Reading List: Vertical Gardens

Arriving last week, one of many books to come in the next year focussed on green walls and vegetated architecture. Vertical Gardens, authored by Anna Lambertini with an introduction by Jacques Leenhardt and photos by Mario Ciampi. Much like the gardens themselves, the photos of projects are full of variety and almost moist to the touch with vegetative lushness.



:: image via Amazon

The popularity of Vertical Walls has exploded recently, and there is a daily display of new projects that are incorporating the ideas into the building form. The book is great in providing real examples of built projects, instead of representative green material that so often shows up in renderings. A few of the projects were featured here previously, including Musee de Quai Branly, by Patrick Blanc, and projects by Edouard Francois.

A sampling of other notable projects included in the book (note photos are not from the book, but gleaned from other sources) Buy the book! It's worth it for the imagery alone!


:: High Rise of Homes, James Wines - image via Life Without Buildings



:: Cheminee vegetale la Defense, Blanc and Francois - image via Fabian Coughnaud


:: Pershing Hall Hotel Plant Wall, Patrick Blanc - image via Businessweek


:: MFO Park in Zurich via Archidose



:: Flower Tower, Edouard Francois - image via DesignBoom



:: Acros Building Fukoka, Emilio Ambasz - image via Metaefficient

There are very few books on the subject, so if you are at all interested, I would recommend this one. I imagine this lack of books will change, as the woefully small shelf of green roofs and living wall books is going to explode to encompass more space and i will have to sell back everything else. On that note, later in 2008, the much anticipated book The Vertical Garden by Patrick Blanc, will be available for review. In the meantime, Lambertini's book contains a good amount of Blanc's work which will have to suffice along with his great website.


:: image via Amazon