Studio Luz Architects

Overview   ..............................................................................................................

Parti Wall, Hanging Green is a collaborative prototype project between ten design firms practicing in the Boston area. In 2008, the Young Architects Boston group was formed to create a prototype green wall in preparation for the arrival of over 25,000 visitors to Boston for the national convention of the American Institute of Architects in 2008. The team aimed to generate awareness for underutilized sites in Boston and to offer design solutions that apply sustainable principles for improving public space and creating healthy neighborhoods in the city.

Parti Wall, Hanging Green, sponsored by an LEF Foundation grant, targets a greener city by suspending vertical planted surfaces over existing brick partition walls. Suspended from a five story brick loft building in the South End, the installation made use of succulent plants such as sedum, or edible Chia. The green structure was experimental and educational in purpose. It aimed to transform the character and texture of the urban environment by providing visual relief, color, and texture as well as range of ecological benefits including insulation, acoustic improvements, the reduction of storm water runoff, and the mitigation of the heat island effect. The prototype illustrates how Boston’s scattered brick surfaces could become opportunity for zero footprint public art. Similar installations have the potential to improve the city visually and environmentally.