News of the UK’s first living wall in Islington, North London which "...died just three years after it was built," has raced across the blogs, as people hover like vultures over what is at least the first visible major failure of a green wall. While it's pretty obvious that the project had some major issues - this is, as Mr. Obama said in a totally different context '...a teaching moment."


:: image via The Architects' Journal

It's pretty much a sure bet that a combination of design and maintenance was at fault - and this goes beyond mere patches of dead vegetation - leading to mangy patches completely bare and the remaining areas with tufts of drying plantings.

It's also a given that with the adoption of new idea, there will be failures ranging from the minor to the catastrophic. What we need to do is be open about what worked or did not, remedy the problem, and acknowledge that we're still learning. This can be a good thing.


:: image via The Architects' Journal

It is good that the architects are remaining involved in remedying the issues, as well they should: "A spokesperson for DSDHA added: ‘As architects for the Paradise Park Children’s Centre, DSDHA are greatly dismayed at the current state of the vertical garden installed on the building and remain actively involved with the London Borough of Islington in addressing the problems to do with the landscape and irrigation of this innovative scheme."


:: image via The Architects' Journal

There will be those who take this opportunity to criticize, which is understandable but not necessarily beneficial. It's similar to early green roof failures. There are a couple of lessons specific to this project, beyond the specific project details: First, experimentation on a large scale visible project is not good for the designer, client, or industry as a whole. We feel the need to install 'systems' that aren't thoroughly vetted, and then are surprised when they fail. Second, if we fail, we all need to both be vocal about the issues and strategic about how this is portrayed. There are a number of issues with many current projects around plants, substrate, irrigation, maintenance, etc. One of the perils of living systems is that they need a basic level of soil, water, sunlight, and nutrients to survive. It's really simple. And they evolve beyond the initial expectations when these items are provided and we consider them out of control - or they wither and die when they are not. Much like us, they require care - but it's a pretty simple to understand set of repeatable requirements - which gives us the edge. It's not like the plants were depressed.


:: image via The Architects' Journal

But this isn't a failure in the tragic sense (unless you are one of those who feel the pain of even non-sentient beings), but rather the teaching moment we all need. Some project out there had to be the first to show that our knowledge is youthful, our excitement often outweighs our good judgment, and our approach thus is often precarious. But this doesn't mean we throw about the baby with the bathwater, and many I'm sure will propose that the entire endeavor is flawed. (such as the asinine commenter saying that we should use vegetal-print aluminum panels because they 'won't die and will always look alive and full of life.") Dude... kinda missing the point.

For some odd reason, I was reminded of the wise words of Tom Waits, again from another context... in his beautiful song 'Dead and Lovely'.

"Everything that is left
They will only plow under
Soon every one you know
Will be gone

And now she's dead
Forever dead
Forever dead and lovely now"

It's kind of tongue and cheek - but the fact that it was installed in the first place, grew, withered, died, and will grow again - is kinda lovely. It's the cycle of life that keeps us all honest, and doesn't come through photoshop rendering or aluminum panels. Let's just take a breath and figure out what we can learn.

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