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	title of this thread your message It may be a nifty concept striking what seems a fresh cord with folks today, but, well, the hanging gardens of Babylon predate it in originality a bit, don't they? I guess the British Isles made use of sod covered roofs back to the time of Braveheart, or before, though the grass growth may have been volunteer rather than planned. And then of course, there were the sod houses like those my grandmother were born in. What I'm trying to say here is that using biomass for roofs is not original and it has always been used for its cost effectiveness and its insulating qualities. To the extent that the concept of covering roof with a sort of super absorbent, green bio Kimby reduces water run off, it makes great sense. I've always thought water run off from roofs should be kept on-site and used to grow plants there. And if covering a roof with biomass helps Renzo design a building without AC, then that is a two for one deal that can't be beat. I would only add that the roof should be planted to grapes, fruits and nuts and these should be sold to people to eat and drink, thereby cutting down on the uneccessary shipments of same to the building, there by saving lots of waste transportation of Coke and Twinkies (the latter of which was once attributed as the cause of the assassination of a San Francisco mayor, but I digress). Regardless, all of the above are examples of engineering, rather than design, IMHO. Now, in traditional design terms (those that include aesthetics), this high concept fails in my opinion. Within the site, it creates a sharp, sudden and incongruous environmental discontinuity, rather than ameliorating one. The green layer goes along and then suddenly jumps 20 feet straight up, then falls 20 feet straight down at the other end of the building. This does not harmonize with any other environmental discontinuities in the area. Also, considering the aesthetics of the green roof in terms of the surroundings beyond Golden Gate Park, the three domes do not look like the undulating topography behind them. They look like three domes covered with grass and portholes. All of this is a way of saying: good engineering, weak design. associated web images (optional) associated web link (optional) your email your password create a forums account \| you forgot your password?