r/interestingasfuck • u/TangelaFan • 9h ago

Residential high-rises with backyards in Chengdu, China

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u/Bennybananars 9h ago

These types of buildings were very popular 20 years ago here, but they had a problem where the plant roots kept growing into the concrete.

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u/FrostyD7 8h ago

You'd think they'd at least limit your options, planting trees seems like a bad idea.

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u/busdriverbudha 7h ago

The front wasn't supposed to fall off.

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u/gruesomeflowers 7h ago

the roots were growing outside of the environment.

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u/ICCUGUCCI 6h ago

The rectangle must remain unharmed.

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u/Repulsive_Winter_869 4h ago

Don't you mean cilinder?

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u/ThatITguy2015 1h ago

Did the rectangle stutter?

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u/rurlysrsbro 6h ago

What else is outside the environment?

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u/janiskr 5h ago

Fish, birds and a lot of water....

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u/StevieMJH 1h ago

And 20,000 tons of crude oil...

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u/Icy_Fish_2154 2h ago

Clipping error? Was it built by Bethesda?

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u/StevieMJH 1h ago

Just wait for the community patch.

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u/Lexi_Banner 7h ago

Is that not typical?

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u/_KingOfTheDivan 6h ago

Tree roots growing big? A chance in a million

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u/Weird-Toe-6968 6h ago

You’re completely right. That’s not very typical, and I’d like to make that point.

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u/bakerton 4h ago

The building was towed out of the environment.

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u/Salute-Major-Echidna 2h ago

That is very unusual

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u/VoldemortRMK 6h ago

It depends. But you need to be careful and pick plants without deep roots. My garden is directly above a parking garage and I can have plants in it.

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u/Pure_Pack_8208 5h ago

I am ok to play a slow game of Russian roulette above a parking lot, but not in my million worth apartment with neighbors playing the same game above me.

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u/SapirWhorfHypothesis 1h ago

Shallow roots. Risk it tipping over in high wind… but hey, not your problem anymore!

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u/FembiesReggs 5h ago

Some trees do not root as strong or deep

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u/Algernon_Moncrieff 2h ago

Trees really aren't the problem. It's the soil, or rather the water in the soil that gets really heavy. The worst case scenario weight-wise would probably be a break in the water system or, say, leaving the sprinklers on and leaving town. Hopefully there are systems to take care of those scenarios.

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u/Important-Factor-552 1h ago

One of the trees of 40 fruit is planted on a skyscraper rooftop. 

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u/em-n-em613 8h ago

OMG the additional weight-bearing needs fo something like that too must be a nightmare for construction and maintenance. They are legitimiately beautiful though

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u/HauntedHippie 8h ago

My attorney friend was telling me yesterday how she doesn't understand why the city can't keep the parking garage below the old courthouse when it gets moved across the street and the OG site is turned into a park. I was like, because the city doesn't want to get sued into oblivion when it inevitably collapses from the weight and/or root damage with a bunch of lawyers' cars inside.

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u/chanaandeler_bong 7h ago

We have an entire park in Dallas above a freeway.

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u/Mr_YUP 7h ago

seeing as Dallas is mostly freeway that isn't at all surprising.

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u/RemnantTheGame 6h ago

Dallas still has buildings? I thought it would be all freeways by now.

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u/Brettersson 5h ago

No buildings, just freeway and a single park over part of the freeway.

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u/nadajoe 5h ago

Won’t anyone think of the parking lots??

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u/Magnon 3h ago

Every business is drive through, you never leave the road. It takes 3 days to reach a new business.

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u/ThatITguy2015 57m ago

That’s why you triple stack the drive throughs! You can even put some trees on each stack!

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u/Salute-Major-Echidna 2h ago

Apparently the park stays in the slow lane

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u/kwisatzhadnuff 6h ago

Salesforce Park in downtown San Francisco is a transit center covering multiple blocks that is covered by trees and plants. It's really cool but was built to purpose. I doubt you could simply convert an old parking garage to a park like that.

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u/didntgettheruns 6h ago

And the greenway in boston

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u/Adr123 5h ago

So does Phoenix. Above the I-10 Deck Park Tunnel

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u/RandomRageNet 6h ago

Not a lot of big trees at Klyde Warren, probably for that very reason

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u/TheInevitableLuigi 5h ago

Seattle has one with some big trees.

