WHILE PLANTS AND vines have always grown on walls of their own accord, vertical gardens as we see them today didn’t really hit the scene until the early 1990s. Since then, they’ve been improving air quality and adding some natural beauty to cities and urban landscapes around the world. Here, we take a look at seven of the most amazing green walls around the world.
1. Caixa Forum Museum, Madrid
CaixaForum Museum is a modern art gallery located in Madrid, Spain. The massive outdoor vertical garden was designed and created by French artist and botanist Patrick Blanc and was the first of its kind in Spain. The vertical garden is 4951 square feet and has over 15,000 plants of 250 different species, which survive Madrid’s hot summers and cold winters alike thanks to hydroponics (a method of growing plants without soil). The hydroponic setup of this wall is complex, with an automated network of pipes arranged behind the wall to irrigate the plants and ensure they are adequately watered at all times. A range of plants from mosses to begonias is featured on the wall, adding vivid color to the city streets.