by Angela Fedele

A growing number of small urban spaces are creating landscaped gardens that stretch beyond floor pots， with greenery growing upwards along walls and fences.

This new trend toward “vertical gardens”is renewing apartments， offices and restaurants inviting greenery to flourish in small spaces.

Vertical gardens， also referred as “eco walls”or “green walls”， are bringing practical and aesthetic value to both domestic and commercial spaces. Along with their environmental benefits， plants and greenery can also improve air quality and promote health and wellness.

This sustainable form of architecture also supports the 1）biophilia hypothesis， a suggestion that there is an innate connection between human beings and living systems.

According to Susan McCoy of the U.S. based trend-spotting Garden Media Group， this new generation of gardeners is composed of environmentally-conscious Gen X and Gen Y types who believe the power of plants and regard plants is “no longer a luxury， but a necessity for our lives.”

Plants can be arranged on the side of a building， on fences and walls both internally and 2）externally. When placed strategically， vertical gardens make for great design features and are considered alternatives for wall art.

Walls and fences should be structurally strong to grow a vertical garden as theyre generally designed to be 3）permanent structures. It is advised that professionals versed in engineering， design， building regulations， draining and 4）horticulture be the ones to install them.

In terms of design， some organisations offer vegetated panels that can be attached or plants that can be placed in decorative containers in a grid-inspired format along the wall. Choosing vegetation for garden installation should be based on location and maintenance requirements.

For ease of maintenance， it is advisable to have a built-in irrigation system and a good drainage system nearby. Vertical gardens generally require self-watering irrigation systems， as manual 5）hosing will result in water simply running into the ground. 6）Hydroponic watering systems can also be installed to keep plants fed and fresh.

Installing a vertical garden inside is a great way to connect an interior space with nature. Interior greenery requires a little more attention as adequate lighting and ventilation may need to be installed. The wall and surrounding areas should also be waterproofed and actively kept dry.

Commercially， plants are being invited into offices， restaurants and high-end hotels. “With most large offices having few windows and little natural light， insightful office managers often use plants to bring freshness and colour to the office environment， but the benefits go further than this. “Research strongly suggests that plants can result in improved 7）well-being among staff， increased productivity and improved air quality，” said UK psychologist Dr Craig Knight.

Covering a building wall can keep the wall 8）insulated， alleviate pollution and provides a shield to the building materials from elements like the sun.

愈來愈多的狹小城市空間正將花園景觀建造于地面以外的地方，把綠色植物種植在圍墻和柵欄上。

這種建造“垂直花園”的新潮流，使得公寓、辦公室和餐廳煥然一新，令怡人的綠色植物得以在狹小的空間里繁茂生長。

垂直花園，也叫“生態(tài)墻”或是“綠色墻”，給住宅和商業(yè)空間帶來了實(shí)用和審美價(jià)值。除了其景觀效益之外，花卉和綠色植物還能夠改善空氣質(zhì)量和促進(jìn)人體健康。

這種可持續(xù)的建筑形式也成為“親生命性假說”的力證，這種學(xué)說認(rèn)為人類和生態(tài)環(huán)境之間有著內(nèi)在的聯(lián)系。

蘇珊·麥考伊來自緊貼潮流的美國公司——花園傳媒集團(tuán)，她說，新生代的園藝大師都是由具有環(huán)境意識(shí)的X世代和Y世代組成的，他們相信植物的力量，認(rèn)為植物“對(duì)于我們的生活來說，將不再是一種奢侈，而是必需品”。

植物可以種植在建筑物的邊上，在柵欄或者是圍墻的外圍和里面。如果種植得當(dāng)，垂直花園將會(huì)成為顯著的設(shè)計(jì)特征，甚至?xí)蔀閴λ囍械膬?yōu)選方案。

用來種植垂直花園的圍墻和柵欄在結(jié)構(gòu)上必須足夠牢固，因?yàn)樗鼈円话銜?huì)設(shè)計(jì)成永久性結(jié)構(gòu)。有人建議由精通工程、設(shè)計(jì)、建筑條例、排水和園藝的專業(yè)人士共同來建造垂直花園。

從設(shè)計(jì)的角度來講，一些機(jī)構(gòu)提供可以附掛墻身的植物飾板，或者將植物種植在裝飾性容器中，再以網(wǎng)格形式排列置于墻身。園藝設(shè)施中植物的選擇則應(yīng)該依據(jù)所在位置和養(yǎng)護(hù)需求來定奪。

