Natalie Jerejimenko at Mass MOCA.

Not really what you're looking for, I know, but a cool image.

you could use astroturf ....

And then there's Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, making grass portraits.

Grass seems very difficult to me, moss can be possible.

Moss works best when there is not a lot of light (=ceiling) and some moisture.
To "make" moss:
collect moss > add to blender with some buttermilk and water > mix
Then aplly the mossshake to the ceiling and let it grow.

Check the C J Lim book: How green is your garden
The book also has recipes for mushroom walls, strawberry chandeliers and growing chives in the bathroom.

there's the H&deM Prada bldg with mossy or grassy tiles on the roof. Look that one up maybe.

anybody besides me think Wolfhilde von Schlittenfahrt is our dearly departed Per Corel

whoever you are, man -- you're really fucking up archinect.

per is gone for good?

on topic, seems that since grass will grow towards its source of light, if you can manage the soil and water (hydroponic tubes w/ a nutrient bath drip system?) then just keep the light source below the grass and you're in!

LB:

Those trees don't look as interverted as they do in that picture. Like fro9k its a matter of having them grow towards their light source. As one would expect, the branches are all curled upwards. Its still stimulating image, but just doesn't have the same punch as when MassMOCA first opened.

liberty bell that's something like what i'm looking for it should be possible to be done with grass i guess no?
now the question is can someone elaborate a bit more on how it was made?! and more images? i made a search in google but only found that image with a low resolution.
thanks for the help up to now

which one archifreak the trees or the portraits?

archifreak:

if you're looking for images of the trees, I'm sure I have some. I'll look into it for you first chance I get. I went to MassMOCA this past summer and also the summer of '01 and I'm pretty sure at both I took photos of the trees.

I actually like the trees better now that they are bending toward the sky. I also like the overblown structure necessary to get a tree to hang and grow upside down. I think it is pertinent to this discussion because it sort of calls into question why you would want to put grass on the ceiling. Because it looks cool, of course. I once worked on a project in which we intended to put grass on vertical surfaces using Grasspave, but alas we didn't quite get to the actual building part.

I rather think Wolfhilde von Schlittenfahrt is a german Rita.

liberty the first one, the trees the plans are quite interesting too, can you develop some more in relation to it?
pixelwhore, it would be great,
the public: I guess the ideia of using grass in the ceiling besides being cool can give a whole new meaning to the materiality of space, the way in which you may use a natural element, that can act as an air refresher, and that gives you a new texture, to a surface that is usually taken to second plan, a new meaning, just for the sake of trying to think about the possibility of something a bit different

the public: i'm quite curious, can grass pave be used in the ceiling?, or where you only thinking of it being used in vertical surfaces
?

from where im standing, all of your grass is upside down.

sorry. lame.

we recently designed an exhibition where the floor in the gallery was laid with grass, including a section that folded up the wall at about 55-60 degrees. we got the turf in 1500mm rolls and stitched it to chicken wire over a frame. supprisingly after 400 people walked allover it on the opening and after being inside all week without natural light, the grass had actually grown, even on the fold. the main problem for the room was moisture and smell. the wet smell of grass and dirt was overpowering.

moss would probably work on the ceiling but in the same way it need moisture.

I'm not sure a grass ceiling would be "cool" - lawns are pretty inherently not-cool. Prairies, on the other hand, are cool. And wisteria vines are incredibly cool, as are hops. Hops smell amazing!!! Possibly the best smell ever.

Dirt above my head, I'm not crazy about. Trees above my head, yes, better.

grass on the ceiling? i looooove it!

not on the ceiling but patrick blanc has done some funky green things in loeu of walls:

I'm not sure if Grasspave would work on the ceiling (that project didn't actually go far enough to see if it would work on 90 deg.). It would however provide a structure which, theoretically, could hold the soil in place. Maybe combined with some sort of fabric, geotextile, or something through which the grass could grow.

Also, you would have to figure out how it gets water and how the water doesn't drip on people's heads.

I wasn't necessarily knocking the idea in my previous post. I just think the machinations necessary to literally invert natural forms and structures is fascinating. A tree supports itself, but in order to invert it, we need steel pots, cables, timber poles, etc.

It's an interesting problem; I hope you solve it.

Light might also be an issue. Maybe you just have a strip of grass near a window wall and you can use a light shelf (which -- if you don't know what a light shelf does -- also provides shading in the summer and allows more direct sunlight in the winter) to bounce sunlight onto the grass.

this is a silly idea. i agree with upside down. the place will be funky. smelly and moldy. mmm, mmm good.

Liberty.....those trees still growing a moca? I did see them a couple of years ago.....This museum is What remains of Superior Electric. Great Spaces but not as great as the Tate in London. Wierd Ass
Art...but shouldn't it be.

Grass Ceilings....doesn't that mean grow light floors?

Oh....actually Brue Goff used astro-tuff on more than one exterior
soffit of a couple of houses he designed. One in Minnesota was a vibrant Blue....and the One in Tucson Arizona was a vibrant orange.
Think the House burned in Minnesota (Big Stone Lake), and the Vibrant Orange dissapeared when the Tucson House went on the Market after the original owner sold the house. That is the closest to
growing grass upside down as I know.

well the ceiling can be of an exterior place, this isn't a project or anything I'm working on, it's just an idea on something not very usual, I guess that in a room it would be funky tough

not on a ceiling, but worth checking out nonetheless. abalos and herreros did a project in which the entire house was sheathed in grasscrete. good images in the first 10x10.

All of the manicured lawns across America & nobody's got anything upside down- fer shame.

I suggest Kudzu - grows anywhere...but not grass.

archifreak:
I haven't forgotten about you, just busy. Hopefully tonight I'll have the chance to email those images to you.

Besides grass portraits, Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey made a grass church.

ok pixelwhore, i'll be waiting for it
cheers

i dont know if you'll be able to get grass to grow successfully for a long period of time upside-down, in addition to responding to light, plants growth is in response to gravity - in space i think they need to imitate gravity conditions using centrifugal force to make plants grow properly...

after seeing the almost total dead moss stuff that H+deM did at prada i was convinced that even with all the technology and tests and cetera the unnatural does not tend to work well...

but that grass wall in the chuch thing is amazing. wonder if it will last. prad looked good for the first few months...

sounds like its too much trouble for what its worth.... if it is a school project, sure why not, but in the real world, what would the point be? and how would u trim it?

.