Greener Pasture
Like a little chapel on the prairie, architect Jean-Baptiste Barache’s simply elegant retreat in the tiny Normandy town of Auvillier is a modern play on centuries-old forms and technology.
Plain and Sempé
A maker of unfussy, elegant design objects, Inga Sempé delights in things both great and small—even if she doesn’t own any.
Parsing Paris
Critics call Paris a "living museum." If so, designer Erwan Bouroullec curates a must-see list from a compelling collection.
Garden Apartment
Botanist Patrick Blanc has been bringing the wilds of the rainforests to Parisian walls for over 30 years, most recently at the Jean Nouvel–designed Quai Branly museum. One lucky family, however, doesn’t have to go any farther than their living room to take in the wonders of Blanc’s vertical gardens. Oh how jealous Henri Rousseau would be!
Not Just Another Plant in the Wall
“Technically it’s a cinch,” Patrick Blanc says, and with a wave of the hand ticks off the ingredients needed to build a plant wall: ten-millimeter-thick waterproof PVC slabs covered with a polyamid felt, into which holes are cut for the plants; a small hose, punctured every ten centimeters by a two-millimeter hole, to run the length of the top of the wall; a timing device to ensure regular, light watering—like a trickle slowly wending its way down a mossy rock.
