April 8, 2010: Baubotanical Tower

[xoxoxoBruce]

Say your kid wants a tree house, and you're not keen on ladders.
Where there's a will, there might be an alternative... grow one.

Basically, the tower consists of a framework-like structure made of several hundred young, only two meters high plants (White Willow/salix alba). Only the plants at the ground are planted in the soil, all others are rooted in plant containers, plugged in a temporary steel scaffolding. Thereby the architects make use of a quite old technique: Plants of the same species can be merged to one organism by methods similar to grafting.

After several growth periods, when the plants have joined and those at the bottom have developed a sufficient root system in the ground, the plant containers will be removed. As part of his PHD studies, Ferdinand Ludwig from the Research Group could show that and how this grafting method works.

In the current year, the plants will sprout out and form a green wall, and in the course of the following development the at the moment very delicate stems will become thicker and thicker by secondary growth. When the living structure is solid enough to carry the load of the three zinc-coated steel platforms and the working load, the scaffolding will be removed.

Your kid might lose interest, however...

How much time the whole process will take depends on many factors and will be investigated at this tower building – a time period between 8 and 10 years is estimated.

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