World of Design: The Joy of Moss and Its Modern Uses
This great design plant is 400 million years in the making. See how it’s inspiring art, soothing spaces and building design
Moss is that green patch that shows up when moisture and shade mix. It looks good in Japanese gardens and on the walls of abandoned castles and fortresses. Sometimes, as an accidental ground cover, it adds a layer of history to a shady flagstone path.
For some designers, artists and architects, moss also is an inspiration and an ideal material for their work. On an exterior wall in France, moss has been fashioned into a living work of art. In a university lab in London, moss is being grown as a new type of vertical garden. And on the wall of a meditation studio in New York, it is used to inspire calming mindfulness in visitors. With more than 12,000 recorded species inhabiting every global environment except salt water, moss’ potential in design seems limitless.
For some designers, artists and architects, moss also is an inspiration and an ideal material for their work. On an exterior wall in France, moss has been fashioned into a living work of art. In a university lab in London, moss is being grown as a new type of vertical garden. And on the wall of a meditation studio in New York, it is used to inspire calming mindfulness in visitors. With more than 12,000 recorded species inhabiting every global environment except salt water, moss’ potential in design seems limitless.
Artistic Moss
The resiliency and versatility of living moss is enabling François Robertière to blend nature and art. Robertière coaxes the minimal-care, slow-growing plant into shapes and patterns on the walls of homes and urban buildings to create attractive, long-lasting works of art.
This Nelson Mandela piece, completed in November, is Robertière’s latest work. Measuring just over 3 feet tall, the silhouette of the late South African leader is growing on a hotel’s exterior in Saintes, France, that is visible to passersby. The piece is made entirely from living moss, which Robertière shaped and attached to the wall himself. He plans to cut and reshape it twice a year, but otherwise it requires no care.
The physical structure of moss means it does not damage the building. “Moss is a plant with no roots,” Robertière says. It instead anchors itself to the wall with root-like rhizoids. “Thus, it can’t damage the wall,” Robertière says. “It offers many decoration possibilities.”
The resiliency and versatility of living moss is enabling François Robertière to blend nature and art. Robertière coaxes the minimal-care, slow-growing plant into shapes and patterns on the walls of homes and urban buildings to create attractive, long-lasting works of art.
This Nelson Mandela piece, completed in November, is Robertière’s latest work. Measuring just over 3 feet tall, the silhouette of the late South African leader is growing on a hotel’s exterior in Saintes, France, that is visible to passersby. The piece is made entirely from living moss, which Robertière shaped and attached to the wall himself. He plans to cut and reshape it twice a year, but otherwise it requires no care.
The physical structure of moss means it does not damage the building. “Moss is a plant with no roots,” Robertière says. It instead anchors itself to the wall with root-like rhizoids. “Thus, it can’t damage the wall,” Robertière says. “It offers many decoration possibilities.”
Robertière, a muralist and an artist, has always been enamored of living things. He has painted large-scale murals throughout France and experimented with painting grass with an organic paint.
He first discovered moss graffiti online, where he saw how others “painted” with mosses. London-based artist Anna Garforth has done extensive work expressing moss as text on city walls, and Canadian illustrator Jennifer Ilett has combined moss with Pop Art in a wall-panel diptych.
In addition to creating moss artworks, Robertière grows the moss he uses. He has recently started teaching his method of creating moss wall art — what he calls “natural’art” — at the French agricultural school Georges Desclaude. The variety of moss that exists, as well as its ability to thrive in seemingly inhospitable conditions, inspires Robertière to learn more. “Moss is really little-known and also very complex to grow,” he says.
He first discovered moss graffiti online, where he saw how others “painted” with mosses. London-based artist Anna Garforth has done extensive work expressing moss as text on city walls, and Canadian illustrator Jennifer Ilett has combined moss with Pop Art in a wall-panel diptych.
In addition to creating moss artworks, Robertière grows the moss he uses. He has recently started teaching his method of creating moss wall art — what he calls “natural’art” — at the French agricultural school Georges Desclaude. The variety of moss that exists, as well as its ability to thrive in seemingly inhospitable conditions, inspires Robertière to learn more. “Moss is really little-known and also very complex to grow,” he says.
