Believe it or not, the smooth, impervious wall shown here is a hedge. These living walls are very common in Seattle, oftentimes massive and usually sheared to perfection.
Here is a front view from the street. It is doubtful any noise can penetrate and certainly no trespassers. These hedges lend grandeur and propriety to their neighborhoods.
And then you have the mad opposite. This former hot tub venue closed in 2007 and the owner gave permission to graffiti artists to use it for their work. Because he did so, the city's anti-graffiti rules could not be enforced.
There was a plan to demolish the building and put up a 60-unit apartment building, but, according to local sources, financing fell through.
Dead as a viable business or development venue, Tubs lives on in a twilight world that attracts spray paint artists from all over, and others who want to use the site as a backdrop for videos and the like. Click here for an article on it.
The living walls are far more interesting to me. Their lush growth is probably due to Seattle's location in Hardiness Zone 8, shared with East Coast southern climes. Boxwood and oleander thrive in the Emerald City.So there you have it, the living and the undead. Hope you liked the contrast!
--Bernice
The graffiti reminds me of the old bank building at 190 Bowery in NYC.
ReplyDeleteIf I was you , I would enjoy my vacation as much as possible and not worry about Plainfield.
ReplyDeleteOutside of the shootings and the bias crimes, we have one of the country's lowest crime rates according to our mayor and safety director!