Architects in Shanghai have brought desert and tropical flora into the heart of the city. The new zero-energy greenhouse offers a natural oasis amid the city's growing skyline, according to Thursd.
Delugan Meissl Associated Architects recently completed a project dedicated to bringing biodiversity into the city's urban layout. What was once a steelworks and coal-fired power station is now a lush green area filled with flower gardens, waterfalls, and a tropical rainforest.
The Expo Cultural Park Greenhouse is located in Shanghai's Pudong neighborhood, an area characterized by its expanding urban development. Divided into three distinct pavilions, the greenhouse replicates the arid, sandy environment of a desert, the lush, green landscape of a rainforest, and vertical flower gardens to showcase biodiversity.
In an effort to minimize the greenhouse's environmental impact, the architects designed the structure as a zero-energy building, or one that uses no energy from the grid and draws any power it does need from renewable sources while prioritizing efficiency to help it reduce energy waste. While conventional greenhouses are energy intensive, this greenhouse uses energy-efficient materials and designs to reduce its carbon footprint.
Examples of the sustainable features include a naturally ventilated roof with movable apertures and a pool with built-in solar panels that supplies the greenhouse with energy and cooling.
Now, Shanghai's visitors and residents can experience natural beauty even in the heart of the bustling city.
By adding green spaces to urban areas, architects create outdoor gathering points for the local community. These public gardens encourage locals to get outside and appreciate nature's beauty.
Greenhouses like the display in Shanghai also promote biodiversity and spread climate awareness. As more people learn about Earth's biomes and species, they can better appreciate and protect the planet.
"We're facing climate change and the rise of endangered species of fauna and flora," Diogo Teixeira said, per Thursd. "This project is also a rehearsal for that, a way of raising awareness that people should take care of nature which still exists in different parts of the world."
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