Efficient Moss
Architects, engineers and biologists also are working to bring moss into design. Marcos Cruz and Richard Beckett, through their year-old project, BiotA Lab, based in University College London’s Bartlett School of Architecture, have been working to integrate mosses and other cryptogamic covers, such as lichens, into buildings. An example of this process, which they call “bioreceptive design,” is shown in this rendering.
Living walls can enhance a building’s aesthetics, improve its air quality and save energy and money by improving its insulating properties. Unfortunately, living walls can also be expensive to build and maintain.
Living walls typically are made up of plants grown in soil-filled trays that need to be watered and monitored. The researchers at BiotA Lab, on the other hand, are designing walls that will use the material of the wall itself to grow plants — with minimal maintenance or structure. “We are aiming for a system that is more passive, and that doesn’t rely on costly irrigation systems,” codirector Cruz says. Right now they are studying concrete as a growing medium.
Plants like mosses are perfect for this application for a number of reasons. “The fact that they are hardy and need much less maintenance than larger plants make them ideal for the integration into our cities and buildings as a productive part of our urban fabric,” BiotA’s Beckett says. “Moreover, recent research from the Max Planck Institute [for Chemistry] has shown just how much carbon dioxide and nitrogen these species take up from the atmosphere.”
While moss already grows on walls in cities, the team at BiotA Lab wants to control how it grows, not just allow it to happen randomly. “A big part of this concerns aesthetics. Random growth is often seen as a problem that needs to be cleaned off or prevented,” Cruz says. “Designing for this growth to happen in specific areas and not in others means we can create a condition that is performative but also beautiful.”
Architects, engineers and biologists also are working to bring moss into design. Marcos Cruz and Richard Beckett, through their year-old project, BiotA Lab, based in University College London’s Bartlett School of Architecture, have been working to integrate mosses and other cryptogamic covers, such as lichens, into buildings. An example of this process, which they call “bioreceptive design,” is shown in this rendering.
Living walls can enhance a building’s aesthetics, improve its air quality and save energy and money by improving its insulating properties. Unfortunately, living walls can also be expensive to build and maintain.
Living walls typically are made up of plants grown in soil-filled trays that need to be watered and monitored. The researchers at BiotA Lab, on the other hand, are designing walls that will use the material of the wall itself to grow plants — with minimal maintenance or structure. “We are aiming for a system that is more passive, and that doesn’t rely on costly irrigation systems,” codirector Cruz says. Right now they are studying concrete as a growing medium.
Plants like mosses are perfect for this application for a number of reasons. “The fact that they are hardy and need much less maintenance than larger plants make them ideal for the integration into our cities and buildings as a productive part of our urban fabric,” BiotA’s Beckett says. “Moreover, recent research from the Max Planck Institute [for Chemistry] has shown just how much carbon dioxide and nitrogen these species take up from the atmosphere.”
While moss already grows on walls in cities, the team at BiotA Lab wants to control how it grows, not just allow it to happen randomly. “A big part of this concerns aesthetics. Random growth is often seen as a problem that needs to be cleaned off or prevented,” Cruz says. “Designing for this growth to happen in specific areas and not in others means we can create a condition that is performative but also beautiful.”
These renderings show bioreceptive panel designs.
With the help of digital and environmental software, researchers can simulate the conditions the plants need to thrive. They then alter the wall material — modifying the physical and chemical properties to be either growth-enhancing or growth-inhibiting — to control moss growth directly on the surface. The result is a wall covered in attractive moss patterns that is easy to maintain. Three-dimensional designs in the concrete enhance the moss patterns and affect the plants’ growth by providing shade or sun.
With the help of digital and environmental software, researchers can simulate the conditions the plants need to thrive. They then alter the wall material — modifying the physical and chemical properties to be either growth-enhancing or growth-inhibiting — to control moss growth directly on the surface. The result is a wall covered in attractive moss patterns that is easy to maintain. Three-dimensional designs in the concrete enhance the moss patterns and affect the plants’ growth by providing shade or sun.
