Merging by-product sheet metal from the automotive industry and drought-tolerant plants, Texas A&M University students and architecture professors Ahmed Ali and Bruce Dvorak designed and built a new “living wall” on the south side of Langford Architecture Center’s building B. The wall’s design offers an innovative approach on the “green wall,” a type of vertical gardening system that is popular in public buildings and places across Europe.
Crafted from galvanized sheet metal, the wall reduces heat consumption while demonstrating a sustainable, long-lasting and economical design. “This is the first living green wall made from sheet metal scrap generated from the automotive industry,” Ali said. “Our students cut the metal using a computer-controlled water jet, formed wall system units and assembled them with aluminum rivets, increasing their knowledge of design using unconventional materials.”
In the semesters leading up to the wall’s construction, students researched design patterns to determine which would best reflect sunlight before creating diamond-shaped planters. Dvorak chose hardy plants that would resist extreme heat, drought and wind to grow in the wall’s vertical insulated pockets.
Funded by a grant from Texas A&M and General Motors Co., the project allowed architecture and landscape architecture students to work across disciplines and promote sustainable development.