LA based artist, Stephen Glassman is hoping to make the Los Angeles commute a little greener, more relaxing, and less cluttered. Through his Urban Air project, Glassman plans on transforming billboards throughout the city (and eventually around the globe) into little spots of urban greenery, or rather floating gardens.
According to GOOD, Glassman came up with the concept for Urban Air as he felt a need for more fresh, green space, and a greater connection to humanity. His idea won the 2011 London International Creativity Award and inspired Summit Media, a billboard company based in Los Angeles, to donate billboards along major streets and freeways.
So how does he do it? Glassman and his team start by taking apart the commercial facade of a billboard and then modify the existing structure by installing planters, filling them with live bamboo, hooking up a water misting system and connecting them to a wifi network that monitors the environment. Then, says Glassman, “when people are stuck in traffic” on the 10 Freeway instead of seeing advertisements, they “look up and they see an open space of fresh air.”
Watch the video below to see how Glassman creates his floating gardens.