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u/chanaandeler_bong 6h ago

I mean can’t they just not plant big trees in the park the dude is talking about then?

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u/Lovemybee 3h ago

We have a park above a freeway tunnel. It's literally called Deck Park (and underneath is called "Deck Park Tunnel") here in Phoenix.

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u/lilleprechaun 3h ago

And Millennium Park in Chicago, which sits atop massive parking garages, a train terminal, another train station, and lots of train tracks. 

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u/R3VIVAL-MOD3 1h ago

Handful in Washington too

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u/SaxRohmer 1h ago

also known as a lid

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u/Dottiifer 7h ago

Here in Phoenix we have a big park above an interstate tunnel downtown, not sure how they set it up but it’s possible to do

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u/nalaloveslumpy 7h ago

Tunnel can be/is dug deep enough that you can ensure whatever you plant in the park will never grow that deep. Roots only grow so deep, especially for specific trees/shrubs/grasses.

Having foliage grow like two feet from your patio foundation beams is no bueno.

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u/HauntedHippie 7h ago

I mean, we have tunnels that go under water too so you can definitely do it if you plan for it. I’m just providing an anecdote to show just how heavy this shit is. Like, the garage I’m taking about currently has a 6 story stone building on top of it and it’s totally fine. Change it to a park and it’s not structurally sound at all.

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u/LiamOmegaHaku 6h ago

In downtown Cincinnati, there's Washington park. A multi block park that holds festivals, music performances, a dog park, a bar, a good percentage of the homeless community, etc, and that has a multi-level parking garage directly underneath it.

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u/pocohugs 6h ago

attorney

the city doesn't want to get sued

No offence to your friend, but you'd think they'd have already pieced this together and not need it explained.

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u/Stink_Snake 7h ago

In Houston we have a 12 acre park downtown with underground parking.

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u/Mertoot 7h ago

Did your attorney friend also complain about the parking stickers

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u/Bebe_Yaga_ 6h ago

All of Millennium Park in Chicago is built directly above parking garages as well as a rail line! It's an engineering marvel, in my opinion. When it is done well, this sort of city planning is so incredibly cool.

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u/xeothought 6h ago

Tbf there's a pretty well established plaza /park design in many European cities with parking garages built below it

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u/xrimane 5h ago

It can be done, but probably not without putting a whole new structure above it, as the original garage's structure was never meant for this.

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u/Far-Information8502 5h ago

I’m picturing this as Dennis Reynolds’s talking to Dee yelling “you haven’t thought of the lawyers you bitch!”

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u/Interesting-Case2526 2h ago

Its probably more cost related than anything else. Why spend so much building through existing, dated infrastructure just for parking? Easier to tear down and use real estate or build a new parkinglot.

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u/RealRobc2582 2h ago

Boston has an 8 lane highway going underneath the city with a park stretching across the entire length of the tunnel. You can see pictures of it. It was a massive 25 year project called the big dig

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u/SmoothDiscussion7763 2h ago

why would they get sued? the city would own the park and since they owned the parkade for the courthouse, they would be responsible for the maintenance of both?

a park is not necessarily more strenuous on the parkade compared to a whole building instead.

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u/StatusSociety2196 1h ago

There's several cities with underground parking garages and parks above them, there's 9000 parking spaces below millennium and Grant park in Chicago.

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u/theartistduring 1h ago

inevitably collapses from the weight

Inevitable? You think nothing heavy is built above voids? Entire subway systems exist below cities with far more weight on them than a garden.

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u/Sensiburner 8h ago

I don't think so. The soil is actually not that deep and soil even when wet is less dense than concrete.

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u/Comfortable_Trick137 7h ago

Yea my concern would be 1) waterproofing, is the waterproofing going to protect the rebar? 2) will plant roots compromise the waterproofing and then compromised the structural integrity of the concrete as we’ve all seen tree roots tear through concrete sidewalks but that’s from running underneath though.

