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Flower Tower: wrapped in an outer layer of bamboo, this housing block is a vertical urban garden

Architectural Review, The, Sept, 2004

Four years after completing his remarkable 'Sprouting Building' in Montpellier (AR May 2000), Paris-based architect Edouard Francois' appetite for offbeat solutions to standard briefs remains undiminished. His latest housing block in the 17th arrondissment of Paris is a variation on the Montpellier project, replacing the gabion cages in which planting gradually takes root with an instant diaphanous screen of vegetation that seductively sheathes a low-rise residential tower in a lush green external skin.

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Francois' starting point was the observation that Parisians make enthusiastic use of balconies for planting; even the most cramped and theoretically inaccessible spaces usually boast a tub or two of foliage, giving a rich and surprising dimension to city life. Francois incorporates, amplifies and rationalises these informal impulses in his scheme for an apartment block on a site in the north-west district of Paris, near the Porte d'Asnieres and the busy orbital ring road of the Peripherique. The development forms part of a wider Zone d'Amenagement Concerte (ZAC)--special mixed urban development zones that usually involve various architects working together within a strong overall framework. Francois' building joins a series of new residential blocks by other designers arranged around a central landscaped square. The new 10-storey block is known as the Flower Tower, for reasons that are immediately obvious. Ranged along each perimeter balcony are tubs of luxuriant bamboo, forming a shaggy green corona around the building, like some unruly organic coiffure. The white precast concrete containers housing the bamboo resemble oversized comic flower pots, each firmly embedded in the narrow cantilevered balconies to prevent being dislodged by high winds or human hands--a vital precaution as the pots adorn the full height of the tower. To keep the 380 pots in optimum condition, each is watered and fertilized automatically through a system of tubes incorporated into the metal balustrade. The bamboo garden therefore runs and grows itself, but the facades more exposed to the sun will obviously flourish more intensely. You imagine that the planting will also be periodically trimmed by some kind of maintenance agency, though there is always the prospect of residents resorting to tactical pruning if the foliage grows too abundant (or if they aren't en rapport with bamboo in the first place).

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Apart from making an eye-catching statement, the greenery functions as a heat and light diffusing screen; it also acts as a counterpoint to the angular contours and hard surfaces of the building behind. Though the pots are precast, walls and floors are made of in-situ concrete, using black and white aggregates at random (as supplies turned up on site), to achieve a curiously blotchy marled effect, that might on initial viewing be mistaken for slightly slipshod workmanship. Not so.

Planning is simple and logical, with decently sized family flats (up to four bedrooms) compactly slotted in around a narrow central core of circulation and services. Within each flat, bathrooms and lavatories are usually internal, with living spaces, kitchens and bedrooms located on the perimeter to take advantages of views, light and the evolving profusion of greenery. Three subterranean floors of parking keep residents' cars off the streets. Flashes of colour, apart from the green foliage, are provided by a kaleidoscopic grid of mail boxes next to the entrance.

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It will be interesting to see how such a singular scheme develops over time; much will depend on how the bamboo is maintained, and the residents' reaction to their verdant veil. However, since Parisians tend to be well versed both in the nuances of apartment living and the foibles of architects, the omens for the Flower Tower's future must be hopeful. C.S.

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