„And God said: Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth, and it was so.”

(Genesis 1:11)

The humans' environment is defined from the creation of man by plants, shrubs, trees, since the Garden of Eden was the home of the first couple. It is no coincidence that gardens, parks, and forests are still places for retreat, relaxation and refreshment.

 Unfortunately, urbanization has largely displaced green spaces from human habitat.
I visited major European cities, where I have explored the relationship between nature and the city and the "nature" built by man.

At times I have come across very ingenious solutions on how to smuggle some nature back into the concrete jungle, but unfortunately there are few such innovative examples across Europe.

However, I hope that more environmentally conscious architectural solutions will come to life in the future.

L'Umbracle is part of the City of Arts and Sciences complex, a garden planted with native Mediterranean plants in Valencia, such as lentisca, rock rose and bougainvillea.

Valencia, Spain

Patrick Blanc transformed a bare street corner in downtown Paris into a vertical garden. The botanist planted nearly 7,600 plants on a 25-meter-high concrete wall.

Paris, France

Located on the banks of the Seine River near the Eiffel Tower, the Quai Branly Museum is a repository of African and Oceanic art. The green walled museum wall was designed by Patrick Blanc, consisting of plants from China, Japan, America and Central Europe.

Paris, France

Corporate office building in the Catalan capital.

Barcelona, Spain

Designed by Stefano Boeri, the Bosco Verticale (meaning Vertical Forest) is located in Milan, designed to reduce the smog and ecological footprint. Almost 800 trees and 5,000 bushes were planted on the twin towers of 75 and 111 meters high.

Thanks to the spread of leaves on the facades, rich vegetation increases humidity, absorbs carbon dioxide while producing oxygen, filters out dust and protects residents from noise and summer heat.

Milan, Italy

Plants can be found in a variety of places, even in a special city like the floating Venice.

Venice, Italy

Hedge fence in the French capital.

Paris, France

The Flower Tower was built by Edouard François in 2004.

Paris, France

Lonely palm tree on Perpignan's main street.

Perpignan, France

Rooftop garden near Arc de Triomphe.

Paris, France