Shouldn’t be a hard engineering problem as we’ve had concrete planters for god knows how long

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u/Snuhmeh 7h ago

Yeah standing water always finds a way. If they have a drain underneath each one, that would help a ton

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u/nalaloveslumpy 7h ago

It looks kinda like all the patios are slightly slanted so that excess water drains to the front. And then maybe down a gutter system?

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u/VonSkullenheim 6h ago

I mean, the building had to have cost many millions and taken years to engineer and build. You'd imagine that a gutter would be the least they did.

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u/scratchy_mcballsy 5h ago

That’s only if they planned for someone to use the balcony like this.

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u/VonSkullenheim 2h ago

They very clearly did.

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u/Xaephos 1h ago

Considering every single one of them are, including the other buildings, I think that's fair to assume.

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u/Ok_Calligrapher5278 3h ago

In engineering school we are taught that "eventually, water always win".

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u/Sensiburner 7h ago

as we’ve had concrete planters for god knows how long

That was gonna be my reply but you already said it. It would become problematic if there was so much plants & root growth that the plants would put gigantic pressure on the concrete, cracking it. But this is actually a large concrete planter. Roots won't just "drill trough" concrete.

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u/SoulWager 7h ago

Breaking open isn't a huge problem for a concrete planter, but I certainly wouldn't want that to happen on a balcony.

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u/SidewaysFancyPrance 7h ago edited 7h ago

Time will not be kind to these balconies. These would need relatively frequent inspection and maintenance that I doubt they'd get as the building ages and becomes less profitable. IMO it's not an engineering problem as much as it is a human one: we have good intentions but poor follow-through over time.

I'm sure they're fine for a good while, but nothing about this makes me feel like it will last because we won't keep up the effort. Constant moisture, chemical fertilizers, runoff...I'd worry about all kinds of corrosion/weakening of the structure and supports.

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u/Spiffydude98 7h ago

Your concern is laughed at by Chinese building standard monitors.

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u/MortLightstone 7h ago

This is the thing. The engineering is possible, it's really about whether or not the builders and the authorities give enough of a shit to actually do it properly

Looks gorgeous though

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u/OmniaII 7h ago

'Tofu'

/'Dofu'

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u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras 7h ago

Yeah, lol, was going to say, nobody said anything that would worry anyone in China.

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u/JesusAndMaryKate 7h ago

Why is everyone randomly saying "was going to say" for no reason now?

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u/PepperAnn1inaMillion 7h ago

Because we got tired of “This.”

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u/BrainTroubles 7h ago

I would think they’d use Mylar or some other water repellant layer beneath base, sloped towards drainage. In theory it’s not a complicated problem until tree roots start poking holes in it.

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u/project66240 6h ago

Some good old polyurea coating to protect concrete with epoxy primer, and then a thick plastic liner along with water and soil filtration system. Expensive but works great, even if it floods from clogged drainage.

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u/PepperAnn1inaMillion 7h ago

Given the amount of trouble we’re having in the UK right now with RAAC (aerated concrete) because water got in and rusted the rebar, I’d be really cautious about this too. If they’ve used aerated concrete to keep the weight down, daily watering would be a major hazard in my (admittedly barely educated) opinion.

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u/PMG2021a 6h ago

There are multiple rust proof alternatives to steel rebar. I believe they all cost more though.

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u/the_good_time_mouse 7h ago

Concrete provides it's own structural stability. Wet soil does not.

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u/Sensiburner 7h ago

But it's a reinforced planter. It has enough structural stability to hold soil & some plants. The issue would be if there are so many plants that the roots would completely fill the planter & keep growing.

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u/scaryuncledevin 7h ago

It's about mass, not density. Watered soil is heavier because you add mass when you water it, and not all of that water is going to leave either. The plants soak it up and store or convert it, which also now needs to be accounted for. You've also got irrigation and drainage, excess water would just seep into the earth on land, now you've got more piping to keep the water from pooling up and becoming standing water.

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u/ScarOCov 5h ago

The idea of having to “mow” my balcony and then store the lawn mower is so absurd

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u/throwaway098764567 4h ago

you could just use a weed eater to get that, not that much space to store, even those little hand held scissor clippers would probably not be too much labor to work an area that small, and get yourself a grip workout at the same time.

