We totally worked on the garden above the container. We added myceliated mulch to filter the water. It ran thru 4 stock tank garden beds then down to the tank. It's so sweet. Thx for showing this.
This is beyond wonderful -- form and function coming together in an impactful way to improve human, plant, and animal habitat in the middle of a major city.
These are lovely ways to water the deserts beneath the city. Part of permaculture is to provide beauty. Love that shmancy. Still see zero to bad interations on the government level...
Could be a little bit of food in there - fruit or nut trees, berries - you've got roses - they could probably be blackberries. With all the heat, maybe you could have figs. With all the glass buildings you could have foyers that had tropical fruit trees growing inside. Water features - just to be around - could probably help with cooling and heating somehow.
Yes, it does look great. The concern I have also is the form vs function factor. Could the project have been done cheaper and with less concrete? Seattle is a dynamic but very expensive city. Could the same idea been completed reusing materials? Concrete has a large carbon footprint.
Great point. The design and materials reflects the upscale downtown location. Definitely a project meant to show off the water harvesting features in an artistic sense, and not focussed on low material footprint as a goal.
This would be great in even less dense areas, and especially those that experience summer drought. This also adds visual interest in areas where it might not otherwise have it. This really needs to happen higher up the hill for biggest impact. What street is this? Pretty sure Seattle has outlawed those hats...
For more water harvesting projects in Seattle's public rights-of-ways see: www.seattle.gov/utilities/environment-and-conservation/projects/green-stormwater-infrastructure/completed-gsi-projects/street-edge-alternatives And for write ups of still more see the new edition of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 2 available at deep discount direct from the author at: www.harvestingrainwater.com/shop/
A great idea that should be adopted in a voluntary and decentralized way! Good ideas don't require force. And force (laws) turn good ideas into bad ones. #NonAggressionPrinciple
The mixed permaculture/city scape ecology. One subtle nuance might be to encourage revitalization of urban life. The Covid-19 exodus of digital nomads from city life to suburban life, created two huge trends. First work from home meant that far less automobile use and CO2 production. But Cities themselves are seeing a large vacancy rate in commercial real estate which in turn decreases rents and city taxes and hurts spill over service economies. The result is a larger percentage of urban homeless dwellers and increase in property crime which further strains city budges and creates more negative appeal for urban living. My point is revitalizing urban living with these water/foliage installations and a cooler temperature and more aesthetically pleasing urban environment will result in more people choosing to live in cities again.
Does this process threaten building foundations or basements? Are there techniques to mitigate hydrostatic pressure and/raising ground water tables, or are these risk insufficent?
One simple detail. IF the foundation of ANY high rise building is set on loose soil there's no need to go further! The problem would be right there! ;-) Any decent size construction cannot/should not stand on loose soil. It must go further down into the bedrock! With this said I'll make an educated guess and state. That most probably those were the existing conditions prior to the construction of the buildings! ;-)
There could be toxic materials in the roofing and flashing for skylights. Previously that was being discharged directly into the Puget Sound. If this was a drinking water system, then toxic roofing materials would be a real danger.
Brad Lancaster doesn't eat certain parts of the plant when he is worried about street toxins. I forget maybe it was the fleshy parts of cacti because they are long lived? The fruit are still safe to eat, though.
I love how they made it so artistic. Only issue is that it will breed so many mosquitoes. On a farm you can combat that with the use of ducks and chickens. But this looks like a bad idea in terms of mosquitoes.
There's a severe misconception that water translates directly into mosquitoes! When the entire ecosystem is considered. Mosquitoes, become just another piece of the puzzle. Running water is not a good environment for mosquito breading! That's a given. On the other hand it's most common to use fish and other wild life . Like frogs/toads, dragonflies, etc. to eat mosquito and/or mosquito larvae. That can thrive on standing water and severely moist vegetation. Temperature, moist, etc. they all contribute more or less for it. In this particular location (cold). I don't think they will have any mosquito issues. Even without counter measures! ;-)
Don't forget the quality of life improvements. Bringing greenery into our concrete jungles is an excellent move on its own.
Would love to see you revisit this, during a rain event... so we could see the water moving through the system
That would be incredible!
I've heard the rain events are frequent.... :) :) :)
We totally worked on the garden above the container. We added myceliated mulch to filter the water. It ran thru 4 stock tank garden beds then down to the tank. It's so sweet. Thx for showing this.
Well done👍
This sort of greening should be done anywhere thats possible 💦🐞🌳
This is beyond wonderful -- form and function coming together in an impactful way to improve human, plant, and animal habitat in the middle of a major city.
Cools cities, reduces energy costs, reduces weathering costs on buildings.
These are lovely ways to water the deserts beneath the city. Part of permaculture is to provide beauty.
Love that shmancy.
Still see zero to bad interations on the government level...
Could be a little bit of food in there - fruit or nut trees, berries - you've got roses - they could probably be blackberries. With all the heat, maybe you could have figs. With all the glass buildings you could have foyers that had tropical fruit trees growing inside. Water features - just to be around - could probably help with cooling and heating somehow.
Fantastic!
Amazing. Wonder if it still there 3yrs later?
Yes, it does look great.
The concern I have also is the form vs function factor.
