In an increasingly overcrowded world where much of the world’s population packed into cities, green space has become important to improving the quality of metropolitan life. But how do you do this in one of the densest cities on earth where every patch of land has been snapped up for the construction of skyscrapers? Architects on the tiny, crowded island of Singapore are bringing public green spaces into the sky, providing high-rise dwellers with a touch of nature in the concrete jungle. Check out these stunning examples:
PARKROYAL HOTEL ON PICKERING This stunningly beautiful hotel resembles a natural formation but is actually a cutting edge luxury hotel incorporating the latest in green technology. The building’s architects, WOHA, are famous throughout the world for their lavishly green buildings. Located next to a large existing park, the building actually has a more planted area than the park itself. Opening soon, this green tower is already spectacular, but cascading greenery will make this building over time become perhaps the most incredible hanging garden since Babylon, as seen in this incredible visualization.
MARINA BAY SANDS SKYPARK An engineering marvel, this enormous curved skygarden (longer than the Eiffel tower is tall) spans across the top of three massive hotel towers at almost 200 meters above the ground. It features the longest cantilevered observation deck in the world and one of the largest and highest infinity pools on earth, amidst a lush tropical garden setting and a stunning skyline backdrop.
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| Image from PS-100.com |
PS/100 Clad on all four sides with lush greenery, this plant-clad wonder will likely be the tallest green wall on the planet when it’s completed, and probably the largest. Not content just to build a tower covered with plants, the architects also decided to combat the stereotypical monolithic skyscraper with internal skygardens throughout the tower.
Visualisation by Daniel Libeskind
REFLECTIONS AT KEPPEL BAY This curvaceous clump of skyscrapers by starchitect Daniel Libeskind are crowned with dramatic rooftop terraced gardens which can be seen for miles- perhaps some of the most dramatic sky gardens on the planet.
SCHOOL OF THE ARTS This school in downtown Singapore is filled with plants- the open corridors are lined with planters which allow creeping vines to spread across the entire facade. Additional gardens are spread throughout the building, and it’s topped off with a massive green roof.
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| Image from Terence Ong on Wikimedia |
NATIONAL LIBRARY Although libraries are not generally known for their plant life, the Singapore National Library is a notable exception. A masterpiece of the legendary green architect Ken Yeang, the library has dramatic gardens throughout the building which softens the environment in a dense urban site.
PINNACLE AT DUXTON Bridges connecting seven 50-storey public housing blocks create the two longest sky gardens on the planet at more than 500 meters each- creating much needed recreation space for over 5000 residents.
GARDENS BY THE BAY How do you build a botanical garden to fit the skyscraper-scale of a megacity? Singapore’s iconic Gardens by the Bay tries to solve this problem with massive greenhouse domes and massive artificial trees covered in greenery up to 50 meters in height! It’s one of the most incredible urban parks ever created.
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| Image from OpenBuildings |
NEWTON SUITES This stunning green building features a vertical green wall spanning the full height of the building. In contrast with the typical boxed-in lift lobby, cantilevered sky gardens outside of the elevators lobbies provides a natural retreat for the residents.
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| Singapore Vertical Farm image from Mediacorp |
VERTICAL FARM As the densest country on earth, Singapore relies heavily on imported food to feed the country. Enter the world’s first commercial farm which brings farming into the skies! The high-tech farm acheives high productivity with an innovative hydraulic rotating mechanism within an extremely small footprint.
For more on skygardens:
See more incredible examples of Singapore highrise greenery
Living high, an article on the careful creation of skyscrapers.
Hey I got accepted into NUS Architecture and uni only starts in August. I'm thinking of getting an attachment at a local architecture firm. Do you have any advice or recommendations? Thank you!
Hey, thanks for the comment!
You might want to check out this post: http://www.URBANarchNOW.com/2012/04/architects-in-singapore.html
& in the meantime, it can't hurt to augment your portfolio and enhance your skills by doing a quick competition. There are tons of them organised by due date on bustler.net
Good luck!