#EcoGarden | Valentina Expressions

Urban Gardens | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

My fascination with gardens takes me to a constant research to find innovative solutions for my clients and for my garden as well. I do gardening and grow the food I like to eat as a form of relaxation and as another way to get closer to Mother Earth.

I came across this new idea called “Urbanana” created in Paris by French practice SOA Architects. The building of Urbanana sits between two residential buildings in the middle of the city and it is an open glass space dedicated to a cultivation of most bananas species, especially the type that is no longer available in Europe.
Inside of the building, on the bottom floor, there is an exposition area, a restaurant and even a boutique. There is no flooring above the exposition area, where the plants are growing, but a system of bridges fill the interior spaces to provide access to each section and to give maximum daylight to the plants. In this giant green house, artificial and natural lighting help plants maturing naturally, following the succession of seasons.

(All Urbanana images belong to SOA)
Transformed Mason Jar Herb Garden from Camille Styles
Vertical Garden photo Associate Press
Haricot Vert and Hanging Sun-dried Peppers photos ©Valentina Cirasola

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This is a superb initiative and I hope more people will come up with similar models to reproduce many types of vegetation. Looking at the bird’s eye view picture, all those banana trees add a feeling of a tropical island in the middle of a busy city. I can smell the banana scent in the middle of Paris!

For homegrown food, we can take this model to make a less imposing structure and still produce natural food with only natural light, water and love. Vertical gardens can be attached anywhere in the outdoor space, on walls, on heavy fences, or made as freestanding structures. This has been my goal since several years ago, when I decided to become a weekend city farmer and turn my backyard into a healthy source of tasty food my way.

I have made wreaths of tomatoes and peppers to dry under the sun. In a few days the will be turned into sauces and compote for the winter. My winter table promises well and my friends will be really happy. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as an interior designer since 1990.  She has helped a variegated group of fun people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors.  She designs landscape concepts as a complement to the residential design concept.
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