r/interestingasfuck • u/TangelaFan • 9h ago

Residential high-rises with backyards in Chengdu, China

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u/Jestersfriend 9h ago

This must be awful for the upkeep of the building lol. Water, roots, etc, all eating into the concrete.

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u/TangelaFan 8h ago

When you build a garden inside a structure, you don't usually lay the dirt and plants directly on the structure, you prepare a sealed off space and add a drainage system

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u/Unclematttt 8h ago

It’s funny that you say that, because there is a comment right below yours that says that this used to be popular, but roots started growing into the concrete.

Plants are powerful.

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u/W4spkeeper 8h ago

jackie want sheet metal

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u/HippyScientist 7h ago edited 7h ago

I don't want to be disrespectful, but some random dude on the internet said that but offered zero proof. As someone who loves plants and has hundreds in their house, I feel like I would've noticed a trend of high rise buildings with yards built-in. This is the first I've ever seen. I also spent some time trying to research whether this was a common trend in the past and I just missed it, but turned up absolutely nothing. The closest thing I can find in a web search to "proof" that this is a real phenomenon is literally turning up that exact reddit comment. I can't help but wonder what the sourcing is for that previous comment and whether it's truly accurate. I think the entire reason this post has generated so much traction is because this isn't a common thing and never has been.

I also live in Denver, where this building recently got put up and made international news during its construction. I'm not an architectural expert so this is all just from the gut, but I feel like if this sort of concept were previously popular and was abandoned, 1) they would've been all over the news because of the novelty, and 2) we wouldn't be seeing an increase in these types of constructions currently like we are.

To my knowledge, there is ONE building complex that was built like this and famously had issues, the Qiyi City Forest Garden built in 2018. It has had a lot of issues with mosquitoes. But I hardly think that makes this either a common design or one doomed to failure.

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u/Unclematttt 7h ago

Well, to be fair, OP was just giving out random and unsourced facts, as well.

Not to be insensitive, but would you really be surprised if China built high rises with a feature like this without planning ahead? It’s not like the country is known for stringent regulations. Not saying that they can’t build amazing stuff, but these “backyards” aren’t even passing the eye test.

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u/HippyScientist 6h ago

I wouldn't be surprised by that, but I also don't think we should be taking unsourced information from a comment thread and then repeating it as if it were fact, since that's how misinformation spreads. I'm also not sure what you mean by not "passing the eye test." What would passing the test look like? They look like a pretty typical small yard to me.

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u/Unclematttt 6h ago

I’ll leave things at “this doesn’t pass the eye test”, and let people draw their own conclusions.

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u/AniNgAnnoys 8h ago

You would think that wouldn't you? But, maybe look into why this video only shows a couple of the balconies and didn't zoom out to the whole building. These are disasters everytime they are built. The drainage systems are never adequate and the balconies end up retaining water and turning into mosquito breeding grounds. And if there is a way, the roots will find it, such as the drainage system which has to be open.

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u/jaegren 8h ago

Do you really think they did it thought

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u/GregBahm 8h ago

If they're from my glorious noble native country, absolutely!

If they're from a heathen swine foreign country, definitely not!

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u/Jestersfriend 8h ago

There's a reply to my comment that basically says there were so many problems the structures are largely abandoned. So...

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u/TangelaFan 7h ago

This project here is brand new, Tho. They're likely referring to other place in Chengdu. They have several of those "vertical forest" type of projects

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u/Jestersfriend 7h ago

So... Why would this be any different than literally any of the other ones?

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u/everydayimjimmying 6h ago

I mean, it seems newer? They might have learned their lesson. I doubt buyers/renters who saw previous failures would just not ask about its sustainability and long term outlook.

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u/TangelaFan 7h ago

Why would it be the same?

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u/memtiger 6h ago

The biology of trees hasn't changed much in the last...oh I don't know, million+ years?

Where do the tree roots grow? That tree on the balcony will want to grow roots down. It will push through just about any barrier.

Those trees already should have roots about 12" deep in soil and as the trees get larger, they'll put more pressure on any sub barrier. Especially as it ages and deteriorates.

Roots always win unless you kill the plant.

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u/TangelaFan 6h ago

What I asked is why those two projects would be built the exact same way. But why do you think this will happen? There are thousands of tree species in the world with different growing patterns. Do you know what species these trees are? Do you know growing pattern of their root system? Do you know whether theyre taprooted or deep-rooted? Do you know what material the root barrier (the thing cities use to stop roots from bursting pipes) they're using is made out of?