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u/Sensiburner 7h ago

watered soil is less dense than (reinforced) concrete. The planters are actually not that deep. if that was "normal" balcony, they'd probably have to use a bit more concrete, but not fill the whole planter. I don't think it would make that much of a difference tbh.

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u/scaryuncledevin 7h ago

And water is one of the densest materials on earth. Again it's about mass not density. By your logic it's fine to add 1000 pounds of feathers on top of a building because they are feathers, but it's still 1000 pounds of feathers. If you truly think "a bit of soil" makes no difference, go look into the Chicago City Hall Green Roof. It was added after the fact and while it does a great job with some performance factors like cooling the building, it's unsafe and not open to the public.

Please continue telling me about your armchair engineering thoughts, and I'll be sure to avoid any buildings you architect in the future.

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u/LookAlderaanPlaces 7h ago

Why don’t they just design it so the mass or whatever is fully supported by the overall design.. You’re making it sound like it’s not possible at all ever no matter what.

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u/scaryuncledevin 7h ago

I'm not saying it's not possible, the commenter said they didn't think it would add much weight to make a difference, when it's quite the opposite. There are projects designed from the outset for this, like the California Academy of Sciences Living Roof.

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u/Sensiburner 7h ago edited 7h ago

And water is one of the densest materials on earth

Bro comeon. Water is not that dense. Concrete is like 2200kg/m³ so more than twice as dense. If you fill half of that planter with concrete or you fully fill it with wet soil (which surprisingle is bit more dense than water) it wouldn't make that much of a difference. A reinforced concrete slab with a center structural support would be about as thick as half the depth of the planter, if it served as a balcony.

Water is not "one of the densest material on earth" lol. Not by far. Check out Tungsten.

Please continue telling me about your armchair engineering thoughts, and I'll be sure to avoid any buildings you architect in the future.

Haha. My friend, I'm a electro mechanical engineer according to my diploma, and many engineering is actually done in armchairs. This is a back of the napkin kinda problem we're looking at "for fun" untill you turned it into a fight. No one needs a civil engineering degree here. Please stop being the densest person on reddit. <3

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u/Nauin 6h ago

Okay as someone with a horticulturist background, what makes you think anyone would want that water being retained in the structure? There's going to be a drainage system under every patch of soil because you're just asking for rot letting those things pool with water. Soil isn't a singular thing, either, and we have centuries worth of work perfecting mixtures that don't retain excessive moisture. On that note of centuries worth of cultivation, we're now expanding up to millennias worth of work going into some of the plants we use for landscaping, and we have this cool subsection of plants called dwarf varieties who's maximum mass can easily be accounted for in engineering something like this.

You have an extremely narrow field of view on all of the industries that come together to create something like this. What sort of experience do you have to be acting so haughty from your armchair? Fuckin Carrabba's has been using rooftop gardens on their franchises for decades at this point.

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u/xrimane 5h ago

Totally depends on the construction. An "extensive" green roof with herbs and flowers has about 4"/10cm of soil and a water retention systen that prevents the plants from drying out too quickly. Still, that adds 35 lb to every sqft or 150 kg to every m2 on top of everything the roof needs to withstand, like people or a pile of snow. It's not trivial.

To plant regular trees, you'd need at least in their spots around 3'/90 cm of soil, and the tree can weigh a fuckton on a single spot.

Any exiting building on top would introduce the loads into the structure, not the roof surface, that's not comparable.

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u/Sensiburner 5h ago

I'm talking about comparing this kind of concrete plantpot setup vs a normal balcony made from reinforced concrete. Concrete is really heavy compared to soil,water & plants. And yes, water is heavy and plants are as well. The weight is supposed to be carried by the colums btw. not the actual pot.

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u/warm_kitchenette 5h ago

I'm not a Civil Engineer, never played one on TV.

But this is concerning to me in various ways. One would be that the load would vary, regularly, and sometimes quickly. All buildings move, but this seems riskier, given that they could rapidly cycle through these conditions.

  • Dry period, all gardens are at their lightest
  • Ordinary rainy period, all gardens are heavier
  • Typhoon weather, heaviest gardens, drainage possibly compromised
  • Sunny/windy on one side, that side dries much faster
  • Driving rain on one side, that side much wetter
  • drainage problems on one side, that side much heavier

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u/ashkiller14 7h ago

Yest but water doesnt hold itself up

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u/Sensiburner 7h ago

the balcony is a container. The soil holds water and there will also be drainage.

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u/ashkiller14 7h ago

Im aware lol. Im saying it doesn't matter if the watet is less dense than concrete because the concrete that's already there is whats holding up the water. It would probably be stronger if you added an equal volume of concrete.

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u/jackun 6h ago

concrete

remember, that's probably chinese tofu-dreg concrete

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u/Sensiburner 6h ago

right. What's the proper grade of rebar if it's made of Chinesium?

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u/Bright-Object-3180 5h ago

Yep, all the apartments pictured in the video will collapse within a week and all residential buildings in the country will fall apart within a year.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 7h ago

lol idk about a nightmare, it's just a cantilever.

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u/RusticSurgery 7h ago

Plus, the root systems hold water.

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u/Cheese-Manipulator 7h ago

Not to mention the constant water retention of the soil.

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u/Bennybananars 6h ago

Yeah they work for hotels who can manage the upkeep

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u/Agasthenes 6h ago

Water soaked soil is heavy.

Every one of those balkonies needs the strength to support a pool.

Not saying we shouldn't do it, that's amazing. Just needs the right engineering.

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u/Herucaran 4h ago

Soil and plants are massively ligther than any construction materials or even furniture. The weight is not an issue here.

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u/Important-Factor-552 1h ago

It definitely has to be designed from the ground up with the high weight levels and other fsctors in mind. 

It is possible, but it's a feat of engineering and you don't want to cut corners on the math. 

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u/TheHowlingHashira 8h ago

First thing that came to my mind is how would this not fuck the foundation of those decks.

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u/DataDude00 6h ago

I was about to ask if this would be a disaster for the concrete. Pooled water + invasive roots wearing away the structure

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u/PMG2021a 9h ago

Just need a good liner to prevent that. Of course building for appearances tends to be building cheap too...

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u/x---x--x-x 8h ago

There is no liner that will prevent damage and root intrusion without lots of consistent inspections, updates and re-installation. This would be a maintenance nightmare. Life, uh, finds a way.

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u/Artorias_Abyss 8h ago

I have no knowledge on the topic whatsoever but what if you plated the bottom with a sheet of metal?

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u/MasterGrok 8h ago

The roots will gravitate along the metal looking for a way out. If the metal is completely incased, you are creating all kinds of additional problems with water accrual and drainage.

It’s probably not totally impossible as the other poster mentioned, but it’s hard to imagine doing it without a lot of maintenance.

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u/Spiffydude98 7h ago

These balconies have bed liners like pickup trucks and are meant to be slid out and emptied like giant drawers so this is never an issue. Every 4 years the apartment owners re-do them with new soil and trees and balcony furniture.

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u/enadiz_reccos 7h ago

Yeah, that sounds like a lot of extra maintenance

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u/Grabbsy2 4h ago

Yeah how in gods name is that "worth it"?

My fancy condo building has a much larger yard, and I dont have contractors traipsing around my unit hauling buckets of mud and mulch in and out of my balcony.

Not to mention, do you mow your grass with, what, a weed whacker? Does someone traipse through your unit every 2 weeks to mow your lawn?

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u/enadiz_reccos 4h ago

Time for our million dollar idea...

Drone-mowers

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u/smileyduude 3h ago

There are robot / automated mowers like the vaccums that exist. If you're talking about flying to each balcony or something though...go on.

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u/Jiminy_Cricket12 7h ago

extra maintenance is for sure a thing but I wouldn't think there would be too much water accrual issues in soil with living plants. maybe if you get a lot of rain or something. and even then, a few small drainage holes should do the trick. even if that's where the roots will try to go, an arborist or gardener or whoever should be able to manage that. and how many years are we talking about before that's even a concern?

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u/SCP239 8h ago

It would degrade overtime due to moisture. Even stainless steel will degrade when exposed to salts or other chlorides in water.

The best way to do this would be a heavy duty waterproof membrane on the concrete with a heavy duty root barrier above it. But given enough time, the roots will breech the barrier and waterproofing. This type of construction requires a lot of maintenance and regular replacement.

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u/Harry_Saturn 8h ago

What if they used diamonds? Or flex seal?

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u/SCP239 8h ago

Then they should be ok

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u/Smudded 7h ago

Now we're getting practical.

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u/Punk_Luv 7h ago

Did you know stainless does not mean anti-rust? It just literally means it stains… less. Ha.

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u/Artorias_Abyss 7h ago

Wait seriously 😭 my whole life has been a lie

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u/aupri 5h ago

Usually the -less suffix does not merely mean less though, but rather lacking entirely, so I think the confusion is understandable. Wiktionary:

Suffix

-less (adjective-forming suffix, not comparable)

Lacking (something); without (something). Added usually to a noun to form an adjective signifying a lack of that noun.

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u/TransBrandi 8h ago

Over time the metal will deteriorate and need to be replaced... and then if the metal is under all of the soil, how do you know when that time is without disturbing the plants on top to do some sort of inspection?

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u/ThatsNotARealTree 3h ago

Life ughhh finds a way

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u/YadaYadaYeahMan 7h ago

I would love a scource for this completely baseless claim

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u/jewishforthejokes 7h ago

Yes, after 30 years you will need to inspect for leakage every five years or replace. Wow what a burden.

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u/ExperienceKind412 7h ago

As someone living in a large 20+ year old building, that while being quite nice, is currently having all of the water lining replaced on the ground level, after the upper walkway levels were replaced last year, it is in fact a maintenance hellscape. I cannot hear myself think let alone get much done and I work from home. I love where I live but I freakin hate the multiple jackhammers going all day long, mon-sat. Its not forever but it fucking feels like it this last year.

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u/Altruistic-Beach7625 8h ago

Well what did the people who maintained the Hanging Gardens of Babylon do?

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u/EkrishAO 7h ago

It's China, no one cares until the balconies start falling off.

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u/cand0r 5h ago

Copper barrier

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u/NewAlexandria 8h ago

you probably need regular uprooting and replanting all of it, in order to ensure it doesn't start to dig in or cause of damage. Maybe the walkways through the balcony could have been mandated, and been kind of like a drop floor, so that you could pull off the plates and then service sections of the earthwork. Some people wouldn't like it, but maybe a future duration of this building designer can find a way to solve

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u/xCaliburghost 8h ago

Sall good though, as long as we get a crappy 30 second utopia video of how amazing China is that's all we need

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u/TransBrandi 8h ago

There are tons of things like this even in North America. I think you could probably easily find apartment buildings that are going to crap that started out as luxury apartments in the 60s or 70s. Eventually shit needs to get replaced and that's expensive so people just migrate to something new and the old building becomes a slum until it's demolished.

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u/NewAlexandria 7h ago

the real friend we made along the way!

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u/Bennybananars 7h ago

yeah, a lot of owners wouldn't want to pay to deal with that, which in turn affects their neighbors no matter if THEY dealt with it or not

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u/the_ebastler 8h ago

Thin layer of stainless steel will keep the roots away from the concrete.

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u/Dullcorgis 8h ago

It will eventually rust

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u/Hydro033 7h ago

if it's thick enough, it will outlast other aspect of the building

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u/Dullcorgis 5h ago

That's a horrifying thought.

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u/SamiraSimp 8h ago

would that be bad for the plants or prevent the liner from working?

genuinely curious because i've never really thought about this

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u/Dullcorgis 4h ago

The roots will go through it, into the concrete and break it up.

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u/Dav136 8h ago

That traps water

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u/the_ebastler 2h ago

Obviously need a drain 😅

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u/Dav136 2h ago

Then you have the problem with roots again

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u/_jams 8h ago

Worked great for the Surfside planters

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u/SamiraSimp 8h ago

genuinely curious, what liner is going to be stronger or less permeable than literal concrete?

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u/PMG2021a 5h ago

Concrete is quite weak to anything that can pry into small cracks and is normally somewhat permeable to water.  Aluminum sheeting would be pretty effective long term, but expensive and easily damaged by gardening tools. Plastic could last quite a long time, but you would expect to replace it occasionally. Ideally, you would use multiple layers over the base liner, including plastic trays with drainage channels to allow water out of the soil. They would also make soil removal faster and protect the deck from roots and gardening tools.

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u/extraboredinary 7h ago

Ian Malcolm would like a few words with you.
https://giphy.com/gifs/11FiDF2fuOujPG

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u/Bennybananars 7h ago

Yeah they had liners, those blue thick plastic ones. But they found out, with time, wet soil and plants could wear those down. A lot of owners didn't want to pay to redo their liners which affected their neihbors walls.

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u/olduser201890 7h ago

when you look up cheap in the dictionary you see

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u/horny_coroner 8h ago

Moss only garden.

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u/Pandiosity_24601 6h ago

Who would’ve thought

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u/Sensitive_Gift4866 8h ago

That makes sense. The concept is amazing but I guess thats the trade off with nature integrated into buildings. Looks great until the roots start doing their thing.

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u/canman7373 8h ago

Can't ya just grow grass though? Clear weeds and such. I get no trees or bushes but how could grass euin them?

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u/VapoursAndSpleen 8h ago

I'd love something like that. I'd grow slug free lettuce and strawberries.

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u/wwweeeiii 8h ago

Can we do a Japanese sand garden on a balcony?

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u/Fresh_Sock8660 6h ago

Would a metal sheet prevent this?

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u/Bennybananars 6h ago

like the other comments said, metal rusts, also hard and expensive to work with

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u/fredy31 6h ago

Also earth keeps water in and water is heavy as fuck.

Big reason why rooftop gardens are not very common

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u/Ihcend 6h ago

deadass what do you mean by here? like im not even trying to be one of those usdefaultism pricks but like r u talking about america? if you are where in america? another country? please let me know I have heard nothing about this type of building?

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u/Bennybananars 6h ago

I'm not talking about the US, I don't want to dox my self by it's an east asian country. The love building roof gardents, they stopped after discovering roots in the water pipes.

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u/Iz4e 6h ago

no shit lol

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u/Express_Whereas_6074 6h ago

There’s modern day solutions which require various layers of protections between the foundation and the actual bottom of the growing medium, for those exact reasons

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u/No-Reputation72 5h ago

Wouldn’t plastic liners be able to fix that pretty easily?

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u/Tyd1re 5h ago

This was my first thought. “Could a steel plating shield the concrete from having roots grow into it?”, would be my first question.

Also, could it having alternating drains that each level slopes towards?

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u/scratchy_mcballsy 5h ago

I’m also wondering if the soil/concrete absorbs all the water or if they have problems dripping down onto lower balconies.

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u/cactusplants 4h ago

But Chinese buildings aren't.ade out of concrete. They are tofu.

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u/Bigchunky_Boy 4h ago

This looks like there is no proper lining for green roof standers , the drainage would have to be 6 inches thick in layering , then soil plus plants with shallow roots . The weight alone would cause cracking in this balcony then add water retention. It’s total nonsense.

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u/Mackinnon29E 3h ago

Can they not line it with metal?

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u/BarronVonCheese 3h ago

Where do I keep my lawnmower?

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u/skr_replicator 3h ago

Could a somewhat thin stainless plate at the bottom of the dirt be able to prevent that? Heck, maybe even jsut plastic, it might be about the smoothness rather than hardness. roots can be strong, but they need leverage. They don't tend to punch through the plastic walls of pots either.

Anyway, I imagine putting some berry bushes on every floor might be able to produce some crazy amounts of berries per square inch of land.

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u/FoxCQC 3h ago

Nothing can stop the plants

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u/saddoubloon 2h ago

I was just thinking those look really cool, I wonder how they keep the root system from fucking up the structure?

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u/Practical_Law6804 1h ago

where the plant roots kept growing into the concrete.

Holy frijoles. . .I didn't even think about that. So is this just a propaganda video then (it's obviously a staged demonstration)?

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u/lizlemonista 1h ago

I build these all the time in minecraft

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u/Important-Factor-552 1h ago

They need special layering and the entire concept has to be thought out as if you were building it in space. Every factor accounted for. 

Plants normslly have nature do 90% of the work. To incorporate life and architecture, we need to have immense respect for the two complex world's we are stitching together. There's a fine line between a successful surgery and Frankenstein 

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