A vision in green

Reducing buildings' environmental impact and increasing efficiency is a concern shared by green-minded architects globally. From the recycling of greywater to smart insulation, most of these eco-solutions are discreet, hidden away behind ceilings and walls. Now, though, a Swedish company is developing the means to clean up our built environment in a way that celebrates the natural world they seek to protect in spectacular style.

Founded by by Hans Andersson and Johan Svensson in 2004, Green Fortune specialize in what they call Urban Cultivation, or integrating green spaces into the modern urban cityscape through architecture. Early projects included greenhouses perched atop buildings housing rows and rows of vegetables, but it is their Plantwall for which the company has become best known: literally a vertical garden of dense foliage, installations can be found in offices, restaurants, hospitals and stores worldwide, the newest location being China.

Antoine Blancher heads up the recently founded Shanghai team, and is passionate about the plants' potential having long been fascinated with unconventional building. "I studied Agriculture Engineering, but I've always been interested in nature and architecture. When I was a student I was inspired by the Austrian architect and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser – he wanted buildings without corners, curved, and with imperfections where wild grass could grow. For him, building should be part of nature. I find that really interesting and it's similar to the vision of Green Fortune – agriculture meets architecture".





The young Frenchman has invited CreativeHunt to visit the company's latest project: a three-story high interior Plantwall, commissioned for the Shanghai offices of a Swiss chemical company. We pass the unexceptional reception desk, ride the entirely normal elevator, turn a fairly standard office building corner, before suddenly being confronted by an entirely unexpected luscious, green and vibrant wall of plants. The colors are so rich, infact, you half expect to see exotic birds and butterflies flitting around – it really is that beautiful, and all the more inspiring given its office environs.

Leaves of various sizes and shades climb the space, interspersed with ferns falling elegantly alongside. "We use indoor plants that in the wild are found under the canopies of tropical forests – they're plants that naturally don't need so much light", explains Antoine. "They also like to be vertical – they usually grow on trees with their roots hanging down as opposed to in soil – they're epiphytes, they can catch humidity in the air. On the Plantwalls they grow very healthy – they like stability and here they don't get touched so much, they don't get moved, they get the same amount of water and light every day".

That the plants are thriving, though, is not completely down to the consistency of their environment: seeds are genetically engineered at the company's laboratory in Sweden to produce strains that are not only of optimal health, but also resistant to insects and disease. "These are common plants but it's very hard to find them in perfect quality. We mix plants of different genetic backgrounds to improve resistance, so if one gets sick it won't affect all of them". The company also offer clients the option of weekly maintenance of the walls, keeping them in top-top condition.





Seeds are brought to Songjiang, China to grow in Green Fortune's nursery – a comparatively small greenhouse of some 10,000 plants. The installations rely on a highly absorbent, durable and mold-resistant fabric, equipped with pockets supporting soil and plants. Initial payment aside, they're surprisingly low cost to maintain, with large Walls needing just 12 litres of water each day, controlled by an automated system and dispersed via piping behind the wall, fed from above. Importantly, with both the soil and textile retaining liquid, little is wasted.

Plantwalls offer a lot more than a visually-striking installation, however: they make the air less dry, replacing the need for electric humidifiers, as well as purifying air by removing common indoor pollutants. When clad to a building's exterior, they help insulate the space, and, judging by the office staff at this particular firm, provide a refreshingly relaxing and natural view to counter the glare of computer screens.

What's more, and as Antoine explains, they can also act as a refuge for biodiversity, as well as being an educational tool. "One of our projects was at a school in Sweden, using quite rare plants from botanical garden, some of which were from abroad. The students had never seen them before, so they learn, see new things, and interact with it too simply by being around the Plantwall every day".





Plantwalls can be customized to include specific plants and flowers, or, in the case of Nike's European HQ, depict a company logo through various shades of green. They've been used extensively in hospital waiting areas to provide some respite to patients unable to venture outdoors; in banks to diffuse stressful stations; bars to add character; and fashion boutiques to express individuality. If you don't have a wall to spare, Green Fortune also propose hydroponic gardens for offices, planted with healthful foods for staff to enjoy; and even seasonal exterior 'window curtains' that offer leafy shade in summer, and in colder months, welcome sunshine through sparsely-covered wintery branches – not to mention a rainbow of Spring and Autumnal colours inbetween times.

The Green Fortune vision is an enticing one: both futuristic and also somehow grounding, the products realize a world where, having harnessed just about every other energy out there from nuclear to kinetic, we turn quite literally to our roots and explore the vast potential of plants, creating cities that are greener in every sense of the word. More projects are planned for China, including a particularly exciting installation destined for Shanghai in early 2012 – in the meantime, though, visit their website here for details.