‘Green Block’ is WATG’s practical answer to the question asked by the Mayor of London about how to make the British capital a National Park City. WATG is a landscape company from London and it is managed by Demet Karaoglu. The company team collaborated with geographer and creative explorer Daniel Raven-Ellison who is heading the city’s campaign to develop the first National Park City in the world.
The core idea of WATG’s work revolves around the ‘Green Block’ which will convert worldwide cities into much greener ones. ‘Green Block’ is a modifiable and totally recyclable active material used for building. The new eco-friendly material is saturated with the seeds of the local wildflowers. It needs no maintenance and has its own watering system.
Courtesy of WATG
The Vice President of Planning and Landscape in WATG, John Goldwyn commented, “WATG’s inspiration was to think about London in the future when there are fewer cars on the road and fewer car lanes. This idea claws backspace from the roads and returns it to the people of London. As Landscape Architects, we’ve been incredibly inspired by Mayor Khan’s commitment to the environment in the Capital.”
WTAG proposes several ways to utilize the ‘Green Block’ in an urban area. ‘Green Block’ will be utilized as a material for building across the city, according to the preference of the inhabitants. The new material could be instantly put to work to transfer the pavements into greener ones. The application will involve introducing small-sized parks (parklets) right outside cafes and shop windows. The green walkways would link the parks of the city together in an eco-friendly way. ‘Green Block’ can also be also used as a green wall in buildings and projects that are still under construction.
Courtesy of WATG
The highly-anticipated project is fully backed by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who aspires to transform the highly-polluted capital into a National Park City. Green Block is still under testing, but it is expected to be available for use by the beginning of 2018. Declaring London as a National Park City is also expected to be in 2018, while the launching of the project itself is planned to be in 2019.
