Beautiful Roof Garden Sanctuaries Around the World
The roof garden at the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.
As the global population surges and the Earth gets even more crowded with human beings, it can be hard to be us. And, it’s even harder to be a wild animal. Heck, it’s even hard to be an insect or a plant these days because of what we humans are doing to natural habitats.
We need to get busy. We need to curb our population growth. We need to lower our CO2 emissions. We need to preserve the last remaining wild habitats for our fellow Earthlings – the living creatures with whom we share this planet. Essentially, we need to help each other thrive.
Some solutions to these challenges are complicated – like how to enlighten and motivate people who prefer to live in apathetic denial. But other solutions are as simple as putting a seed in some soil. And maybe that’s how we solve the more complex problems too, as all groundswells start with a little seed of a thought.
It turns out that people from Brooklyn to Beijing and in between are sharing the same seed of a thought – and that’s to plant rooftop gardens. This makes total sense because roof gardens do a lot of good. They:
Give people access to nature where they otherwise would have none.
Feed people.
Provide safe landing places for birds and insects who are just trying to survive in the concrete jungle.
Help to fight climate change by turning large areas that would normally be absorbing solar radiation into green spaces that absorb CO2.
Here’s a collection of roof gardens to inspire you to support urban gardening in your own community.
Toronto
In this video, published by Exploring Alternatives, students at Ryerson University in Toronto turned the roof of a campus building into a food-growing farm. Their thriving rooftop farm already produces over 10,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables, which they sell at the local farmers’ market.
Los Angeles
Corey Brill, the actor who plays Pete Anderson on The Walking Dead, is also a beekeeper. Keeping bees has been a long time passion, but doing it in LA presented some unique challenges. In this video, presented by Flow Hive, Corey talks about how he does it.
Barcelona
In this video, gardening media company Epic Gardening traveled to Barcelona to visit an urban gardening and ecological design company called Eix Verd, or Green Path.
Brooklyn
Urban Gardener, a program presented by Spaces TV, is a video series that explores green spaces in city environments. In this episode, they visit a roof deck in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.
In an effort to fight rising temperatures, China offers government subsidies to people who build roof gardens on public buildings. Green spaces on rooftops help to reduce the heat from the sun’s rays while absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. Local residents are also getting in on the action, putting rooftop gardens on the buildings they live in. This video from China Icons talks about China’s Green Roof Revolution.
Multiple Locations
This video, from RunmanReCords, displays a variety beautiful rooftop garden ideas.
More Beautiful Roof Gardens Around the World
London
London’s Highest Roof Garden Near Battersea Power Station. Photo: Grain London Ltd.
This image is a design for what will be London’s highest rooftop green space – a park on top of buildings that will be located next to Battersea Power Station. The buildings should be completed by mid-2021, reports the Evening Standard.
The green space will have sun decks, fitness areas, and a place to watch outdoor movies.
To date, all of London’s rooftop green spaces cover nearly 400 acres, an area larger than Hyde Park.
Tokyo
Herb garden at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo.
Santiago de Cuba
The Casa Grande Hotel in Santiago de Cuba.
Singapore
Herb garden of National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo.
Singapore
The Esplanade Roof Garden, Singapore. Photo: Erwin Soo.
Here are some top-rated books about roof gardens that include both designs ideas and how-to tips for growing your own. Rooftop Garden Design by David Fletcher
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