hits the NY Times
Portland High-Rise to Get 250-Foot-Tall Trellises
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 16, 2010
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- They haven't figured out yet how to get the pruning done, but architects and federal officials plan one of the world's most extensive vertical gardens in downtown Portland -- what amounts to a series of 250-foot-tall trellises designed to shade the west side of an 18-story office building.
It is not a new idea to use greenery vertically as ''living architecture,'' running plants up the sides of a building to keep it cool.
But even in a city with a reputation for rainfed greenery as well as for green architecture, the wall of the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building would stand out....
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010...ef=global-home