It's a plant, it's a building, it's Supertree!
June 5, 2017 11:07 AM Subscribe
Take a look at Singapore's forest of Supertrees in the Gardens by the Bay. Designed to mimic the functions of actual trees, these vertical gardens provide shade, collect rainwater, cool the surrounding area, generate energy and look amazing while doing it.
Somewhat related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQdcfiLfgUY
posted by beerbajay at 11:40 AM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by beerbajay at 11:40 AM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
These were in Planet Earth 2, weren't they?
posted by Huffy Puffy at 12:11 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by Huffy Puffy at 12:11 PM on June 5, 2017
Have seen them in real life. Can confirm: they look amazing and futuristic.
The thing to remember about Singapore (population: 5.3 million) is that every day the frontier checkpoints open and 550,000 Malaysians commute across the border on non-resident work visas: and every evening they go back home. The city across the straits has a per-capita GDP about double that of Malaysia as a whole, but less than half of that of Singapore. Singapore outsourced their urban working class to the next country over, and is collectively living the global 1%'s dream.
posted by cstross at 1:12 PM on June 5, 2017 [18 favorites]
The thing to remember about Singapore (population: 5.3 million) is that every day the frontier checkpoints open and 550,000 Malaysians commute across the border on non-resident work visas: and every evening they go back home. The city across the straits has a per-capita GDP about double that of Malaysia as a whole, but less than half of that of Singapore. Singapore outsourced their urban working class to the next country over, and is collectively living the global 1%'s dream.
posted by cstross at 1:12 PM on June 5, 2017 [18 favorites]
Been there. They're pretty damn cool...unlike the weather.
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:52 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:52 PM on June 5, 2017
They don't generate Oxygen, though, do they?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:28 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:28 PM on June 5, 2017
I was there just last week and paid SGD $8 to go across the walkway 22m high between the super trees. It was very surreal.
posted by web-goddess at 6:00 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by web-goddess at 6:00 PM on June 5, 2017
i've been there twice. Never on the walkway, though; you go at night, duh, but it's closed then!
posted by doomsey at 6:35 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by doomsey at 6:35 PM on June 5, 2017
Go up to the rooftop bar on one of the trees instead of the Singapore Flyer. For a $20 cover charge you get a beer and a 360-degree panoramic view of the city with a great breeze that makes for a lovely relaxed evening.
I do not get the trees or the gardens At All. And I am a person who loves robots and nature. Singapore has way cooler wildness and gardens, and better sculptural art.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:08 PM on June 5, 2017
I do not get the trees or the gardens At All. And I am a person who loves robots and nature. Singapore has way cooler wildness and gardens, and better sculptural art.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:08 PM on June 5, 2017
550,000 Malaysians commute across the border on non-resident work visas: and every evening they go back home.
This is actually the smart thing to do... and some Singaporeans do this as well (live in Johor and commute across the causeway to Singapore). The Malaysians (and Singaporeans) that do this get paid a Singapore salary while enjoying a Malaysian cost of living. You could buy/rent a tiny dingy 1 BR apartment in Singapore or you could use that same amount of $ to live in your own big cushy bungalow/terrace house in Malaysia, with a big backyard and garden etc. And the space to keep large pets, and Malaysian-priced groceries, etc.
It's also not uncommon for kids to live in Johor and commute to Singapore for school each day. Singapore and Johor also share a very... close relationship, culturally and in a way politically.
posted by aielen at 2:57 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is actually the smart thing to do... and some Singaporeans do this as well (live in Johor and commute across the causeway to Singapore). The Malaysians (and Singaporeans) that do this get paid a Singapore salary while enjoying a Malaysian cost of living. You could buy/rent a tiny dingy 1 BR apartment in Singapore or you could use that same amount of $ to live in your own big cushy bungalow/terrace house in Malaysia, with a big backyard and garden etc. And the space to keep large pets, and Malaysian-priced groceries, etc.
It's also not uncommon for kids to live in Johor and commute to Singapore for school each day. Singapore and Johor also share a very... close relationship, culturally and in a way politically.
posted by aielen at 2:57 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Such transnational commutes exist elsewhere where there are economic differences (people live in Malmö and work in Copenhagen, for example, or between Newry and Dundalk in Ireland, and I'd be surprised if there weren't employees in Switzerland who didn't live and/or shop across the border). Though the transnational commute between Singapore and Johor seems to be an order of magnitude larger than the norm elsewhere, to the point where Johor's primary, if not sole, raison d'être is to serve as an extraterritorial dormitory town for its wealthy neighbour.
posted by acb at 3:19 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by acb at 3:19 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Saw and photographed what I believe is like this, at thge Milan Expo a couple years ago. Self-link, but here it is (360 degree Tree of Life panorama)
posted by Goofyy at 5:43 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by Goofyy at 5:43 AM on June 6, 2017
It was quite a while ago, but I remember when I took the bus across the causeway from JB to Singapore and went to the window to get a customs form, and they were just handing out stacks ~100 forms rather than singles I guess because they figured most people were crossing daily and would pre-fill them to save time. Everyone had to get out of the bus in the middle of the causeway, go through customs/immigration, and then get back on the bus. It was the same going the other way.
Despite all that, it was a quick and efficient process, but with that many people crossing every day I was surprised they didn't appear to have something like pre-clearance in the country where the trip started and something like Nexus cards (where you apply once every five years and then mostly can just cross the border between the US and Canada by scanning a card without ever talking to anybody). Has that changed now?
posted by borsboom at 7:03 AM on June 6, 2017
Despite all that, it was a quick and efficient process, but with that many people crossing every day I was surprised they didn't appear to have something like pre-clearance in the country where the trip started and something like Nexus cards (where you apply once every five years and then mostly can just cross the border between the US and Canada by scanning a card without ever talking to anybody). Has that changed now?
posted by borsboom at 7:03 AM on June 6, 2017
You know what else provides shade, collects rainwater, cools the surrounding area, generates energy and looks amazing while doing it? An actual got-damn tree.
Bonus: actual trees sequester carbon dioxide! Double bonus: they shelter wildlife! Triple bonus: they reproduce themselves!
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:23 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Bonus: actual trees sequester carbon dioxide! Double bonus: they shelter wildlife! Triple bonus: they reproduce themselves!
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:23 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
New York did this, but it was brutalist. It did have THE UNISPHERE though.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 9:16 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by Ogre Lawless at 9:16 AM on June 6, 2017
Triple bonus: they reproduce themselves!
The intellectual property issues must be a nightmare...
posted by acb at 9:56 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
The intellectual property issues must be a nightmare...
posted by acb at 9:56 AM on June 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
Frank Lloyd Wright did this, but it was inside. Roger Dean did this, but it was just artwork for a Yes album.
posted by TedW at 7:29 PM on June 6, 2017
posted by TedW at 7:29 PM on June 6, 2017
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posted by FirstMateKate at 11:11 AM on June 5, 2017 [7 favorites]