The Green Dip

What if vegetation surged in our cities, transforming them into true, flora-rich forests? What would be the resulting urban ecosystems? The Green Dip, an ongoing research project conducted by The Why Factory at Delft University of Technology, is a visual manifesto that examines greening solutions for cities and studies the architectural trategies used to incorporate vegetation into buildings.

The Green Dip imagines a worldwide urban forest — from Beijing to Singapore, Dubai, Moscow, Kinshasa, Paris, New York, or Sao Paulo. It proposes a database of plant species for designers to easily incorporate into their buildings and dreams of a software to assist in this process.

The Green Dip takes a global perspective, understanding that different climates provide specific environments for native species to thrive. It proposes a method to calculate environmental benefits and estimate the planetary impacts of greening in our cities.

Amid the climate emergency, The Green Dip is a manifesto for reintroducing nature into our homes and transforming our relationship with the environment. It demonstrates that agriculture, forestry, and organic production can catalyse alternative approaches to urbanisation.

The Green Dip is the first book of a trilogy of publications focused on integrating nature and the city. It will be succeeded by BiodiverCity, which examines the integration of fauna in the built environment, and Biotopia, dedicated to designing entirely with nature.

We are running out of time. Regardless of the prepositions we choose, it’s time to design with, for, and as nature.

The Green Dip is the fourteenth book in The Why Factory’s Future Cities series, and follows The Why Factor(y), Visionary Cities, Green Dream, Vertical Village, Hong Kong Fantasies, City Shock, We Want World Wonders, Barba, Absolute Leisure, Copy Paste, PoroCity, Towers of Choice and (w)Ego.