Patrick Blanc: Converting Our City Walls into Vertical Gardens
AFTER: Rue D'Alsace, Paris. Completed 2008. Courtesy Patrick Blanc
BEFORE: Rue D'Alsace, Paris. Pre-Completion. Courtesy Patrick Blanc
Who is Patrick Blanc?
Patrick Blanc. Wikipedia.
Don’t you just love a good Before and After. There is a magical element to drastic change that tickles something in all of us. But how does a drab slab of vertical concrete become a lush slab of vertical greenery that you just want to snuggle up to?
Over the weekend I attended the brilliant Intelligence Squared IF Conference, where people who are far too smart talk about things that boggle the mind. One of my favourite talks was given by the charismatic green-haired, green-attired French botanist Patrick Blanc who works at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, where he specializes in plants from tropical forests. Blanc, who lives in Paris, has a thick sometimes impenetrable accent when speaking English, but his wonderful appearance and exuberant gestures are enough to get you excited about whatever he is saying. So that when eventually he brings out the big guns – his portfolio; slide after slide of gorgeous images of his works around the globe, you cannot help but stare open-mouthed in awe. He is a scientist, an artist and a revolutionary, painting our cities green one wall at a time.
For those of you who don’t know Blanc is the founding father of the vertical garden. A vertical garden, also known as “le Mur Végétal” (the vegetable wall), is exactly what it sounds like;
“[a] walls, either free-standing or part of a building, that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and, in some cases, soil or an inorganic growing medium.” (Wikipedia)
But this technical definition doesn’t do justice to the realities of Blanc’s works. His gardens are transformative. There is a pantheism to them that would make Walt Whitman proud. Blanc states, “I gather inspiration every day from nature” which is inspiring to the majority of us who are simply not used to seeing buildings adorned with greenery to such an extent. Blanc uses his profound knowledge of the world’s extensive selection of plant life, particularly drawing inspiration from flora found in Thailand and Hawaii, to create patterns of colour (mostly shades of greens) on what was before dull concrete.
AFTER: Pont Max Juvenal, Aix en Provence. Completed in 2008. Courtesy Patrick Blanc
BEFORE: Pont Max Juvenal, Aix en Provence. Before. Courtesy Patrick Blanc
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