Green Curtains That Save Energy?

We talked about Italian architect Gaetano Pesce’s vertical gardens in a post a few weeks ago and about the beneficial impact they have on space maximization but did you know they can also conserve energy? According to recent news from ReNest.com, the Japanese company Kyocera Group decided to attempt to cool off buildings with foliage and thus, the “Green Curtain” was born! ReNest notes that the curtains of leaves, vines and other plant matter blocks the sunlight out and decreases the temperature of the building by as much as 27° F. Who needs air conditioning anyway?!

From ReNest.com:

According to Kyocera, the curtains at their buildings in Japan, Thailand, and Brazil stretch a total length of 725m (2,379ft), covering a total area of 3,043m2 (32,750ft2) — an increase of roughly 4 times the area of last year. Throughout their annual growth cycle, these Green Curtains will absorb an estimated 10,651kg of carbon dioxide (23,481lbs. of CO2), or roughly the same amount as 761 cedar trees. For people who want to try this at home, the company’s website has instructions for preparing the soil, constructing the netting, planting, and maintaining the green curtains. Learn more at Kyocera Group Green Curtain Activities.

Photo Credit: Kyocera

Italian Architect Takes Gardening to New Heights

Gardens come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They also can be placed in a number of locations. For some folks, space permits sprawling backyard plots that can showcase a number of different fruit-bearing plants. For others, their “home garden” is better defined as a strip of tiny potted cooking herbs on the kitchen window sill. But the award for the most truly unique garden space has to go to those for Italian architect Gaetano Pesce. In a world of tight spaces and growing pollution Pesce created hanging wall gardens in Osaka, Japan to maximize space while still maintaining beauty. The walls of the construction feature interesting extruded pockets with plants, thus creating an impromptu vertical garden, according to Freshome.com.

From Freshome:

This idea also contributes to the overall original look of the building which made it become one of the city’s landmarks in the past years. The 80 types of plants and trees were selected by asking help from specialized local horticulturists, but the main species is Bamboo. In case you are wondering what this structure houses, know that is a nine-floor building with 7,052 square meters of interior space.

To learn more about Pesce and his work, visit his website.

Photo Credit: Freshome

A Twist on The Traditional Wedding Bouquet

If you’re in the process of planning a wedding, you know that there are a number of options for virtually every last detail that needs to be decided on. There’s black and white and then every shade of gray in between when it comes to picking out items like invitations, centerpieces,  cakes, venues…and of course, let’s not forget dresses. But we here at Marvin Gardens think that one particular designer of yesteryear had the right idea when it came to navigating through the plethora of options: less is more. Constance Spry, known to many as “The Original Wedding Planner” was responsible for designing the flowers for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and chose a more simplistic approach to the couple’s royal decor. In fact, through a little creative ingenuity, she created masterpieces of not just fancy flowers like roses but weeds and even kale.

Thanks to Habitually Chic, we found some fun photos from of Spry’s  traditional, yet minimalist style. Now if only Lady Spry was around today to help us wade through today’s obstacle course of wedding planning, we’d be in good shape!

Click here to view more.

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