plants: The Latest Architecture and News

The topic of cannabis can be rather taboo in some instances, as countries around the world have differing views on the legalization of marijuana products based on their cultural and religious beliefs. In the United States specifically, it’s been a long contended issue that each state has, for now, been left to decide on how they want to handle. Each year, more and more states (now totaling 18 and the District of Columbia out of 50), have legalized the recreational sale and use of a limited amount of cannabis, but it remains illegal on a federal level.

Cannabis tax revenue generated more than two billion dollars across legalized states in the last year alone and is expected to grow to nearly 12 billion dollars by 2030, exceeding tax revenues collected from the sale of alcohol, according to bond strategists at Barclays. For the states that do tax the sale of cannabis products, there have already been significant benefits that have helped further develop cities and smaller towns, making the streets safer, and increased funding for new municipal projects, local businesses, subsidies for low-income renters, improvements to public school systems, water and sewer line upgrades, and other significant infrastructure projects.

Plants are excellent elements to add in architecture and built spaces. However, when it comes to indoor environments, which usually receive less natural light and ventilation, certain species are resistant to adaptation. 

Therefore, when thinking about species for indoors – be it a home, apartment or commercial space – some species are better than others. We have selected the best 13 indoor plants for your home. 

A floor plan is an interesting way to represent and approach the functional program of hospitals and health centers, where the complexity of the system implies the need for specific studies of the distribution and spatial organization for proper health care.

From our published projects, we have found numerous solutions and possibilities for health centers and hospitals depending on the site's specific needs.

Below, we have selected 50 on-site floor plan examples that can help you better understand how architects design hospitals and health care centers.

About thirty years ago, French landscape architect Patrick Blanc became a pioneer in the implementation of vertical gardens in Paris, and later in other cities around the world. Through the creation of vertical structures capable nourishing plant species, these systems allow species to grow on the facades of buildings, considerably reducing a structure's internal temperature and allowing the expansion of green areas to new (vertical) territories within the city.

Blanc's creation was part of a series of developments in understanding what nature adds to the city, recognizing the value of green spaces and their contribution to social, environmental and urban policies. 

Developed in Germany, the CityTree is a mobile structure that incorporates mosses and urban furniture to create a possible solution to the polluted air of urban centers.

Rectangular, trunkless and flat, this "tree" basically consists of a large vertical panel, a wall of mosses which, according to its creators, has the capacity to absorb the same amount of nitrogen dioxide and microscopic particles from the air as 275 natural trees.