Vertical gardens on the rise
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Jul 28, 2015
Vertical gardens on the rise
In urban environments, vertical gardens provide a link with nature.
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Image by Rob Deutscher, from Flicker Creative Commons.One Central Park, Sydney, Australia. -
Image by Maarten van Heemskerck. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.Hanging Gardens of Babylon. -
Image by Luis García, via Wikimedia Commons.Caixa Forum Madrid, Spain.
Since the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built thousands of years ago, plants have been used as an essential element of architectural designs.
The Hanging Gardens were intended to console Nebuchadnezzar II’s wife, who was homesick for the lush green mountains of her childhood. Trees, shrubs and flowers spilled from terraces over a monolithic form – and one of The Seven Wonders of the World was created.
Today, it is well recognised that plants are good for our psychological wellbeing. We are more relaxed, productive, and happier in the presence of plants. As designers and architects strive to improve the quality of our lives, plants are increasingly being incorporated into designs for urban spaces.
Vertical gardens have been one such innovation, transforming two-dimensional planes almost miraculously into living, growing, shimmering gardens.
French botanist, Patrick Blanc, has been credited with developing and popularizing the vertical gardens we know today. Vertical gardens generally follow similar principles. A metal frame supports vessels for the plants, and a network of pipes provides water and nutrients. A gutter collects water at the base, and reinjects it back into the pipes. Plants are carefully chosen for their sun and shade requirements, tolerance to wind, and water needs.
I can remember the first time I saw Blanc’s wall at the entrace to the CaixaForum Madrid in 2007. The gorgeous lush foliage transformed the space in a way that was totally new to me. The project made headlines, and the world fell in love with vertical gardens.
Singapore, with its fertile climate and centralised ambition to become a ‘City in a Garden’, has taken the vertical garden to new heights - literally.
In 2013, City Developments Limited built Tree House, including the then tallest vertical garden in the world. The aim of the garden, apart from being lovely, was to reduce the public-housing building's carbon footprint. The vertical gardens are insulating, thereby reducing the need for energy-intensive heating and cooling systems. The plants also filter carbon dioxide from the air.
It seems almost every new development in Singapore includes plants as an element of their design.
The Singapore Park Royal Hotel appears almost overrun by gardens. Reminiscent of terraced rice paddies, the hotel features a unique terraced design from which plants spill, corridors of green skirt each layer, and a 300 metre garden strip surrounds the hotel’s vast wellness zone. Even Singapore's airport features a vertical garden inside its Arrivals hall.
Vertical gardens are also gaining prominence in Australia. Most notably, in Sydney, French architect Jean Nouvel collaborated with Patrick Blanc to create One Central Park, to global critical acclaim. Taking over the mantle of tallest vertical garden, the shimmering, soaring planes of the building are transformed by banks of garden that appear to cascade down the facade. The building is nothing short of mesmerizing.
The quarter-acre block is no longer a realistic prospect for most Australians. Our cities must become more densely populated, and many prefer the conveniences of city life. Vertical gardens weave plants into the urban experience, keeping us grounded.
By Caroline Egan
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