Day 6: MFO Adventure!

Philipp and I took a trip out to green walls in Zü and MFO park today. Why adventure? Since we missed, turned around, and go back to the previously thought wring stops, and made many mistakes along the way of visiting these green sites Zurich.
(PS: I'm too lazy to edit the pics today, so here it is, as it is)


These are the green walls at Futurecom, an advertising company. We looked at how they use a thick plastic-based black fabric, which are stapled to the walls to contain the plant substrate. Above the wall is a length of mirror which creates the illusion that the wall is longer than it is (can you see me in its reflection?).


And here is the MFO park when we found it:


Looks like an overgrown, unfinished building structure on the outside, but when you enter its green space,


You feel like you're entering a big room, except, that this is still outside!


And you realize that this is a building that is not to be put in category of 'finished' or 'unfinished,' because its a living building!


Unlike normal park where you walk across it, with this one, you have to climb it up!


As years go by, the plants continue to grow and climb MFO's manmade surfaces. Here we have the giant Aristolochia plant forming the columns of MFO.


Architecture critics praised this building for challenging our conventional notion of the park (crisp manicured lawn and trees), and incorporate the 'urban' sense verticality into people's experience of the park.


Kinda looks like the Patrick Blanc's Quai Branly doesn't it?
Except that this system should be more robust and dynamic.
And below is the picture of the behind the scene support structure:

Day 4: Feed the Dragon

YES! Ladies and Gentlemen! If you have an extra kid running around the house, get rid of your worries and please feed our hungry dragon!


What I wanted to tell you about Zurich is not how wonderful their public system are, or how clean the city is, or how clean their river is (maybe that, later). Instead, what I enjoyed the most about the city is this:


It's a dragon slide! So basically, you put the kid in the dragon's mouth, and chuuuuute, pop! The kid comes out of the other end, like so:


And the kids would do this again, and again, and again!


Since I consider myself pretty small, I decided that it won't be too rude to the children if I give the thing a try too! And ooooh! It quite fun to be sliding down the dark metal tunnel, and progress at a faster and faster speed until the bottom, where I'd be plopped into a room full of bookshelves of children's book.

Other fun things they got going on is the story telling session. At the children's book section of a different bookshop specializing in English books, a storytelling session is going on.


The storytelling session was something like in the movies, where you'd have a lively actor at the corner, and two dozens or so interested children... with their changing little faces:


Yes... in taking this picture, I was somewhere in scuffled in the crowd. Condensing myself as tiny as I can be, so to pretend that I am not an adult. Frankly, I think that the reader they have here is a pretty good actor! He makes simple books with size 24 font come alive and feel real. Ah... wouldn't you want to hear a book like this being read in full animation?


(I really do want to eat one)

Day 2 - People at work

This is Philipp, the head of the Verticalis project. We met for the first time when he picked me off from the station, and we had tea at the most beaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuutiful café I have ever seen. The café is literally right up by the edge of the blue Zurichsee (Zurich lake), and from there, you can see Zurich! We have been chatting a lot since and he is open-minded to ideas of different green wall systems from around the world.


And this is Simone, his student assistant at the greenhouse. Simone is an Italian from Tyrol, studying for an undergrad degree of environmental education, and now she is working for her summer job here. She taught me many things about making and maintaining a greenwall, from making "brownie" substrate, to "haircutting" a verticalis frame. Here we are preparing a Verticalis wall, for use at Hydroplant's showroom.


And that's me, sticking in cuttings of peperomia plants for my first set of green walls. We moved our tables outdoor because it
I'm happy that the people here in Switzerland are kind and they take their time to talk and exchange idea with me. Must say that they are much ore respectful than what I expected them Europeans be (after that horrendous 20 hour wait at the consulate, and the cold rejection they gave as, bah)

Day 2 - A Gardener's Exam

Simone and I took a lunch walk today. It was hot and sunny, so we took refuge under an oak tree, facing the fields, with the scenic view of the lake at a distance. On the fields, lo! Red and white striped poles and people carrying tripods on rectangular patches of grass:


At first they look like people playing games to me, but Simone explained that this is the gardener's exam. In ZHAW (the institution I am with), there are two kinds of gardener: the one that specializes in horticultural plant propagation, and the one that specializes in making home gardens (constructing stone walls, leveling the terrain, creating drainage slopes, etc.). Obviously, this is of the latter.

