Living Walls Enhancing Quality of Educational Environments

Abstract

Living walls provide an effective solution in landscaping in educational environments where space is scarce and therefore, valuable. Landscaping in educational environments is crucial for learning minds, positively affecting concentration, memory, and academic performance, as well as, well-being and quality of life. In this study, the aim was to build a living wall on the Izmir University of Economics (IUE) campus in Izmir, Turkey that had limited horizontal space for landscaping. The living wall structure was fixed on six 16 meter high columns of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design building -currently, the highest in Turkey. An educational and unique aspect of the living wall was that it was designed and constructed with a participatory approach, to the ultimate point of planting the plants. Led by a design and construction team from IUE, Interior Architecture and Environmental Design students were involved in the design of the plant layout as well as the planting. Each student designed one of the columns and the designs were revised to enable a more coordinated appearance, and one that would follow the lines of the building. With a continuous learning approach, the design team took part in all phases of the project -research, design, plant choice, controlling the application, planting, and follow up work including documenting the development of the garden. With the decreased amount of green spaces in urban areas, vertical spaces are increasingly providing an ecological and aesthetic alternative to classic horizontal landscaping options. A living wall can be defined as a system covered with various types of vegetation forming a fauna on its own, either as a part of a building or free structures. The vegetation varies from grasses to herbs, to fruits and vegetables. However, the main idea is that there is a structural base, that is layered with a hydrophilic substance, and inside which there is the growing substance which is organic or inorganic. There are two main systems that are used in today's living walls, which are panel and felt. The significance of the study that uses the felt system working like soil, comes from the ecological and creative solution to today's growing problem regarding urban green spaces in educational environments, as well as the participatory approach to the design process. After five years, the living wall is healthy with careful regular maintenance. The plant growth and living wall development is continuously controlled by visual and technical documentation. The research can be furthered in other vertical surfaces on this and other educational establishments where horizontal space is scarce, with developing technology to develop irrigation systems. The study shows that concrete jungles are not the fate of urban educational environments, and being an innovative and sustainable application, living walls are proposed to be the future of vegetation. Approaching an ecological problem in a participatory way from the beginning to the execution was educational for not only the students, but all stakeholders, and has also led to a sense of identity and belongingness in the faculty, that one of the main aims of participatory design processes.