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September 22, 2006
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Nate Golin recently traveled to Austria on his honeymoon (congratulations, Nate!) and visited the Hundertwasserhaus, an affordable apartment building in Vienna. The building was designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who, in addition to being a painter and sculptor, was a pioneer of contemporary environmentally-sensitive architecture. In an attempt to further humanize the irregular forms of the building, Hundertwasser covered the roof with 992 tons of soil and 250 trees and shrubs. There are even mature trees growing out some of the windows. According to Hundertwasser, "If man walks in nature's midst, then he is nature's guest and must learn to behave as a well-brought-up guest." You can see more of Nate's photos of the building here.
The prevalence of green roofs has greatly increased in the twenty years since Hundertwasserhaus was completed, particularly in Europe. Increased awareness of their environmental benefits, as well as improved technology, have led to a boom in their construction. Locally, the number of green roofs in the Twin Cities is growing dramatically, and Minneapolis will host the Fifth Annual International Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference in the spring. Chris Wegscheid sits on the planning committee for the conference, as well as the steering committee of the Twin Cities Green Roofs Council. He's put together a short introduction to green roofs that can be found here.
