Neo-Vertical Greening

As a companion to Veg.itecture #38 – a bevy of green wall projects in a number of phases… that are definitely worth a look. First, via Dwell – always good for a hot pic and aimless commentary (look for the, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we could be all sustainable and stuff and not water plants…;):


:: image via Dwell

Via the post: “Great for a humid place (Florida? The bathroom?) this building in Sao Paolo built by Triptyque, a French/Brazilian firm, has plants growing right out of pores on its ‘skin’. It also displays the pumps and irrigation system that run the misters (and also recycles rain water) on the exterior of the structure.”


:: images via Dwell

Continuing: “The walls are thick and covered externally by a vegetal layer that works like the skin of the structure. This dense wall is made of an organic concrete that has pores, where several plant species grow”.It will be interesting to see how the plants do after a couple of years growing horizontally. With all the Living Walls going up all over modern structures, this planting isn’t a surprise but it would be great to see something like this using plants that don’t need to be misted, either by the choice of plant, or the choice of location. And what could work in California?”

I definitely need to get the recipe for this concrete… Continuing on to an indoor model, via Coolboom: “Fragile-Lab is a new complex construction, designed by Import.Export Architecture, located in Antwerpen, Belgium… Inside, a full length green wall connects the levels an adds color to the stark white space.”


:: images via Coolboom

From Urban Palimpsest – an advertisement that makes the vegetative argument of ‘Making Green Visible’…


:: image via Urban Palimpsest

And from Emu (via MoCo Loco) – some vegetated furnishings… along with one of my favorite comments: “I like the idea of the landscape overtaking the “architecture.” Sort of like abandoned homes and hotels of former splendor.”


:: images via MoCo Loco

Nothing like literal interpretation – here in Facade as Connector from WAN… giving an overview of a project in Singapore by Ministry of Design… with what looks like a foam core vegetated base… kidding – this is cool – and worth some ample photo documentation.


:: images via WAN

And more of some literal and traditional vegetative structure X-House designed by anonimous-led (this one is cool) – via WAN: “A green stained concrete box is surronded by eighty 6 metre tall bamboo plants. It floats above a glass box that contains the public area program. The living room, dinning room, kitchen and services magnify the experience by creating a visual connection with the bamboo plants.”


:: image via WAN

And for the really traditional, some regal, albeit mostly decorative, vertical greenery in England…


:: image via Treehugger

And some vertical greening of a more topiary variety… ohhh, formalism. I like, but maybe just because it’s for ‘Portland Place’ in London (via Dezeen):


:: image via Dezeen

And I keep mentioning it – and this weekend it will be realized – my review of ‘The Vertical Garden: From Nature to the City’ by Patrick Blanc is almost complete. And, I dare say, like the book – is worth the wait…

4 thoughts on “Neo-Vertical Greening

  1. It’s so amazing how popular that formal tree topiary thing is in Europe. Like take Versailles or Luxembourg Garden for example. Or in Belgium they have these crazy trees that are planted in rows and then the branches only stretch out horizontally so they weave all of the branches together as sort of an elevates vegetal screen. It’s kind of interesting to see the woven branches when the leaves are gone and then also the dense leaf wall in the non-winter months.

  2. A true contrast to our own US-driven topiary – which usually is carved up the sides of adjacent buildings or more likely, the ubiquitous V-shape cut to keep some clear area away from powerlines.

    Any pictures of the Belgian ‘pleached’ examples…?

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