1. VERTICAL GARDENS Teatro del bosque, Móstoles

2. WHAT IS A VERTICAL GARDEN? A vertical garden or a living wall is a wall covered with vegetation. The plant supporting system is very light and thus can be implemented on any wall. Perro Pupy museo Guggenheim (Bilbao)

3. THE ORIGINS OF VERTICAL GARDENS In the west, after the creation of the cities, gardens were the best way to be close to nature. Vertical gardens started to be built to solve the problems of space in the cities. For this reason, they can mostly be found in urban environments. Caixa Forum (Madrid)

4. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF VERTICAL GARDENS?.They act as a thermic isolation system:they reduce the overall temperature of the building in summer and protect the building from the cold in winter. -They avoid the risk of floods because they retain some of the water that comes from the storms. -They save water because they are based on a closed water circuit. Torre de Cristal (Madrid)

5. WHAT ARE THE DISADVANTAGES OF VERTICAL GARDENS? Sometimes the roots grow deep inside the wall and damage it, but there is a solution to this: the use of a waterproofing system, of very light plants and of automated watering. Caixa Forum (Madrid)

6. WHICH MATERIALS ARE USED IN THE CREATION OF A VERTICAL GARDEN? ARE THEY DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN? Materials: A metal frame and a PVC layer. Thus, the whole weight of a vertical garden is less than 30 kilos per square metre. Maintenance: Living walls are easy to maintain because they use automated watering. However it is necessary to check this system periodically and to trim the plant ocassionally. Torre de Cristal (Madrid)