Vertical Gardens, Bringing Back Modern Greenery To Cities

As horizontal spaces grow smaller, vertical gardens have become much more popular making them a great yet unconventional design option for building walls. Let's look at some walls that have been turned into live vertical garden, becoming works of art to spectators and passersby.

One of the most mesmerizing vertical gardens is the historic building in France with its wall covered in 7,600 plants of 237 different species. The project entitled L'Oasis D'Aboukir, is designed by Patrick Blanc.

Similar to this is Paris's Musée du Quai Branly, a vertical garden also designed by Patrick Blanc. The 15,000 plant-design, spanning over 800 square meters, covers the entire facade except for the windows and brings a lush green landscape to the middle of the busy city.

Vertical gardens are especially wanted for commercial buildings and offices. The vertical garden surrounding a round window in the Skanska offices were designed by Meristem Design. The design incorporates a mix of tropical plants, having about 35 plants per square meter. The self-watering wall is also outfitted with special daylight lighting to keep them growing strong.

The greenery from the walls of Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California, is no less better. Designed by Habitat Horticulture, the vertical garden cascades down into the regular planters below which create spots for visitors to sit and relax while enjoying the green side view.

In a less known part of the world, J.M.Bonfils and Associates created a traditional Lebanese garden but rather in a modern way for the East Village building in Beirut, Lebanon. The vertical garden made the building more space efficient, according to Design Milk.

Vertical gardens certainly carry a reputation of enticing visitors with a living wall full of plants, regardless which part of the world it is. While the design is not new to architects, it is gaining increasing attention among commercial buildings and offices in cities.