Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple Restoration Foundation's exciting program series, Break::The::Box wrapped up its 2008 season today with a rare visit to the green roof atop Chicago's City Hall. The PrairieMod Squad was there to learn about Mayor Daley's "Go Green" vision and experience the beauty of the prairie 12 stories in the air...
Even though it was a typically overcast Chicago spring day, the experience of this amazing green roof and the surrounding cityscape made us all forget the gray clouds and threat of rain.
Completed in 2001, Chicago City Hall's Green Roof Pilot Project was meant to serve as an inspirational example of what can be done to beautify an urban environment as well as be ecologically and socially conscious. The website for the American Society of Landscape Architects does an excellent job of describing the scope of the planting project as such:
Although the rooftop is not normally accessible to the public, it is visually accessible from 33 taller buildings in the area. The design form is intended to be read from these various vantage points. The plantings are organized in a sunburst pattern, which respects the symmetry of the historic City Hall and provides a format for arranging groups of plants over the three different roof systems. Though green roofs are typically planted with only sedums and low grasses, the planting palette has been expanded significantly to accommodate research related to the viability of over 100 species of plants. The variety of plants include native prairie and woodland grasses and forbs, hardy ornamental perennials and grasses, several species of native and ornamental shrubs, and two varieties of trees. Plants are organized by bloom color. As the season progresses from spring through fall, plants bloom across the sunburst pattern. The radiating bands of floral color are segregated by similar bands of grasses. The long bands provide opportunities for the same plant material to be applied over various depths of soil, ranges of slope, and drainage patterns.
The finished product is truly breathtaking. Here's some of the beautiful plants we saw on our rooftop walk:
As we finished up our visit, we took away lots of photos and a new sense of appreciation for how Chicago is leading the way in "green" urban planning. To learn more about Chicago City Hall's green roof and other similar city projects, visit the Chicago green roof site.
Many thanks and congratulations to UTRF for another fantastic series of Break::The::Box events. We look forward to the 2009 events!
Photos copyright PrairieMod
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Posted by: Green Roofing | Jan 20, 2010 at 06:41 AM