Sol Invictus
07-24-2010, 04:42 AM
September 01, 2009 (Dark Roasted Blend (http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/09/living-growing-architecture.html)) -
Plants are amazing: they provide food, air, medicine, and material for buildings, furniture, and art. But through an ancient yet obscure craft, still-living plants can themselves be shaped into bridges, tables, ladders, chairs, sculptures - even buildings. Known variously as botanical architecture, tree sculpture, tree-shaping, tree-grafting, pooktre, arborsculpture, and arbortecture, the craft is, essentially, construction with living plants.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qGv1qtGI/AAAAAAABHOs/FUQhTJ5E4v8/s640/54u4uwertwr.jpg
The concept seems to date back to prehistoric times. Perhaps the oldest examples are the living bridges of Cherrapunjee, India.
1. Root Bridges of India
In the depths of northeastern India, in one of the wettest places on earth, bridges aren't built -- they're grown.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qm8vB_hI/AAAAAAABHTo/hTwY2E9wosA/s640/56iu4wwet5hd.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qquOcqjI/AAAAAAABHTw/wb15jhYx7jM/s640/69349915_fc5eb5d5f5_b.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qrftcavI/AAAAAAABHT4/h7WVAgNWBjU/s640/56iu4r6utrhfry.jpg
Grown from the roots of a rubber tree, the Khasis people of Cherapunjee use betel-tree trunks, sliced down the middle and hollowed out, to create "root-guidance systems." When they reach the other side of the river, they're allowed to take root in the soil. Given enough time a sturdy, living bridge is produced.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7p-2ILxDI/AAAAAAABHNQ/qAtVk-BQt0s/s640/2349364138_bae3ce784f_o.jpg
The root bridges, some of which are over a hundred feet long, take ten to fifteen years to become fully functional, but they're extraordinarily strong. Some can support the weight of 50 or more people at once.
One of the most unique root structures of Cherrapunjee is known as the "Umshiang Double-Decker Root Bridge." It consists of two bridges stacked one over the other!
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qsEnDEKI/AAAAAAABHUA/j0xcbzBW0O0/s640/5e6ujw5tsehtdf.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7p9yBvUmI/AAAAAAABHNI/xCGdpiy3Whg/s640/237438171_5a687cee1e_o.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qAVU46AI/AAAAAAABHNc/2zZsA2DOm2U/s640/2808362372_99ac1ceb4d_o.jpg
Because the bridges are alive and still growing, they actually gain strength over time, and some of the ancient root bridges used daily by the people of the villages around Cherrapunjee may be well over 500 years old.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qtQdru9I/AAAAAAABHUI/Z3lWlQmKHrc/s640/56urthfrgt.jpg
But these are not the only bridges built from growing plants. Japan too, has its own form of living bridges.
2. The Vine Bridges of Iya Valley
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qdxf2HTI/AAAAAAABHS8/Dac0QkBEl8U/s640/57jertsjdfgtdcf.jpg
One of Japan's three "hidden" valleys, West Iya is home to the kind of misty gorges, clear rivers, and thatched roofs one imagines in the Japan of centuries ago. To get across the Iya River that runs through the rough valley terrain, bandits, warriors and refugees created a very special - if slightly unsteady - bridge made of vines
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qfMhjrPI/AAAAAAABHTE/hb5dbHWblY0/s640/5i7ue56esrtd.jpg
This is a picture from the 1880s of one of the original vine bridges
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qcjm1SaI/AAAAAAABHSs/0FO9tkQSLBs/s640/57ir6jrtf.jpg
First, two Wisteria vines -- one of the strongest vines known -- were grown to extraordinary lengths from either side of the river. Once the vines had reached a sufficient length they were woven together with planking to create a pliable, durable and, most importantly, living piece of botanical engineering.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qhddZAvI/AAAAAAABHTQ/V9WY5RVTz2U/s640/647ier6juesthd.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qlvp73gI/AAAAAAABHTY/4xSENO5BIiE/s640/2269780858_81b048e8f2_b.jpg
The bridges had no sides, and a Japanese historical source relates that the original vine bridges were so unstable, those attempting to cross them for the first time would often freeze in place, unable to go any farther.
