On The Roof
This is what our roofs look like.
And this is what our roofs should look like.
More and more people are moving from the beautiful green countryside into the big cities. Most of the time they aren’t recognizing what they are leaving behind. In big cities most of the trees and plants are gone and instead you will find parking space for cars or new shopping malls. Having a garden in those city is more than rare –it´s luxury and only the rich can effort. But thankfully there is a change happening. Roof gardening. It doesn´t only sound smart, it is SMART.
For those of you thinking “but why is it smart, it is a old technique?”, I have to tell you: YOU ARE RIGHT and for the first time something old, an old tradition, is smarter than our newest technology.
Roof gardening was already used in Roman times (Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, which had an elevated terrace where plants were grown) and even a roof garden became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (The Hanging Gardens of Babylon).
Why is planting on the top of a building then so smart? Here is why:
Roof gardens are mostly found in big cities. Places with no space for an actual garden or park. That´s why people decided to plant their trees, bushes and flowers on the top of a building. But they do it not only for their own pleasure. Plants have the ability to reduce the overall heat absorption of the building which then reduces energy consumption.
“The primary cause of heat build-up in cities is insolation, the absorption of solar radiation by roads and buildings in the city and the storage of this heat in the building material and its subsequent re-radiation. Plant surfaces however, as a result of transpiration, do not rise more than 4–5 °C above the ambient and are sometimes cooler.”
Ong, B. (2003). Green plot ratio: an ecological measure for architecture and urban planning
A research study made by the National Research Council of Canada showed the temperature difference between roofs with gardens and without them.
But there is also another effect besides to thermal radiation. Roof tops garden are also beneficial in reducing rain run off. A roof garden can´t only delay rain run off but also reduce the volume.
Some cities even use their roofs for farming. Which is not only a great idea in terms of reducing the temperature on the roof, but also to allow residents to grow their own food only some meters away from where they live.
ÜRBES picked for you the top five Urban Rooftop Farms:
1. HK FARM (HONG KONG)
2. BROOKLYN GRANGE (NEW YORK CITY)
3. DAKAKKER (ROTTERDAM)
4. CITY FARM (TOKYO)
5. LUFA FARMS (MONTREAL)
Roof garden. Super smart for our cities.
