San Francisco’s living walls

About a year ago, I reported a hairy house near the Castro and the Mission Districts in San Francisco. Since then, I’ve seen other exteriors covered in similar plant matter. Not as hairy as last year’s encounter, but striking in a similar manner. Most of these were found in my neighborhood so I’d be curious what I might discover in other parts of the city. Have fun taking a virtual tour of these plant covered buildings or see them in person. I’ve noted the cross streets below. Also, feel free to share any other ones you may come across in your city.

16th St. & South Van Ness St., San Francisco: A mosaic of plants – a work in progress?

Exterior details

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Denver plants don’t mind the gaps

Hollyhocks and few other plants are thriving in the tiny gap between the buildings and sidewalks of Denver (though a few look like they’ve been pruned).

Min Li Chan of San Francisco send this photo-report from her travels to the RiNo arts district, which she described as “an industrial area turned hipster art neighborhood, not unlike Williamsburg five years ago.” Perhaps we should compare Brooklyn plants to Denver plants?

Thank you to Min Li for stopping to observe some urban plants and share them with us!

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Berlin exhibition opens Friday with new video by Urban Plant Research

The exhibition Andere Gärten (Different Gardens) opens this Friday in Berlin and Urban Plant Research is honored to be participating with a new video, Beobachtungen/Observations. We’re especially excited about the show because it is not only about urban gardens, it will be in an urban garden! 

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First walk in Lichtenberg, with nettles and a rainbow

We made our first urban plant expedition in Lichtenberg today. Yesterday, Sara and I moved into the Lichtenberg Studios in Berlin where we are in residence this week. Our first order of business today was to explore the neighborhood on foot and see what kind of plants, parks, flower shops, green spaces and other urban nature we might find. Here are some of the things we saw, smelled, observed, tasted…

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Looking forward to Lichtenberg / dance party!

In just a couple days, Sara will arrive in Berlin on for our one-week residency in Lichtenberg. This morning, I picked up the studio keys and took the opportunity to scout out the area for interesting plants. Here are a few things I saw. It looks like we’ll find plenty to explore! So stop by the blog: we’ll be posting about what we find, and where we’ll be working in public spaces around the district.

Also, an interesting Part 2 has just been added to our event next Friday…

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Plants in the art of Florian Bong-Kil Grosse

Last week, I saw this photo at Tête, an artist-run gallery in Berlin. It’s part of an exhibition of new work by Florian Bong-Kil Grosse and Unn Fahlstrøm, on view through Sunday. Though Florian’s work in the show is not primarily about plants — it is a series of observations about the way people live in Korean cities — in several images, the photographer’s eye for plants is clear.

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Malmö: Trees on a treeless street

Is this street empty of trees or full of them? Depends on how you count ’em.

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Belgium: wall vs. trees

This winter, two trees in Hasselt, Belgium managed to deliver a blow to a brick wall in a café parking lot, reports local designer Pablo Hannon, who sent these pictures from the scene of the battle.

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San Francisco sidewalks: steep, lush, vivid, wacky

When the fog lifts from gray San Francisco and Indian summer sun floods the up-and-down streets, the plants and buildings suddenly show their true colors in all their vividness. Some plants are painted on, others are trimmed into submission, while others grow into their own forms, whether creating sidewalk tunnels or two-dimensional trees. Here’s a little photo walk around San Francisco’s Mission and Noe Valley neighborhood back when the sun was shining.

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Berlin: a walk in the parks with Planting Art

Weißer See, Pankow, Berlin ©William Niendorff

Looking through the photos of Berlin’s parks on Planting Art, all taken this summer by Texas-based artist and landscape architect William Niendorff, it’s hard to believe all these green spaces are in Berlin.

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