Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, January 20, 2010, Page 18, Image 18

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    Page 18
latió üObseruer
January 20, 2010
High Rise Trellises Proposed
Creating largest vertical garden
(A P )— They haven't figured out
yet how to get the pruning done, but
architects and federal officials plan
one of the world's most extensive
vertical gardens in downtown Port­
land — what amounts to a series of
250-foot-tall trellises designed to
shade the west side of an 18-story
C'QtA -M-se-lin-a S e r v ic e .
WWVC
A computer generated image shows a series of 250-foot-tall
trellises designed to shade the west side of the 18-story Edith
Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, downtown.
ia iiiW s i
Pa »tor A Elect Lady
Bishop II . I,. A Earlean P. Hodge
P allo r/T eacher/RevIvallst
Life Change Specialist
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Counseling
Substance Abuse
Meditation & Relaxation Techniques
Stress Reduction
Grier Counseling
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Portland Congress Center
1001 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 1100
Portland, OR. 97204
Phone: 503-220-1790
Fax: 1+503-220-1815
Email: hodgchspks@msn.com
www.nwvoiceforchrist.com
T erry F amily
F u n era l
H om e
building
It is not a new idea to use green-
ery vertically as "living architec­
ture," running plants up the sides of
a building to keep it cool, but the
wall of the Edith Green-Wendell
Wyatt Federal Building would stand
out.
The architects' plans call for
seven vertical "vegetated fins" to
jut at acute angles. The fins would
be the metal framework for planters
and the greenery sprouting from
them.
The west wall is 150 feet long,
making the expanse to be shaded
about three-quarters the size of an
NFL playing field, minus the end
zones.
2337 N. Williams Ave.
Portland, Or 97227
503-249-1788
We make the service personal,
You make the tribute personal.
T hew orkispartofa$135m illion
remodeling, with most of the money
from federal stimulus funds. It is the
largest single stimulus project an-
nounced so far in Oregon. The LJ.S.
General Services Administration
says its goal is to create a "landmark
high-performance building."
The green wall concept is familiar
to anyone who has planted a de-
ciduous tree or used a vine-covered
trellis on the west side of the house:
In the summer the leaves provide
cooling shade; in the winter, the
bare limbs and stems admit comfort-
ing light.
"If you think about it, it's a planter
every 25 feet," arch itect Don
Eggleston said. "A lot of people
have 10-foot trellises in their gar-
dens."
Eggleston's firm, SERA Archi-
tects, is working on some questions
that weekend gardeners never have
to figure out: what plants will grow
readily at more than 200 feet in the air
and how to water, fertilize, weed and
prune at that height.
The pruning might be done in
much the same way windows are
washed, he said, with w orkers
hoisted and lowered on platforms.
Rainwater collected on the roof,
supplemented by city water, will be
piped for irrigating the green wall,
he said.
Construction is expected to take
30 to 40 months. Federal workers are
beginning to move to temporary
quarters.
The General Services Adminis­
tration, landlord for federal office
buildings, lists other energy-effi­
cient features: Elevators that gener­
ate electricity on the way down,
solar arrays on the roof, smart light­
ing systems that adjust to the day­
light available, using some of the
collected rainwater to flush toilets.
The building's three other walls
will have less striking treatments:
shades on the south and east walls
and windows that drink in the indi­
rect north light.
The building's roof will stick out
— about 20 feet — and look like a
giant mortarboard. The overhang is
designed for shade.
But attention is likely to-turn
quickly to the plans for a greened-
up west wall.
Sean Hogan, writer, nursery
owner and garden designer who
worked on a green wall several years
ago for the parking garage at
Portland's airport said irrigation and
plant selection will be critical to keep-
ing a green wall green in Portland's
summers.
Despite its national reputation
as a drizzly place, the city's climate
is Mediterranean, with warm to hot
temperatures from late spring to early
fall and little rainfall. Garden irriga-
tion is commonplace.
"Trustm e.itw illbeachallenge,"
said Randy Gragg, former architec-
ture critic for The Oregonian news-
ppper and e d ito r o f P o rtlan d
Monthly magazine. "It will get baked,
absolutely."
The idea of vertical gardens has
a root in antiquity — the Hanging
Gardens of Babylon, probably near
Baghdad, were in legend one of the
seven wonders of the ancient world,
Their existence and extent, how-
ever, are in question.
Every time we arran g e a personalized funeral service, we take special pride going
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EMMANUEL
Church of God in
Christ United
4800 NE 30th Ave. Port­
land OR 97211
503-335-8772
You are cordially invited
to worship with us in
these services:
Sunday Service
Dwight A. Terry
Oregon License CO-3644
Amy S. Terry
Oregon License FS-0395
Sunday School 10:00 A.M
Y.P.C.E. 6:30P.M
Pastor & Wife -
Bishop & Mrs. A.L. Wright
Worship Service 12:00 Noon
Evangelistic Service 7:00 P.M.
Weekday Service
Tuesday Night: Bible Study 7:30 P.M.
Friday Night: Regular Service 7:30 P.M.
Prayer Meeting & Seminar: Monday - Friday 12:00