It seems that the test involves using staked strings to make accurately measured lines, and using that tripod thingy to measure the ground's slopes.


Good to know that somewhere in the world, being a gardener is a well respected profession, bukan sembarang jadi tukang kebon!

Day 1 - Back in Europe

And so I arrived in Zurich.

The immigration was friendly, the luggage fast, and the train punctual. No wonder they call Zurich the Singapore of Europe, and Singapore the Zurich of Asia. Methodical, organized, and fast. Without knowing any German, and only following the instructions of an e-mail print out from Phillipe, I arrived in the town of Wäedenswil within an hour of my landing into the airport.

I've somehow now have ended at a calm Swiss town by the lake...
a beautiful blue lake, from which you can see the city of Zurich at the other end. It was a warm morning, with cool breeze and ducks flying over onto the edge of the lake.

... errr....

Why am I here?

This is what got me here:


A Dreer award travel grant for the study of green walls (growing plants on a vertical surface).


And this is some of the plant materials that I got introduced to today at Verticalis, they are planted on rockwool, a type of organic foam made of melted rock. More details about the research on later posts.

Durga

On our way to Chidambaram, we saw a couple of Hindu temples situated in the villages, and under the trees in the rice fields. Most often of these is the red or green Durga, the 10-armed form of the mother-goddess Devi, the wife of Shiva.




This is another statue of Durga inside the Chidambaram temple complex. (As I remember it,) in this complex she is depicted in close relation with the image of Parvati, and this particular icon is worshipped by single men/women looking for partners in life.

Under the Banyan Tree

The Banyan tree is considered sacred by the Hindu and buddhist of South Asia. The Banyan represents eternal life because it support its expanding canopy by growing aerial roots from its branches. These roots starts as small hairs dangling in the air, but when these fine fibers touches the earth, it quickly roots and grows into a sturdy trunk that draws nutrient and supports the ever widening canopy of the tree.
-loosely quoted from Plant Cultures.


Because the tree seems to be always on the move outward, it is sometimes called 'the one with many feet' or 'the walking tree.' This particular tree in the Central Guest House at Auroville (where we stayed at), is estimated to be at least 80 years old. Its canopy is so large, that it extends over the entire courtyard, a block of 3 guesthouses, as well as the central cafeteria.

Over time, the roots are capable of moving and overtaking the hardest of stone structures; Mom calls these kinds of 'Angkor Wat tree,' and indeed, the Banyan belongs to the same genus of Ficus trees as the ones seen wrapping the Angkor Wat.


A pair of shady banyan tree flanked the center courtyard of the guesthouse, providing a grand setting for our finicky white plastic tables and chair. Precious few specks of sunlight passes and lighten up the courtyard during the day. A bulb is hung above the table to lit the night dimly. The green netting above the table are hung to prevent leaf litter from falling onto our table... and disturbing our endless card games!


As I played rounds and rounds of card games with the class, I wonder about this daily habit of theirs: do they come together all the way to India just to play cards???

Never seen a Banyan before? You can view a 360 degree photo of a Banyan tree, here!

Delhi2Pondi

Whew! Delhi was only a day out of our 10 day trip, yet takes much time to write about! -And that's not everything, we missed the Red Fort, and didn't get the chance to walk through the market madness at Chandni Chowk- Oh well, I was happy to get out of that Jakarta-esque crowdedness. And out of our tourist bus, which broke 3 times in a day. Leaving us to steam with sweat under the Delhi smog (this 3rd time, we were lucky to find a tree to shade under):


The trip from Delhi to Pondi takes 4 hours plane ride to Chennai (Madras), and 4 hours car ride to Pondi (Pondicherry). India is bigger than what it seems. Chennai is a big hub city in Southern India, and Pondi is a smaller town. After this, we'll mostly be spending time out in the rural areas, and the universal city of Auroville. So not to confuse Pondi with the Aurovillians' hippie-ecological living, this is what Pondi looks like...


Look! They have Bata shoes over there!!!