BiotA Lab hosts a demonstration booth and prototypes at Ecobuild, a London exhibition and conference for the construction and energy market in March.
Though the research is still in the early stages, the team members are optimistic about bioreceptive architecture’s future. Any blank city surface offers an opportunity, they say.
Though the research is still in the early stages, the team members are optimistic about bioreceptive architecture’s future. Any blank city surface offers an opportunity, they say.
Calming Moss
Moss, even in a preserved state, has benefits, inspiring calmness in those who look at it and providing greenery in spaces that normally couldn’t support living walls.
MNDFL, a new meditation studio in Manhattan, is a quiet place for contemplation. The stripped-down space limits physical distractions, with an oversized preserved moss wall serving as a primary design element. The 9-foot-wide moss wall is surrounded by whitewashed brick walls and illuminated by natural light from a skylight.
The moss wall is there to offer the contemplative and calming benefits that are said to come from simply looking at plants. “Plants have been proven to contribute to our lives in incredibly meaningful ways. They can increase our focus, our productivity, our creativity and even boost our mood. They reduce stress and calm us,” says Eliza Blank of plant design shop The Sill, who collaborated with MNDFL and the designers at Homepolish to bring plants to the space. “Even just viewing trees in an urban space has been associated with improved help. Like all plants, the design of the wall is meant to inspire calm.”
MNDFL’s moss wall provides visual contrast in its urban locale. “New York is built with concrete and metal, so seeing the vivid green gives one pause in a city like this,” says Ellie Burrows, CEO and cofounder of MNDFL. “Meditation is, in its essence, about pausing and focusing on something as simple as the breath, so I think it echoes the overall essence of the studio.”
Moss-viewing as a calming activity has become something of a phenomenon. In Japan, for example, visitors tour the country on moss-viewing trips and observe some of Japan’s estimated 1,600 to 2,000 moss species. In addition to appreciating the moss’s resilience and beauty, some of the participants say that looking at moss offers relief from the stress and pressures of everyday life.
Moss, even in a preserved state, has benefits, inspiring calmness in those who look at it and providing greenery in spaces that normally couldn’t support living walls.
MNDFL, a new meditation studio in Manhattan, is a quiet place for contemplation. The stripped-down space limits physical distractions, with an oversized preserved moss wall serving as a primary design element. The 9-foot-wide moss wall is surrounded by whitewashed brick walls and illuminated by natural light from a skylight.
The moss wall is there to offer the contemplative and calming benefits that are said to come from simply looking at plants. “Plants have been proven to contribute to our lives in incredibly meaningful ways. They can increase our focus, our productivity, our creativity and even boost our mood. They reduce stress and calm us,” says Eliza Blank of plant design shop The Sill, who collaborated with MNDFL and the designers at Homepolish to bring plants to the space. “Even just viewing trees in an urban space has been associated with improved help. Like all plants, the design of the wall is meant to inspire calm.”
MNDFL’s moss wall provides visual contrast in its urban locale. “New York is built with concrete and metal, so seeing the vivid green gives one pause in a city like this,” says Ellie Burrows, CEO and cofounder of MNDFL. “Meditation is, in its essence, about pausing and focusing on something as simple as the breath, so I think it echoes the overall essence of the studio.”
Moss-viewing as a calming activity has become something of a phenomenon. In Japan, for example, visitors tour the country on moss-viewing trips and observe some of Japan’s estimated 1,600 to 2,000 moss species. In addition to appreciating the moss’s resilience and beauty, some of the participants say that looking at moss offers relief from the stress and pressures of everyday life.
In the meditation studio in New York, the moss wall is meant to encourage interest without overwhelming the space or distracting those who are in it. “We wanted a wall that was breathtaking but encouraged deep breathing just the same,” Blank says. Its primarily monochromatic design features sheet mosses and dimensional mosses, as well as some ferns for texture and layering.
Blank describes the vision for the wall as lush and layered in greens, like a forest floor. “Up close it has so much going on and really invites the viewer to connect with nature,” says Erin Kinsey of Artisan Moss, who designed the moss wall.
