaire d’appels à projets pour des bâtiments démonstrateurs. Parmi eux, l’école de Saint Exupéry à Pantin. Composée de trois volumes compacts, l’école est dotée de plus de 1000 m2 de capteurs photovoltaïques. Cet équipement, couplé à des matériaux bien précis, lui permet de produire plus d’électricité qu’elle n’en consomme en chauffage, éclairage et ventilation. Les salles de classe, bureaux et espaces de loisirs sont également équipés de sondes photoélectriques afin d’optimiser la gestion de l’éclairage.

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Cover story: The magical rooftops of New York

Posted on May 20, 2014 //

by  MINA KANEKO and FRANCOISE MOULY, The New Yorker, May 12, 2014

“I painted a future that’s completely achievable,” Eric Drooker says of this week’s cover, “A Bright Future.” “All the technology for it already exists,” he adds. “What’s lacking is the political power to make it happen. In New York especially, the city has so much potential. When you fly overhead, you see that New York’s mostly a sea of flat, empty rooftops, with the streets in between as small alleys.”

“That was one of the things I loved best about being a kid in New York, spending time on rooftops. No one ever used them, which was amazing to me. You’d think that people would hang out there and grow gardens. You have these amazing views, and you have the whole city to yourself; it’s a magical place.”

Cover of the May 19, 2014 edition of The New Yorker Image: Eric Drooker Source: www.newyorker.com

Cover of the May 19, 2014 edition of The New Yorker
Image: Eric Drooker
Source: www.newyorker.com

See more covers celebrating New York rooftops and read the original story 

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Rooftop play area proposed for Primary school

Posted on May 20, 2014 //

by JOHN-PAUL HOLDEN, Edinburgh Evening News, May 15, 2014

Plans for the garden space Image: comp Source: www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com

Plans for the garden space Image: comp
Source: www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com

PUPILS are to go “up on the roof” in a bid to ease the Capital’s schools crush.

Education chiefs have proposed building a rooftop playground at Flora Stevenson Primary, which has been lined up for emergency expansion work amid soaring demand for spots in overcrowded classrooms.

The unique “rooftop garden” would be situated on top of a new teaching block set to be erected to reduce acute accommodation pressure caused by rising rolls.

City bosses hope the development will allow new classrooms to be provided while averting a reduction in overall playground space.

Parents at the Victorian-era school have welcomed the plans, which draw inspiration from similar projects in Japan, Germany, Scandinavia and England.

Lindsay Law, who has children in P3 and P5 at Flora Stevenson, and is parent representative on the city’s education committee, said: “I think we’re all excited that the council are looking at other possibilities to make up for the loss of playground space when the new classrooms are built.

[Read more...]

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