Bara-Gumbad Mosque, 1494AD

Between the 1500s and 1700s, the Indian subcontinent was dominated by an Islamic imperial power called the Mughal Empire. The empire stretches from the present-day Kashmir and Afghanistan to Bangladesh, and south towards the Deccan Plateau. The Mughals created many of the Indian landmark architecture that we know today, including Taj Mahal, Qut'b Minar, and the Shalimar Gardens of Kashmir. Delhi was the capital of this empire, and hence it is only natural that many of the remaining Mughal Architecture, such as the previously discussed Jama Masjid, Humayun's Tomb and this Bara-Gumbad mosque, is situated here.


Above is the view of the Bara-Gumbad Mosque in its English garden setting. People have told me that in the imperial days, the English are keen to make India look like their home's pastoral landscape, and cut down a lot of the trees around these monuments in order to make their lawns. Today, the land around the mosque is a well frequented modern park. The lawns are used by people picnicking or playing crickets, and the path is busy with local joggers ad international tourists.


One of the rounded domes of the mosque.


The arches of the mosque have detailed caligraphic inscriptions that is reminiscent of illustrations and photographs of the Alhambra in Grenada.


Imagine making one of these intricate carvings; how many days must you take, and, what if you chip one of them?!


It's likely that the bright blue color we see here is original paints made using lapis lazuli or turquoise, which fades little over time.


Me and maria posing on one of the tomb gates (the bricks are really that red!.. although PS did help to bring it out)

Humayun's Tomb, 1562AD

The majestic Humayun's tomb was the source of inspiration for the Taj Mahal. Again these are the photos are borrowed, this time from Hans, Kathy and Maria. I have to thank them for sharing their pictures with me. I'm sure in a few years time, it will help me a lot in remembering what happened on these few exciting days!


There are multiple arched gates that we had to walk through in order to get to the to see the tomb. The walk axially line up with the gates of the monument, and is lined with flowering trees on both sides.


After the last arch, we are granted this expansive view of the sky, the monument and its red earth.


The monument is surrounded by crisply manicured green lawns.





A baby owl peeking at the visitors...


Porticoes outside of the tombs.




Calligraphic carvings.


"Don't leave meeeeee!!!"

The India Studio

A brief note about the framework of the trip.
The India Studio is the landscape arch. studio of my junior class. The class' assignment was to create a sustainable residential garden, and later community, for a tropical setting. All of the students in the class have never been to India, and for some, outside of the US. The purpose of the 12-day trip was to get the class acquainted with the class with the site, the tropical environments and the novel sustainable efforts that is going on in Auroville, a man-made 'global-city' located just north of Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu. More on that later.


When I began the journey, I barely knew the names of people in the class, even though I am familiar with their face, but by the end of it, I'm happy to say that I knew their names and more. We traveled as a group of 12, pictured above (left to right): Hans, Jen, Lauren, Lindsey, I Maria, Rachel, myself, Liz, Chetan, Dave, Kris and Kathy.

10 days in India

And no picture to speak of.

Yes, I lost my camera, so, I'll be telling stories on borrowed eyes.

Oh well. At least the trip was free! Sponsored by Louis Berger Group. Much oblidged to put the link there.

Below are the pics that Hans, our TA, took at Jama Masjid in New Delhi on our last day in India. More here. The next few posts will be using photos borrowed from I Maria, Kathy and Liz.


Wait... what's with the highlighter coloured... er... dress?


Local costumes. As immodest (Foreign women), we had to cover our head, arms and legs, so they gave us these ugly sheets to contend with. It looks funny, and the locals can spot us from miles away. Even with that, we were not allowed to enter the building. Darn.

There are 12 people on the trip. This is all of the girls in our class. On the far left is our prof and organizer-extraordinaire, Kathy.


So there we are hangin' out with the pigeons.


"The Masjid-i Jahan-Namaa (Persian: مسجد جھان نما, the 'World-reflecting Mosque'), commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is the principal mosque of Old Delhi in India. Commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, and completed in the year 1656 AD, it is one of the largest and best-known mosques in India [...] The mosque was the result of the efforts of over 5,000 workers, over a period of six years."-Wikipedia


Watercolour rendering of the mosque, 1852