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Anybody wants to go green?



For those who love to stay close to nature, Roof garden may be the closest option these days. In the present scenario where most of the people in urban areas live in apartments, having a garden will seem out of question. The main constraint is the space which the builders claim they can use to build another whole block.

A few decorative items and good choice of plants will make a world of difference. It does not only change the looks of the surroundings but also alters the environment. The gardens can be located in two places. One is the balcony and the other alternative is the roof.

ROOF GARDENS:
The roof gardens are aimed at cooling the building and reducing the load on the cooling systems and hence making the building green. A green roof is a roof of a building which is covered with vegetation and soil, or a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. 

This concept was developed in Germany in 1960s.Green roofs are made up of a system of manufactured layers, placed one above the other over roofs to support growing medium and vegetation. Green roofs are categorized as intensive, semi-intensive or extensive, based on the depth of planting medium and the amount of maintenance they require. The green roofs protects against heat ingress through the roof.

The roof gardens/green roof can also be made to serve another purpose. They can be laid at a proper slope in such a way that they provide proper drainage for the water falling in the roof. Thus the water can be put to proper use without many other expenses like the piping for the rain water harvesting and other alternates. This roof garden can also be used to unleash your creativity. You can experiment with potted plants or grass carpet or garden accessories.

The other check points in order to make this green movement even louder is to use terracotta pots instead of plastics, use solar powered lights, use the grey water from kitchens for gardening.

BALCONY GARDENS:
The balcony gardens can be designed based on the size of balcony available. If the balcony is big then we can have rows of plants. But we can have alternate ideas if you have a small balcony. We can go in for vertical gardens in that case. One way of having Vertical garden is to have strong threads connecting the base and the roof. Then the creepers can be allowed to grow on it.

But not all plants can thrive in every environment. Experts have analyzed the plants that can be grown based on the direction of the balcony. They are as follows:
North facing (less or no sunlight) - dieffenbachias, aglaonimas, philodendrons (bushy and climbing) and marantas (suitable for humid climate).
East facing (mild sunlight)-african violets, hibiscus, foliage plants like chlorophytum, eranthumum and aralias.
South and west facing (plenty of sun)- plumbago, bougainvillas, ixoras, button roses, hamelias, gulphimia, clematis.

Use soil that are porous and retain all the moisture which is supplied to it. It is also essential to use the well decomposed manure. With all this and proper water proofing of the floor your house is ready for the roof garden you always wanted.




cheers!


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Fountain of Wealth

 “Water is the symbol of life and wealth, and the inward motion of the 
water symbolizes the retention of wealth”

this is the concept behind one of the most beautiful fountains ever built. the structure that i'm talking about is the "fountain of wealth" situated in the suntec city of Singapore in the middle of a lot of shopping malls. It recorded in the 1998 edition of the  Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest fountain made of bronze. 






when we have a look at the fountain we see that the water is flowing downwards and inwards. according to Chinese feng shui this symbolises water as a symbol of wealth and also the water falling inwards symbolizes retention of wealth. visitors from all over the world visit this fountain for good luck.


 

during the day there will be no water flowing in the fountain and people can walk to the centre point which is a good  feng shui point and wish for good luck. in the nights there will be laser shows and nusic shows in there. 

as already mentioned the fountain is made of brass. the circular ring is of circumference 66m. the base of fountain is at the basement level and the circular ring is situated at the ground level and the fountain has a height of 13.8m. this ring is supported by four slanting columns also made of brass.


this fountain was built with an aim of providing sufficient visual impact which the buildings surrounding it would not be able to do alone.


the other interesting aspect of this structure is it has five buildings surrounding it. these buildings represent the  thumb and other four fingers of the left hand. so this fountain forms the palm of the hand. this fountain plaza now focal point of the suntec city and heart of marina centre area. 


Below ground, at the Fountain Terrace, all the buildings are interconnected by shops and restaurants. The complex is also connected to its neighbours by both underground and street-level pedestrian linkways.

that's all that made this out of the box thinking a wonder! :D


this fountain festured in the asia amasing race 1 & 3. It was featured in the Indian hit movie, Krrish, when Krrish played by Hrithik Roshan used it as an observation point to locate the position of his Nemesis's helicopter that he is chasing. ;)


i've just stumbled across the website (www.360cities.net) that provides 360 degree panoramic view of many places. this view should allow you to understand what i said even better. :D


Fountain of Wealth in Singapore


cheers!

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