I‘m reading more and more about large vertical gardens’ projects.
Naturally, the intensification of green walls can only get me excited, not only because since long time I deal with vertical gardens, but because you finally see recognized the great potential of this technique.
We already talked about how the green can be healthy, therapeutic, and this type of garden is no exception, because being it vertical has great impact on the observer. All the more so the size of the latest achievements are getting bigger and therefore with even greater impact.
It is with pleasure that I had noticed this trend also in the Expo Pavilions, of which I wrote a post recently, because the World Exposition is always a key moment to discover the architectural trends.
There is talk on a futuristic design that will make Paris an entirely green city to tear down pollution and to do so numerous large and green walls are needed and provided.
There is talk on green walls in hydroponic cultivation in Cairo.
There is talk on the One Central Park tower in Sydney and its vertical forest.
In short, it is spoken widely and everywhere. It is a global trend.
Personally I realized with Sandrini Green Architecture many large green walls all around the world.
In the UAE are numerous our green wall realizations, in Abu Dhabi, in Doha but our projects can be found as well in Russia or in Italy. Just to name some of them.
In Abu Dhabi we have conceived two large green walls for a new energetic complex and they actually became the main protagonist of the whole structure.
An amazing and unexpected green waterfall welcomes visitors to the indoor lobby through plants with variegated and glauca leaves from which big pale pink flowers blossoms are popping out. The result is a soft and dynamic wall.
We then created a vertical garden in a cave with curve walls lighted by a skylight on the top of it. We got the inspiration from natural caves and we thus created an intimate and cosy space.
In Doha, in an avant-garde shopping mall with a linear, minimal and total-white architecture, we designed a rich and luminous vertical garden of 450 sq.m. creating an unbelievable contrast with the surrounding environment.
In Russia we added some vertical gardens inside a sport complex and this demonstrates with no doubt the extreme flexibility of this technique that can be used in every environment to enhance the space and the light.
In Italy, in the historic centre of Milan, in a private street of the fashion district, I created a unique vertical garden for a major residential complex.
Always in Milan, with the Sandrini Green Architecture team I realized a refined and elegant green wall for Palazzo Beltrade, the important building designed by the famous architect Portaluppi that has been finely and carefully restored.
If we talk about the benefits of the vertical we can write an endless list.
The fact is that we all feel a great sense of satisfaction in seeing something beautiful and a vertical garden in bloom, lush and colourful in every moment fulfills our view. Not only that, this expression of delicate green stimulates all the senses because it exudes aromas and its softness is all to be touched.
The green walls are not only decorative and soothing plants, they exploit the vertical space and they are a smart choice under several perspectives. In addition to aesthetics, the green wall offers tangible benefits such as carbon dioxide and UV absorption, thermic and sound insulation, and energy consumption reduction. They help to reduce the “urban heat island” and they are an effective retention system that slows rainwater runoff from the roof.
The truth is that the green walls are truly important architectural elements, with considerable benefits, but they are also real works of art.
Marco Sandrini, Landscape designer at Sandrini Green Architecture
Brescia. The green walls of a private residence
Middle East. An oil refinery in Abu Dhabi