Thanks for writing it all out - I was thinking about some kind of angled-pot mechanics as I was picturing having to replace just one and what work that might entail. Good to know I was vaguely heading in the right direction. The upside is this might not be necessary for me, no issue with space where I live and I imagine these sprung up to combat that issue. I do like the aesthetic though. I was watching that Planet Earth 2 Doco and was transfixed by the Singapore man-made trees. I had seen pictures of them before and I honestly thought they were a sci-fi concept art thing for a bit. Like, fuck that's cool. No idea if it's doing what they intended, but it's cool.
There's this whole pseudo-specialty called "biophilic design." I'm no expert and I haven't dug around too much but it basically seems to be the science of "plants are cool." Green walls started from a basis of "plants are cool" and then there was some science reverse-engineered into it in order to crack money loose. Designers like Ken Yeang cover their buildings in plants 'cuz it's dope and if they can back into some science so much the better. That, I believe, is the justification for the Singapore trees - they look fuckin' cool and Malaysia has been pushing hard into green design so Singapore jumped on, too. I love the aesthetic. I put up a green wall not because I wanted an air filter but because they look cool. That Boston Fern hanging above the bar is not doing as good a job of making the air breathable as a Smokeeter but a live one is helping more than a silk one.