Outdoor Wall, Natura Towers

This garden wraps around three sides of the square, facing south, east and north. The surface has several openings, doors and shop windows, and goes along two sets of stairs that connect the square with the upper- and lower levels. These openings and irre

gularities creates an interesting surface as it integrates several functions and invites the visitors to come close.

The north facing wall enjoys a protected location with no direct sunlight at all. It hosts a variety of ferns from genera such as A

splenium, Athyrium, Pteris and Polystichum, and many broad leaved species like different Begonia, Pilea, and Arum. There are also contrasting fields with thin, linear leafed plants - like Iris japonica and some varieties of Chlorophytum comosum. Together,

these different areas create a moist, woodland character with a tropical touch brought by a few solitary, larger exotic plants, like Philodendron bipinnatifidum, Platycerium bifurcatum and Monstera deliciosa.

For a large part of the day, the south

facing wall is shadowed by one of the buildings, but still, the sun exposure creates significantly different growing conditions. Unlike the other walls where most plants have rather modest flowering, this wall is more colorful, for example species of Cea

nothus, Geranium, Fuchsia, Bergenia, Cuphea, Heuchera, Lantana, Pelargonium and Campanula. There is also some areas with grass- or grasslike plants. The intention is to create small, light, moving grass-fields framing some of the openings. As a total ther

e are approximately 300 cultivars.

All pictures: Natura Towers, MSF headquarter, Lisbon, Portugal
Architect: GJP Arquitectos