Blank describes the vision for the wall as lush and layered in greens, like a forest floor. “Up close it has so much going on and really invites the viewer to connect with nature,” says Erin Kinsey of Artisan Moss, who designed the moss wall.
The studio’s location, in the basement of an 1837 townhouse, lacks the natural light, reinforced walls and maintenance staff required to support a typical indoor living wall. Although moss is a low-maintenance plant that doesn’t need soil to grow, it requires moisture and some light to survive.
The designers turned to Artisan Moss, a West Coast design studio that specializes in preserved plants, for the solution. “We wanted to re-create the feeling Ellie described with a living wall, but in a sustainable way,” Blank says. Artisan Moss preserves living plants using food-grade pigments and a nontoxic UV coating before incorporating them into a green wall. The plants are essentially frozen in time and can last for years with little maintenance other than occasional dusting. “When people see them, it’s hard for them to believe it’s preserved,” Kinsey says.
The plants in the wall provide the benefits of a living wall without the maintenance, structural requirements or added tools like grow lights and irrigation that make having a living wall inside possible. “Plus they’re just lovely to look at,” Burrows says.
The designers turned to Artisan Moss, a West Coast design studio that specializes in preserved plants, for the solution. “We wanted to re-create the feeling Ellie described with a living wall, but in a sustainable way,” Blank says. Artisan Moss preserves living plants using food-grade pigments and a nontoxic UV coating before incorporating them into a green wall. The plants are essentially frozen in time and can last for years with little maintenance other than occasional dusting. “When people see them, it’s hard for them to believe it’s preserved,” Kinsey says.
The plants in the wall provide the benefits of a living wall without the maintenance, structural requirements or added tools like grow lights and irrigation that make having a living wall inside possible. “Plus they’re just lovely to look at,” Burrows says.
Moss at Home
Moss, in its natural state, also appears in contemporary residential designs. This recently built home on the San Juan Islands, off the coast of Washington state, features moss gardens in its entry and main bathroom. The architect, who built this home for his mother, harvested the moss from the site before construction began, and incorporated it into the project as a reminder of the surrounding natural landscape.
See more photos of this Washington home
Moss, in its natural state, also appears in contemporary residential designs. This recently built home on the San Juan Islands, off the coast of Washington state, features moss gardens in its entry and main bathroom. The architect, who built this home for his mother, harvested the moss from the site before construction began, and incorporated it into the project as a reminder of the surrounding natural landscape.
See more photos of this Washington home
Many of us first discovered moss in the natural landscape, so why not bring it back into our gardens? Whether it’s covering rocks, replacing a lawn or growing in between pavers or on wood, there are plenty of modern uses for moss in the garden.
Learn more about growing and using moss in the garden
Learn more about growing and using moss in the garden
The joy of moss can be appreciated at all scales. “For me, it all comes back to the idea that even if you have a really small space, you can bring a little bit of green inside,” plant and flower designer Baylor Chapman says. “Whether it is an elaborate living centerpiece or tiny clump of moss, through plant design you can make any space feel at home.”
Inspired by her travels in Japan and the moss gardens she saw there, Chapman, of San Francisco’s Lila B. Design, created this indoor mini moss terrarium, which features a clump of living moss front and center.
Learn how to make this mini moss terrarium
More: Browse photos of moss in today’s homes and gardens
Inspired by her travels in Japan and the moss gardens she saw there, Chapman, of San Francisco’s Lila B. Design, created this indoor mini moss terrarium, which features a clump of living moss front and center.
Learn how to make this mini moss terrarium
More: Browse photos of moss in today’s homes and gardens
Mosses — part of the plant division Bryophyta — are some of Earth’s oldest plants. Their fossils date back 400 million years. The ability of these simple prehistoric organisms to grow on surfaces ranging from brick walls to sidewalk cracks and rotting trees reveals an enormous adaptability and resilience. In 2014, British scientists revived a patch of moss that had been frozen in Antarctica for 1,500 years. It was the oldest plant to have ever been brought back to life from a frozen state.