CARPE DIEM Patrick Blanc overgrows the vertical surfaces of buildings in the most beautiful way. What he creates is far away from any fancy horticultural show, his Vertical Garden could rather be called eco-art, or greener architecture consisting of a variety of plants trailing gently up any interior or outside wall. Imagine the Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon but this time on modern concrete buildings. But Patrick is not just simpy putting green on the walls which last for a day or two: set up with a highly scientific background he studies the many ways plants adapt to extreme situations at the CNRS, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris since 1982. Let’s have a closer look at these organic wallpapers of botanist Patrick Blanc today. Written by Verena Patrick Blanc at work: climbing a cliff in Venezuela. Twelve years ago Patrick began designing eco conscious architecture for public spaces, department stores or private living rooms. Musée du Quai Branly in Paris
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Global Macro Monitor An epiphyte is a plant that grows non-parasitically upon another plant (such as a tree), and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, and sometimes from debris accumulating around it instead of the structure it is fastened to. An epiphytic organism that is not a plant is not called an epiphyte.[1] Epiphytes are usually found in the temperate zone (e.g., many mosses, liverworts, lichens, and algae) or in the tropics (e.g., many ferns, cacti, orchids, and bromeliads).[2] Epiphytes provide a rich and diverse habitat for other organisms including animals, fungi, bacteria, and myxomycetes.[3] Epiphyte is one of the subdivisions of the Raunkiær system. An epiphytic bromeliad The term epiphytic derives from the Greek epi- (meaning 'upon') and phyton (meaning 'plant'). Epiphytic plants are sometimes called "air plants" because they do not root in soil. Physiognomy[edit] Some epiphytic plants are large trees that begin their lives high in the forest canopy. Nutrition[edit]
Eurozone Crisis: In the Eye of the Storm The Eurozone crisis has been in retreat since the introduction of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) three-year long-term refinancing operations (LTROs) in late December 2011. At the European Council Meeting in early March, journalists who cover the crisis fretted that boredom loomed. The current lull does not indicate that the Eurozone is in the clear, but rather it is simply in the eye of the storm, and more drama inevitably awaits. Extend and pretend So far, there are three key mechanisms the troika — the European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and ECB — has employed to buy time for the Eurozone’s weaker countries to regain competitiveness and return to growth. The first of the Eurozone’s time-buying mechanisms is the bailout programs that have been provided to Greece, Portugal and Ireland. It also seems unlikely that Portugal will manage to borrow in the markets when its bailout runs out next year. Figure 1: Ten-year government bond yields Source: Bloomberg. Like this: