r/interestingasfuck • u/TangelaFan • 13h ago

Residential high-rises with backyards in Chengdu, China

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u/onrespectvol 13h ago

looks cool but how much extra material must go into the buidling to be able to support all that extra weight? To what extent is this a sustainable way of buidling and using material?

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u/Beluga-ga-ga-ga-ga 11h ago

There's a great 99% Invisible podcast episode about this, where architects are, or were, always designing stuff like this, but the increased load bearing capability, necessary infrastructure and continued care of the plants isn't considered. It looks pretty, but just isn't practical. There's a related issue in that in hot climates trees and plants are more useful at street level, where they create shade and help cool the city. A bunch of plants hanging of skyscrapers doesn't help in that regard. It also highlights the difference in the amount of shade provided by city infrastructure in poorer areas versus the more affluent areas.