Frankfurt, Germany

Many buildings in Europe, such as Stefano Boeri’s Vertical Forest, are celebrated as setting an example for a new way of greening up our cities. Recently, Boijmans Museum’s Art Depot in Rotterdam, designed by MVRDV, was completed and featured a birch forest on the rooftop. In Dusseldorf, Ingenhoven Architects designed a building whose facade is basically a stunning hornbeam hedge. For many decades in Singapore, WOHA studio has been creating architecture with green facades and urban farms of tried and tested efficiency. In Vietnam, Vo Trong Nghia Co. Ltd. have popularized the use of bamboo as a building material.

“Simply Green – Greening the City” opens at DAM January 23 and continues through June 29, 2021.

Can green in architecture improve the climate in cities, reduce heat islands, lower the release of fine dust particles, and boost people’s well-being? During this point in time, when we have been forced to stay home more than perhaps we would like, there has been a real upturn in demand for green spaces in the city, and it seems that the added value of planting greenery in urban zones is finally being acknowledged. So, the time has come to develop architecture focusing on green spaces, to upgrade urban areas, and to consider green as something more than just its ecological aspect.

The exhibition addresses the advantages and challenges of urban GREEN — especially the greening of houses and roofs in existing and new buildings. In addition to the science involved, the exhibition also focuses on the technical opportunities and practical issues. Successful green buildings from Düsseldorf to Milan and Singapore will be on show alongside tried-and-tested systems and completely new developments.

For the exhibition, the DAM is calling for you to submit your own greening projects.

The dedicated platform connected to this exhibition, https://www.einfach-gruen.jetzt/ poses the question of the actual locations of these green islands, that are so beneficial in terms of the climatic relationship between architecture, tenants and users, and often not easily seen from the street?

Who are the initiators, how did they do what they did, and what purpose do the green rooftops and facades serve? Here, in addition to the answers to a questionnaire, you can also send images of your projects that will then be evaluated by a jury, marked on an interactive map and shared during the Greening the City exhibition.

The entries will be evaluated by a jury and the winners will be presented in the exhibition at DAM.

For further information on the call for projects click einfach-gruen.jetzt.

It’s time to develop architecture with regard to green spaces, to upgrade urban spaces, and to consider GREEN not just in terms of ecological aspects.

The exhibition is a cooperation with the research section of the international planning and consultancy firm Arup “Green Building Envelopes” and with the City of Frankfurt Dept. of the Environment.

Further information is available at dam-online.de.