而為了易于維護(hù)，有人建議內(nèi)置澆灌系統(tǒng)，并且在附近建造良好的排水系統(tǒng)。垂直花園一般要求自動(dòng)澆水灌溉系統(tǒng)，因?yàn)槿斯ひ攒浌軡矠⒅粫?huì)導(dǎo)致水流滿地。水培澆灌系統(tǒng)也同樣可以維持植物滋養(yǎng)、鮮艷。

在建筑內(nèi)部安裝一個(gè)垂直花園是將室內(nèi)空間和自然聯(lián)系起來的有效方法。室內(nèi)的綠色植物需要更多的關(guān)注，因?yàn)槌渥愕牟晒夂屯L(fēng)設(shè)備是必須的。圍墻和周邊地區(qū)必須是防水的，必須能夠時(shí)刻保持干燥。

從商業(yè)上來講，植物正被引入到辦公室、餐館和高端的酒店當(dāng)中?！坝捎诖蠖鄶?shù)的大辦公室都幾乎沒有窗戶，沒有充足的自然光線，富有洞察力的辦公室管理者通常使用植物來增加清新感，為辦公室增添色彩，但是植物所帶來的效益遠(yuǎn)非僅此而已?！坝醒芯繌?qiáng)有力地表明植物可以改善員工的幸福感，提高生產(chǎn)效率和空氣質(zhì)量，”英國心理學(xué)家克雷格·奈特博士這么說道。

使用植物覆蓋建筑物圍墻可以為墻身制造隔熱層，減少污染，同時(shí)為建筑材料提供保護(hù)，免受諸如太陽的損耗。

一頭標(biāo)志性的綠色頭發(fā)，襯衫上印著野生植物的圖案，他便是“垂直花園”的創(chuàng)始人——帕特里克·布蘭克（Patrick Blanc）。

布蘭克1953年出生于巴黎，他那著名的植物墻的概念來自于自己的魚缸。在他還是個(gè)孩子的時(shí)候就發(fā)現(xiàn)植物可以在水中生長，他馬上就意識(shí)到植物的生長不一定完全依賴土壤。經(jīng)過多年的實(shí)踐，他試驗(yàn)成功了一種方法：活的植物墻。

他的首座“植物墻”工程完成于1988年的巴黎工業(yè)及科學(xué)城溫室里；1994年，布蘭克在法國盧瓦爾蒙肖國際花園節(jié)中，展出了兩座獨(dú)樹一格的垂直花園，令觀眾驚艷，由此引起外界關(guān)注。布蘭克的其他著名的垂直花園作品包括葡萄牙里斯本一家購物中心內(nèi)的垂直花園，泰國曼谷的百麗宮購物中心，科威特城的一座政府建筑。布蘭克所設(shè)計(jì)的面積最大的垂直花園位于巴黎的阿爾薩斯大街，其覆蓋面積達(dá)到15000平方英尺。此外，上海蘭餐廳內(nèi)的綠墻也出自他的手筆。

In New York， architect Laurence Tamaccio is proposing to cover the West Side Highway—the divider between Riverside Park South and the Hudson River—with a leafy vertical ivy garden and 9）aligning waterfalls. He believes his Vine Line proposal will become a source of pride for the entire community and 10）revamp the area aesthetically.

Near Milan， meanwhile， a shopping centre is claiming to have the biggest vertical garden in the world， with 1，263 square metres adorned with a total of 44，000 plants. It was designed by architect Francesco Bollani who said“it took us a year to grow the plants in a greenhouse and 90 days to build the 11）facade.”

The previous record was held by a Madrid garden covering 844 square metres.

在紐約，建筑師勞倫斯·塔馬喬正提議將西側(cè)高速公路——河濱公園南和哈德遜河之間的分隔物——覆蓋上一個(gè)枝繁葉茂的垂直常春藤花園和垂直瀑布。他相信自己的“綠藤前線”提議將成為整個(gè)社區(qū)的驕傲，而且將會(huì)使整個(gè)地區(qū)變得更加美觀。

與此同時(shí)，在米蘭附近，一個(gè)購物中心聲稱將擁有世界上最大型的垂直花園，面積達(dá)到1，263平方米，共使用44，000株植物來裝飾。此垂直花園是由建筑師弗朗西斯科·博拉尼設(shè)計(jì)的，他說：“我們花了一年的時(shí)間在溫室中種植植物，而外墻的搭建則花了90天?！?/p>

在此之前，這一記錄是由西班牙馬德里的一個(gè)面積844平方米的花園所保持的。