Could the project have been done cheaper and with less concrete?
Seattle is a dynamic but very expensive city.
Could the same idea been completed reusing materials?
Concrete has a large carbon footprint.
Great point. The design and materials reflects the upscale downtown location. Definitely a project meant to show off the water harvesting features in an artistic sense, and not focussed on low material footprint as a goal.
The video made me think. I just liked the video bomber at about 4:35. I love playing with water flows and trying to get more function all the time.
This is so cool! Aww I miss Seattle. Thanks for the video.
Plant the rain!
🙋🏼♀️🕊. Beautiful 🤩. We need to do this all over . Our city planers failed us . By ignoring natures flu. This is practicall.
Congrats Andrew! I'm from Brazil, and like a lott your video! That's amazing opportunity to create a best world to our cities!
This would be great in even less dense areas, and especially those that experience summer drought. This also adds visual interest in areas where it might not otherwise have it. This really needs to happen higher up the hill for biggest impact.
What street is this?
Pretty sure Seattle has outlawed those hats...
@A R
That's the way they roll.
whimsical & i love it!! beautifully done.
I am 30 miles away from this video, we have huge detention ponds everywhere. Why did Seattle not plan ahead?
For more water harvesting projects in Seattle's public rights-of-ways see:
www.seattle.gov/utilities/environment-and-conservation/projects/green-stormwater-infrastructure/completed-gsi-projects/street-edge-alternatives
And for write ups of still more see the new edition of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 2 available at deep discount direct from the author at:
www.harvestingrainwater.com/shop/
This is great! I'm sharing it on Facebook! Thanks!
Beautiful infrastructure.
Love it!
A great idea that should be adopted in a voluntary and decentralized way!
Good ideas don't require force. And force (laws) turn good ideas into bad ones.
#NonAggressionPrinciple
Good idea, but what prevents mosquitoes from multiplying ?
That's a good question. It seems like they could have mosquitos in those small ponds.
You can use frogs and guppies for that. When the water is flowing, mosquitoes wouldn't be a problem as they reuire still water.
temperature (its seattle)
amazing and very inspiring, hats off to you sir :D
PRESCOTT AMA HERE WE GO
If there wasn't room on the exterior of the building could stormwater be filtered through a series of green walls in the interior of the building?
I never knew about this!
Would have been nice to see it with water
The mixed permaculture/city scape ecology. One subtle nuance might be to encourage revitalization of urban life. The Covid-19 exodus of digital nomads from city life to suburban life, created two huge trends. First work from home meant that far less automobile use and CO2 production. But Cities themselves are seeing a large vacancy rate in commercial real estate which in turn decreases rents and city taxes and hurts spill over service economies. The result is a larger percentage of urban homeless dwellers and increase in property crime which further strains city budges and creates more negative appeal for urban living. My point is revitalizing urban living with these water/foliage installations and a cooler temperature and more aesthetically pleasing urban environment will result in more people choosing to live in cities again.
Does this process threaten building foundations or basements? Are there techniques to mitigate hydrostatic pressure and/raising ground water tables, or are these risk insufficent?
The water also floods the p patch
What company designed this.
what effect does this have on the foundations of nearby buildings? I can't imagine this would be a good idea to do next to a high rise
One simple detail. IF the foundation of ANY high rise building is set on loose soil there's no need to go further! The problem would be right there! ;-)
Any decent size construction cannot/should not stand on loose soil. It must go further down into the bedrock!
With this said I'll make an educated guess and state. That most probably those were the existing conditions prior to the construction of the buildings! ;-)
Has anyone tested for...
TOXIC ROOFTOPS ... ?
There could be toxic materials in the roofing and flashing for skylights. Previously that was being discharged directly into the Puget Sound. If this was a drinking water system, then toxic roofing materials would be a real danger.
Brad Lancaster doesn't eat certain parts of the plant when he is worried about street toxins. I forget maybe it was the fleshy parts of cacti because they are long lived? The fruit are still safe to eat, though.
1:36 note the hostile architecture so people can't sit down on that bench. I'm a former Seattlite and that is typical.
This is an excellent video, but the music wasn't needed.
Uh there seems to be some clacking noise in the background. Very Annoying. Are we trying to appeal to the tragically HiP?
Adding oxygen to the air.
I love how they made it so artistic. Only issue is that it will breed so many mosquitoes. On a farm you can combat that with the use of ducks and chickens. But this looks like a bad idea in terms of mosquitoes.
too cold in seattle
There's a severe misconception that water translates directly into mosquitoes!
When the entire ecosystem is considered. Mosquitoes, become just another piece of the puzzle. Running water is not a good environment for mosquito breading! That's a given.
On the other hand it's most common to use fish and other wild life . Like frogs/toads, dragonflies, etc. to eat mosquito and/or mosquito larvae. That can thrive on standing water and severely moist vegetation.
Temperature, moist, etc. they all contribute more or less for it. In this particular location (cold). I don't think they will have any mosquito issues. Even without counter measures! ;-)
the rain is autumn and winter, with almost none in summer when mosquitoes are most active
3 Trump voters were here 😂
Probably costs huge money to construct. That's why is not more widespread
Like big cities don't have the cash to support smart, green improvements.
Is there an actual video when it rains?