Patrick Blanc (born June 3, 1953,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) is a French

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

who works at the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

, where he specializes in plants from

tropical forests Tropical forests are forested ecoregions with tropical climates – that is, land areas approximately bounded by the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical forest types ...

. He is the modern innovator of the

green wall A green wall is a vertical built structure intentionally covered by vegetation. Green walls include a vertically applied growth medium such as soil, substitute substrate, or hydroculture felt; as well as an integrated hydration and fertigation ...

, specifically, he invented the modern vertical hydroponics garden, which distinguishes it from its predecessors (aka. the Green Wall, Botanical Brick invented by Professor Stanley Hart White at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1938). Patrick Blanc's contemporary patents are responsible for modernizing and popularizing the garden type. Blanc describes his vertical garden as follows: This system exemplifies Blanc's ideas as a scientist and also the 15th target of the ''

Haute Qualité Environnementale The ''Haute Qualité Environnementale'' or HQE (High Quality Environmental standard) is a standard for green building in France, based on the principles of sustainable development first set out at the 1992 Earth Summit. The standard is controlled b ...

'' ("High Quality Environment") project, although the latter gives particular stress to use of more local species, at least outdoors. In 2009 he was awarded an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

Works

; Green walls * 1988 : green wall, made at the Museum of Science and Industry in Paris * 1998 : Fondation Cartier in Paris * 2000 :

Aquarium of Genoa The Aquarium of Genoa () is the largest aquarium in Italy. Located in the Old Harbour area of Genoa, Italy, the aquarium is a member organization of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), and welcomes more than 1.2 million visitors ...

, Italy * 2001 : Perhsing Hall Hotel in Paris * 2003 : Marithé & François Girbaud boutique in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

* 2003 : French Embassy in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

* 2004 : Green façade at the Administrative building of the

Quai Branly Museum A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( ...

in Paris * 2004 :

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa The is a museum of contemporary art located in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan. The museum was designed by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the architectural office SANAA in 2004. In October 2005, one year after its openin ...

, Japan. * 2005 : North face of the shopping centre in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

* 2005 : Vinet Square in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

(with Michel Desvigne) * 2005 :

Siam Paragon Siam Paragon () is a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand. It is one of the largest malls in Thailand, along with Iconsiam, CentralWorld and Central WestGate. It is located right in front of Siam BTS station, an interchange station on both Sukhumvi ...

shopping center in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

* 2006 : Weleda,

8th arrondissement of Paris The 8th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le huitième'' (). The ar ...

* 2007 : ''BHV Hommes'' shop (BHV for men),

4th arrondissement of Paris The 4th arrondissement of Paris (''IVe arrondissement'') is one of the twenty Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''quatrième''. Along with the 1 ...

* 2007 :

CaixaForum Madrid CaixaForum Madrid is a cultural center in Madrid, Spain. Located in Paseo del Prado in a former power station, it is owned by the not-for-profit banking foundation "la Caixa". The art center opened its doors in 2008 and it hosts temporary art ex ...

* 2008 : Arch at the roundabout at the Grand Theatre of Provence at

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

* 2008 : Galeria Przymorze, shopping centre in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, Poland * 2008 :

Melbourne Central Shopping Centre Melbourne Central is a large shopping centre, office, and public transport hub in the Melbourne central business district, central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The main tower is high, making it one of the List of talle ...

, Australia * 2008 :

Galeries Lafayette Galeries Lafayette () is an upmarket French department store chain, the biggest in Europe. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates a number of locations in France and other countries ...

, Berlin Friedrichstraße, Germany * 2009 :

The Athenaeum Hotel The Athenaeum is a family-owned five-star hotel overlooking Green Park in Piccadilly, London. History The site Hope House was built at 116 Piccadilly in 1849–1850 by Henry Pelham-Clinton, the 6th Duke of Newcastle. The name Athenaeum first a ...

, Piccadilly, London, UK * 2009 :

360 Mall 360 Mall is a shopping mall located on the Sixth Ring Highway in the South Surra, Kuwait that opened on 5 July 2009. The mall has a circular design, and its name 360 is derived from the circular design of the complex, and its design follows the mo ...

, Kuwait * 2010 : Ronald Lu & Partners, Hong Kong * 2014 :

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, Sydney * 2016 : Le Nouvel Towers, Kuala Lumpur * 2018 : Museum of Contemporary Art,

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

https://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/node/14152 (Polish) ;Other works * 1994 : Garden Festival of

Chaumont-sur-Loire Chaumont-sur-Loire (, ), commonly known as Chaumont, is a commune and town in the Loir-et-Cher department and the administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France, known for its historical defensive walls and its castle. Château de Chaumo ...

Bibliography

* 1990 : ''Biologie d'une canopée de forêt équatoriale : rapport de Mission Radeau des cimes, octobre-novembre 1989, Petit Saut, - Guyane française'', ("Biology under an equatorial forest: report of Study Radeus, October–November 1989,

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, a collective study under the direction of Francis Hallé et Patrick Blanc, Departement of Industry and xylochemistry * 2002 : ''Être plante à l'ombre des forêts tropicales'' ("Putting plants in the light of tropical forests"), Éditions Nathan * 2005 : ''Le bonheur d'être plante'', ("The pleasure of being a plant"), Éditions Maren Sell () * 2007 : ''Folies végétales'' ("Plants' follies"), (lecture, Paris), éditions Chêne * 2008 : ''Le Mur Végétal, de la nature à la ville'' ("The green wall in town and country"), éditions Michel Lafon

Gallery

Image:CaixaForum Madrid 1.jpg, The vertical garden of

at its creation in 2007. Image:Vertical - Taken from Paseo de Prado.jpg, CaixaForum in 2009. Image:CaixaForum Madrid (España) 01.jpg, CaixaForum in 2011, showing the evolution of the vegetation in 4 years. Image:Jardín vertical de CaixaForum Madrid.jpg, Detail of CaixaForum in 2011. Image:Mur végétal Aix.JPG, Vertical garden of the Arche du rond point du

Grand Théâtre de Provence The Grand Théâtre de Provence (GTP) is a venue located in the new Aix-en-Provence in district "Sextius Mirabeau". A symbol of the Aix region was used for the design of the volumes of this room: the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, recalled in particul ...

, in

(2008).

References

External links

Patrick Blanc's homepage

InFrame.tv video interview with Patrick Blanc which includes footage of the construction of his vertical garden in Melbourne, Australia

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, 3 May 2007
Interview with Patrick Blanc
by Ping magazine. {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanc, Patrick 20th-century French botanists 1953 births Living people 21st-century French botanists People from Paris

Works

Bibliography

See also

Gallery

References

External links