Three of those vine bridges remain in Iya Valley. While some (though apparently not all) of the bridges have been reinforced with wire and side rails, they are still harrowing to cross. More than 140 feet long, with planks set six to eight inches apart and a drop of four-and-a-half stories down to the water, they are not for acrophobes
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qdLTG2rI/AAAAAAABHS0/hCmf6eH65hE/s640/5e6urwt6hsdt.jpg
Some people believe the existing vine bridges were first grown in the 12th century, which would make them some of the oldest known examples of living architecture in the world. But there is one ancient group of peoples who took the concept to an entirely new level.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qmZjFQLI/AAAAAAABHTg/yOzMRlA5olU/s800/5iu46ywertd.jpg
3. The Living Islands of the Uros People
The Uros peoples' lives revolve around reeds. They make reed houses, reed boats, reed flower tea, and use reeds as medicine.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qYboXfmI/AAAAAAABHSE/wT1IOJFqIiE/s640/67ie5y6jurwtdfg.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qcOTm_PI/AAAAAAABHSk/k_harTOTkWs/s640/57ij6jurthdfgt.jpg
But most amazingly, the Uros build entire islands out of those very same reeds. It is the fact that these islands are alive that makes them work. The dense root structures of the living reed masses keeps the whole island together and floating on the lake.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qXUrWZrI/AAAAAAABHR0/Rq49RFr02vA/s640/67ie5utryf.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qXx7ib-I/AAAAAAABHR8/4lKDa5UsPA0/s640/457uerhyrthfgt.jpg
As reeds disintegrate from the bottom of the islands, which are four to eight feet thick, residents must add more to the surface. The entire island moves slightly with the water, similar to the feeling of laying on a waterbed. The Uros, however, have gotten quite used to it, as have the cats, fowl and other animals that live on these floating islands.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qY8nqsiI/AAAAAAABHSM/d-bpUBltUqs/s640/5irw6tjesdthdsf.jpg
The Uros have been living on these floating islands since the 1500s when they were forced to take up residence on Lake Titicaca after the Incas expanded into their territory. While many of the islands are moored to the lakebed, they can be moved if necessary. One of the main advantages to living on a floating island is that when the enemy comes too close, you can just float the other way.
Plants are amazing: they provide food, air, medicine, and material for buildings, furniture, and art. But through an ancient yet obscure craft, still-living plants can themselves be shaped into bridges, tables, ladders, chairs, sculptures - even buildings. Known variously as botanical architecture, tree sculpture, tree-shaping, tree-grafting, pooktre, arborsculpture, and arbortecture, the craft is, essentially, construction with living plants.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qGv1qtGI/AAAAAAABHOs/FUQhTJ5E4v8/s640/54u4uwertwr.jpg
The concept seems to date back to prehistoric times. Perhaps the oldest examples are the living bridges of Cherrapunjee, India.
1. Root Bridges of India
In the depths of northeastern India, in one of the wettest places on earth, bridges aren't built -- they're grown.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qm8vB_hI/AAAAAAABHTo/hTwY2E9wosA/s640/56iu4wwet5hd.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qquOcqjI/AAAAAAABHTw/wb15jhYx7jM/s640/69349915_fc5eb5d5f5_b.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qrftcavI/AAAAAAABHT4/h7WVAgNWBjU/s640/56iu4r6utrhfry.jpg
Grown from the roots of a rubber tree, the Khasis people of Cherapunjee use betel-tree trunks, sliced down the middle and hollowed out, to create "root-guidance systems." When they reach the other side of the river, they're allowed to take root in the soil. Given enough time a sturdy, living bridge is produced.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7p-2ILxDI/AAAAAAABHNQ/qAtVk-BQt0s/s640/2349364138_bae3ce784f_o.jpg
The root bridges, some of which are over a hundred feet long, take ten to fifteen years to become fully functional, but they're extraordinarily strong. Some can support the weight of 50 or more people at once.
One of the most unique root structures of Cherrapunjee is known as the "Umshiang Double-Decker Root Bridge." It consists of two bridges stacked one over the other!
