Greenery is essential to livable cities. Yet our urban environments still struggle to reconcile the often conflicting qualities of the their 'built' and 'natural' elements. The ManyTree explores this relationship by creating a new element: a hybrid tree, half-built and half-grown.
Time/space contrasts for urban and nature
Cities are complex, dynamic places. Multiple stakeholders, multiple activities, multiple uses, that all change by the year, season, day or even sometimes by the hour. By comparison, the natural elements in our cities are always considered to be fixed, static, constant - immovable interventions to our cities that exist on a timescale of years to decades. This contrast often creates an 'either-or' scenario, where the timescale of natural elements is incompatible with the way our cities function. Where the two do come together, the physical conditions of coexisting create new issues. These constraints of time and space make it difficult to create green spaces in our cities, especially in the most densely and dynamically occupied spaces.
Creating a new green typology for cities
The ManyTree subverts these constraints to create a new green typology: a hybrid tree, half-built and half-grown.
By deconstructing and redesigning the elements of a tree, we can shape the attributes to better suit our urban environments. Where a tree may take 5 or even 10 years to reach maturity - if it ever does in a harsh urban environment - The ManyTree's modular canopy is created from multiple plants grown simultaneously that produce the tree within a single season. Species can be selected based on local conditions, aesthetics or even biodiversity goals. And the light-weight, modular system can be deconstructed and relocated to suit the dynamic needs of our urban spaces.
This duality prompts us to reconsider the relationship between the natural and constructed elements of our cities. As our cities increase in population, and we continue to try to increase their greenery, all under increasing pressures from a changing climate, we will need to find new solutions to maintain a positive balance between built and grown.
Hybrid systems for hybrid spaces
The ManyTree is the first prototype of this new typology, and just as it exists as a hybridization of 'built' and 'natural' elements, it is created by synthesizing systems from multiple disciplines. Architectural tools and principles such as CNC fabrication and modular construction create the form and framework of the tree. The natural elements are grown using agricultural techniques like hydroponics that are normally used for the rapid mass-production of food or flowers - now repurposed to produce urban greenery. Tying these different disciplines together: a custom 3D printed modular growth system.
The ManyTree, as implied by the name, is not a single organism. It is a colony of 15 different plants. For this installation the tree was grown using a 3 varieties of hops. Although only a seasonal plant, hops have a very rapid growth rate that allows for experimentation with growing systems, and they grow large enough to create an impactful canopy. Hop cones were harvested in late September to be used by local microbreweries to create a locally-sourced beer. Through October the plants begin to die back for the winter. Future trees will experiment with other plant varieties
