The new buildings at the heart of La Défense are constructed in front of the ventilation shaft for the underground circulations.
The enormous concrete cylinder, 16 meters high, was considered quite unsightly and had to be transformed. The project involved covering it with vegetation. Morning glories were planted in copper planters that are filled with garden stakes, transforming the entire shaft into a floral display. The project is alive and evolves with the seasons.
The morning glories are a very wide-ranging plant group, including a plant called bindweed. It is characterized by extremely rapid vine growth and impressive blooms. The flowers span the whole range of colors. The most beautiful morning glory is nocturnal, its flowers opening only at night.
The copper will patinate from red-orange to green. The morning glories are planted annually during the autumn in the “creases” of the copper and fully flourish during the spring-summer period. The presence of the vegetation contrasts with the smoothness of the glass and concrete towers. This floral cascade creates a kind of special event on the Esplanade.