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qsEnDEKI/AAAAAAABHUA/j0xcbzBW0O0/s640/5e6ujw5tsehtdf.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7p9yBvUmI/AAAAAAABHNI/xCGdpiy3Whg/s640/237438171_5a687cee1e_o.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qAVU46AI/AAAAAAABHNc/2zZsA2DOm2U/s640/2808362372_99ac1ceb4d_o.jpg
Because the bridges are alive and still growing, they actually gain strength over time, and some of the ancient root bridges used daily by the people of the villages around Cherrapunjee may be well over 500 years old.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qtQdru9I/AAAAAAABHUI/Z3lWlQmKHrc/s640/56urthfrgt.jpg
But these are not the only bridges built from growing plants. Japan too, has its own form of living bridges.
2. The Vine Bridges of Iya Valley
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qdxf2HTI/AAAAAAABHS8/Dac0QkBEl8U/s640/57jertsjdfgtdcf.jpg
One of Japan's three "hidden" valleys, West Iya is home to the kind of misty gorges, clear rivers, and thatched roofs one imagines in the Japan of centuries ago. To get across the Iya River that runs through the rough valley terrain, bandits, warriors and refugees created a very special - if slightly unsteady - bridge made of vines
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qfMhjrPI/AAAAAAABHTE/hb5dbHWblY0/s640/5i7ue56esrtd.jpg
This is a picture from the 1880s of one of the original vine bridges
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qcjm1SaI/AAAAAAABHSs/0FO9tkQSLBs/s640/57ir6jrtf.jpg
First, two Wisteria vines -- one of the strongest vines known -- were grown to extraordinary lengths from either side of the river. Once the vines had reached a sufficient length they were woven together with planking to create a pliable, durable and, most importantly, living piece of botanical engineering.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qhddZAvI/AAAAAAABHTQ/V9WY5RVTz2U/s640/647ier6juesthd.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qlvp73gI/AAAAAAABHTY/4xSENO5BIiE/s640/2269780858_81b048e8f2_b.jpg
The bridges had no sides, and a Japanese historical source relates that the original vine bridges were so unstable, those attempting to cross them for the first time would often freeze in place, unable to go any farther.
Three of those vine bridges remain in Iya Valley. While some (though apparently not all) of the bridges have been reinforced with wire and side rails, they are still harrowing to cross. More than 140 feet long, with planks set six to eight inches apart and a drop of four-and-a-half stories down to the water, they are not for acrophobes
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qdLTG2rI/AAAAAAABHS0/hCmf6eH65hE/s640/5e6urwt6hsdt.jpg
Some people believe the existing vine bridges were first grown in the 12th century, which would make them some of the oldest known examples of living architecture in the world. But there is one ancient group of peoples who took the concept to an entirely new level.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qmZjFQLI/AAAAAAABHTg/yOzMRlA5olU/s800/5iu46ywertd.jpg
3. The Living Islands of the Uros People
The Uros peoples' lives revolve around reeds. They make reed houses, reed boats, reed flower tea, and use reeds as medicine.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qYboXfmI/AAAAAAABHSE/wT1IOJFqIiE/s640/67ie5y6jurwtdfg.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qcOTm_PI/AAAAAAABHSk/k_harTOTkWs/s640/57ij6jurthdfgt.jpg
But most amazingly, the Uros build entire islands out of those very same reeds. It is the fact that these islands are alive that makes them work. The dense root structures of the living reed masses keeps the whole island together and floating on the lake.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qXUrWZrI/AAAAAAABHR0/Rq49RFr02vA/s640/67ie5utryf.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qXx7ib-I/AAAAAAABHR8/4lKDa5UsPA0/s640/457uerhyrthfgt.jpg
As reeds disintegrate from the bottom of the islands, which are four to eight feet thick, residents must add more to the surface. The entire island moves slightly with the water, similar to the feeling of laying on a waterbed. The Uros, however, have gotten quite used to it, as have the cats, fowl and other animals that live on these floating islands.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/Sp7qY8nqsiI/AAAAAAABHSM/d-bpUBltUqs/s640/5irw6tjesdthdsf.jpg
The Uros have been living on these floating islands since the 1500s when they were forced to take up residence on Lake Titicaca after the Incas expanded into their territory. While many of the islands are moored to the lakebed, they can be moved if necessary. One of the main advantages to living on a floating island is that when the enemy comes too close, you can just float the other way.