Amazing Living Facades That Take Over Entire Buildings

For french botanist Patrick Blanc every building is a canvas and its facades the perfect opportunity to help bring architecture to life. The artist is famous around the world for creating amazing vertical gardens that stretch across large buildings and considered to be the originator of green walls which revived a wonderful trend becoming more and more popular by the day. His creations inspired a multitude of amazing projects across the globe. These living facades not only look extraordinary but also help minimize urban air pollution and regulate the temperature inside the buildings. Check out some of these botanical masterpieces in the examples below.

One Central Park – Sydney, Australia

One Central Park with lush vegetation
One Central Park with lush vegetation
One Central Park with lush vegetation
One Central Park with lush vegetation

This is a project developed by Patrick Blanc in collaboration with the architects at Ateliers Jean Nouvel and which turns a pair of tall glass towers into a lush canopy, an unconventional oasis within an urban jungle. This amazing project uses 250 different species of Australian flowers and plants spread across the facades and integrated into beautiful installations that take over the exterior of the towers.

Bosco Verticale – Milan, Italy

One Central Park with lush vegetation
One Central Park with lush vegetation
One Central Park with lush vegetation
One Central Park with lush vegetation

Bosco Verticale is a project completed by Boeri Studio in 2014 and which aims to help Milan’s flora and fauna thrive again. It consists of two residential towers with green facades which measure 110 and respectively 76 meters in height. Their green facades make a huge statement and impact the city not only aesthetically but in other ways too. The towers vertical gardens feature 800 trees, 4,500 shrubs and 15,000 plans in total, distributed across the facades based on the sun’s path and their individual preferences.

Tower 25 – Nicosia, Cyprus

One Central Park with lush vegetation
One Central Park with lush vegetation
One Central Park with lush vegetation

The Tower 25 project was developed by architect Jean Nouvel in collaboration with studio Takis Sophocleous Architects and consists of a large tower located in Nicosia, Cyprus. Ten floors are occupied by residential apartment, another six house office spaces and a retain area covers the remaining 2 floors. Vertical gardens cover around 80% of the tower’s Southern facade with vegetation also peeking through the other perforated facades. They hold a variety of local plants and the living facades continually change throughout the seasons, giving the tower a unique appearance each time.

The Planter Box House – Kuala Lumpur

One Central Park with lush vegetation
One Central Park with lush vegetation

The Planter Box House is a three-story home located in Kuala Lumpur. It’s designed by studio Formzero and it looks like a giant set of planters. The reality is actually not far off actually. The house really does feature several large concrete boxes where edible plants are grown. They create unique facades and give the house a stunning appearance. The large planters cascade down the building and they each include a rainwater retention system which irrigates the soil. The house was built for a retired couple who grow their own food.

The Stepping Park House – Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

One Central Park with lush vegetation
One Central Park with lush vegetation

This is a three-storey residence that studio Vo Trong Nghia Architects designed and built in Ho Chi Minh City as part of their larger project called House for Trees. The project aims to draw attention on the environmental issues caused by a lack of green spaces throughout Vietnam. The greenery in this case is breaking through the facades from within the building, not the other way around. The top floor has plants growing through the slatted ceiling, turning the house into a living structure. Once again, this is a project designed to make a statement and once again the message is loud and clear. This gives a whole new meaning to the concept of bringing the outdoors in.