February 4, 2008

Urban Oasis: Botanic Architecture in Seoul

Urbanites might never stop craving nature in the concrete jungle, and in Seoul, they’ve found a nice compromise in Ann Demeulemeester’s new boutique. We talked about the rise of “botanic architecture” last week in our post about Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University; and this boutique follows a similar concept, bridging the gap between idyll and city with its vertical gardens. Originally conceived by French botanist Patrick Blanc, “Le Mur Vegetal” (or in English, “wall of vegetation”) relies on a lightweight material upon which greenery (in this case, manicured moss and bamboo) is cultivated and grown slowly. With the Belgian designer’s boutique, the Korean design firm Mass Studies have used Blanc’s idea and sowed the first seeds of ‘organic architecture’, as it is known, in the fashion world.