'Going green' is the new edict of developers when seeking to enhance life in urban settings. Now, architects are bringing on pivotal landscape designers to fine-tune residential and mixed-use condos.
In conceiving New York's 53W53 tower, Pritzker Architecture Prize winning architect Jean Nouvel has teamed up with the Paris Ritz architect Thierry Despont and the landscape designer Patrick Blanc, the modern developer of the 'vertical garden'. The condo development, to be perched directly above the city's Museum of Modern Art, is set to open in 2018.
'For my vertical gardens, which will be 18 ft in height and surround the swimming pool, I'm using more than 100 species, many of them sourced from the tropical rain forest,' says Blanc. 'They will give a sense of poetry to the space.'
Creative schemes like these are aren't restricted to the United States and Europe, either. 'Right now, Jean and I are working on a huge project in Kuala Lumpur,' says Blanc, speaking from Malaysia. At the same time, he is also creating vertical gardens for developments in Singapore, Riyadh and Kuwait.
Down in Chelsea and directly opposite the High Line, David Kelly of Rees Roberts + Partners recently completed a $1 million garden for the Kohn Pedersen Fox condo tower at 500 West 21st Street, which spans the length of the building and the installation of which took an entire two years to complete. Composed of multiple layers of local trees, shrubs and flowers, Kelly's landscape design includes fully-grown 45 ft high honey locust trees and white birches.
Just why is this trend gaining traction so fast? Blanc explains: 'With increasing urbanisation globally, residents are seeking the sanctuary of nature and a direct connection between indoor and outdoor space.'
'For my vertical gardens, which will be 18 ft in height and surround the swimming pool, I'm using more than 100 species, many of them sourced from the tropical rain forest,' says Blanc.
In Chelsea, opposite the High Line, David Kelly of Rees Roberts + Partners recently completed a $1 million garden for the Kohn Pedersen Fox condo tower at 500 West 21st Street (pictured)
The garden spans the length of the building; the installation took an entire two years to complete
Composed of multiple layers of local trees, shrubs and flowers, Kelly's landscape design includes fully-grown 45 ft high honey locust trees and white birches
'With increasing urbanisation globally, residents are seeking the sanctuary of nature and a direct connection between indoor and outdoor space,' Blanc explains of the trend's increasing traction
-
The world’s best swimwear brands, according to Wallpaper*From architectural precision to a sense of ease and luxury, our comprehensive guide to the world’s best swimwear brands – for both men and women – will help you find the perfect beach attire this summer
-
Aesop’s Queer Library bookmarks brilliant literature, no purchase requiredReturning to London’s Soho, 3-6 July 2025, the Queer Library pop-up offers complimentary books by LGBTQIA+ authors and allies
-
Wangechi Mutu's powerful sculptures take over the palatial interiors of Rome's Galleria BorgheseThe Kenyan-born artist is the first living woman to have a solo exhibition at the villa
-
Inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Laurent House – a project built with accessibility at its heartThe dwelling, which you can visit in Illinois, is a classic example of Wright’s Usonian architecture, and was also built for a client with a disability long before accessibility was widely considered
-
Tour this fire-resilient minimalist weekend retreat in CaliforniaA minimalist weekend retreat was designed as a counterpoint to a San Francisco pied-à-terre; Edmonds + Lee Architects’ Amnesia House in Napa Valley is a place for making memories
-
A New Zealand house on a rugged beach exemplifies architect Tom Kundig's approach in rich, yet understated luxuryThis coastal home, featured in 'Tom Kundig: Complete Houses', a new book launch in the autumn by Monacelli Press, is a perfect example of its author's approach to understated luxury. We spoke to Tom Kundig, the architect behind it
-
Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpieceNow hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
-
The world of Bart Prince, where architecture is born from the inside outFor the Albuquerque architect Bart Prince, function trumps form, and all building starts from the inside out; we revisit a profile from the Wallpaper* archive, first published in April 2009
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think soFor some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
-
Hop on this Fire Island Pines tour, marking Pride Month and the start of the summerA Fire Island Pines tour through the work of architecture studio BOND is hosted by The American Institute of Architects New York in celebration of Pride Month; join the fun
-
A Laurel Canyon house shows off its midcentury architecture bonesWe step inside a refreshed modernist Laurel Canyon house, the family home of Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio
