Vertical Gardens: Bringing the City to Life by Anna Lambertini & Jacues Leenhardt

Introduction by Jacques Leenhardt

I did not use this book entirely since it is mostly showing examples of vertical gardens around cities, but instead I used the introduction since it has a detailed history regarding these vertical gardens.

The garden is the most natural thing in this world, according to Leenhardt it is a space of untamed nature. It grows untamed and covers every surface of the earth if no one intervenes in its process. It is natural for vegetation to grow vertically but when it is confined to grow in a restricted area it is showing the intervention of humans. With regards to architecture and vertical gardens, this goes back to The Hanging Gardens of Babylon which were created by Nebuchadnezzar for his wife who was home sick of her childhood paradise. This was the start for gardens to be integrated with architecture as well as the uprooting of vegetation from their original territory to be placed some other place and producing the same conditions for the plants to grow. Originally plants like vines used to grow vertically by using natural support such as tree branches which is still used today in parts such as the Mediterranean but this support was abandoned not before long to be replaced with man-made structures. There are not many records with regards to the evolution of such gardens between the Roman period and the Middle Ages and was not until the 14^th Century that examples appeared in Europe of such development. Other developments occurred in 15^th Century Paris where the idea of The Hanging Gardens of Babylon was also featured in the gardens of Versailles. Containers were starting to be used which extends the idea of uprooting vegetation and placed outside the natural earth and put into these containers which were the initiation of the pot.

When the plants were taken out of their natural ground there was a problem with the nutrition for these plants. Plants need the support and substrate layers which the natural soli provides both, but once the plant is place into a pot one must deal with the humidity and nourishment this plant needs. Hector Horeau was one to deal with this problem in the beginning of the 19^th Century when there was a development in metal architecture where structures could be made lighter and transparent. This aspect helped him to develop the project to cover the boulevards in Paris by enhancing the overhead glass roofing by introducing containers for plants to cascade elegantly downwards. He even designed an irrigation system from collected rain water to distribute it according to the various plants’ needs. This idea helped avoid vandalism on the plants and also damage caused by stray dogs.

When it comes to urban centres, today we are searching for areas to plant vegetation to help diminish the carbon dioxide produced by traffic. Ebenezer Howard inspired urbanism of the garden-cities where large industrial sites that are no longer in use are being converted to create green parks. This also applies to various railway lines which are not in use any more as well as urban motorways with planted gardens although in urban areas these large areas are difficult to find. Leenhardt states that as part of Frank Lloyd Wright’s legacy, in the seventies, a new movement began to appear called the “green architecture” which was in strong contrast with the modern trends of the time. The main figures of the movement were James Wines and Emilio Ambasz. The idea of this movement was to build a vertical structure with a number of houses on each floor, each having its own style and each having its private garden. This idea was then repeated 20 years later by Edouard François which was actually constructed and giving each home the conditions comparable for the type of garden surrounding it.

HighRise of Homes by James Wines

Flower Garden by Edouard François

With regards to aesthetics vertical gardens could very well be considered like paintings with the various plants adding texture and shades like it would be done with traditional paint in paintings. One who is most in this area of botany is Patrick Blanc who manages to create wonderful wall gardens with plants that are usually found in tropical forests such as canopies and shrubs.