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I’ve got nothing but extreme admiration for the development of a hot new trend in architecture, the organic green wall. We’re not talking about ivy creeping up a building here. We’re talking about vast swaths of vertical real estate playing host to multiple species of plants. It’s almost as if you were to take your home and place it in the middle of a Rainforest for several years. The end result would be nothing but green walls (and probably nothing left of your home either).

The man behind this concept is Patrick Blanc, who twelve years ago, began designing eco conscious architecture for public spaces, department stores and private living rooms. Since then, he’s covered several shop interiors for some pretty fancy clientèle with moss and ferns, and next year will enrich the surface of a skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur and the Doha Office Tower in Qatar with greener beauty.

The Tokyo-based Ping Magazine, has a fascinating interview with this green guru. Below is a small excerpt:

“Please tell me now your secret method: How do you actually glue these plants on the wall?

The Vertical Garden is composed of three parts: a metal frame, a PVC layer and felt. The metal frame is hung on a wall or can be self-standing. It provides an air layer acting as a very efficient thermic and phonic isolation system. A 1cm thick PVC sheet is then riveted on the metal frame. This layer brings rigidity to the whole structure and makes it waterproof. After that comes a felt layer made of polyamide that is stapled on the PVC. This felt is corrosion-resistant and its high capillarity allows a homogeneous water distribution. The roots are now growing on this felt.

Watering is provided from the top with the tap water being supplemented with nutrients. The process of watering and fertilisation is automated. The whole weight of the ‘Vertical Garden’, including plants and metal frame, is lower than 30 kg per square meter. Thus the Vertical Garden can be implemented on any wall without any size or limitation of height.”

Pretty cool. Furthermore, there’s absolutely no soil used. As Patrick mentions, plants only need soil for anchoring purposes and nutrients. If they can get that from water only, then the work is even easier. “Water delivery is automated. It’s going from the top just as it would in any natural situation on the surface of a cliff or a rock.”

Hit PingMag for the full interview and some amazing pictures of this green architect’s work. Patrick Blanc’s website can be found here.