Yes, it’s true, I’ve been prowling craigslist, hoping to stumble upon dream listings like “free fence post cactus!” or “unwanted cactus, you dig and haul away.” I want to line the east fence with large containers of mature succulents, none of which I possess at the moment, but then that’s what craigslist and Sunday afternoons are for. No luck so far, but somehow my search led me to the Cactus Tower in Culver City created by the firm Eric Owen Moss Architects. A warehouse was stripped to its steel beams and used as a support for hoisting cactus into the sky. If only my little project could just as successfully get off the ground…
“stripped back to expose its original steel framework, the tower has been repurposed as an outdoor meeting area for the production company who occupies the abutting building. once enwrapped in a corrugated metal, the unit has been reconceived as an open web of steelwork and plantlife.” — Design Boom
Photos from Eric Owen Moss Architects and Design Boom.
Interesting re visioning of the space! I wish you luck on your free succulent quest!
Only in California…
Why? Really? Wouldn’t feel all that happy about sitting below…
Wow, this is so interesting! I’ve love to see this in person.
P.S. I wonder how they water the cactus?
Doesn’t push any of my buttons, and from below, it’s even less interesting.
Unusual, yes, but I can’t warm up to it. I like plants best when they’re in my normal line of vision.
Odd.
Kind of jarring, isn’t it? Next time I’m in Culver City I’m going to try to find it. Design Boom characterizes it as a piece of “environmental advocacy” relating to our drought, something to be seen from afar. Two cactus containers were left out of the center to let light through, but it looks like it doesn’t offer much shade in any case. Gerhard, it has hidden irrigation lines. I wouldn’t want the ladder duty!
Yecch.
Interesting concept. Whenever there are cool plants involved, I say “thumbs up.”
Now if these had been more widely spaced, and had some really interesting sculptural/textural plants sprawling over the sides, and visible against blue sky it might have been much more interesting. Petrea volubis or Erythrina x bidwillii perhaps, or Euphorbia cotinifolia with Rusellia…
Kind of fun even though a bit minimal (too monochromatic?), I need to look at it more. Though I also think the logo “süperfad” says something, too!
It’s cold. Divorced from the earth. Not any kind of space I’d like to spend time in. If this is “a piece of “environmental advocacy”, we are in trouble, and yes, we and those plants are already in trouble.