French architect Édouard Francois is famous for making living plants an integral part of his architecture. Since setting up his Paris office in 1998, he’s been looking for new ways to include plants in his designs: in 2000, “The Building That Grows” was marked by cantilevered wooden balconies that extend far into the dense greenery around apartment buildings. In 2004, the “Flower Tower” encapsulated a social housing project in an open layer of terraces with oversized flowers, creating a dense green layer resembling a forest. In the same year in Paris, François proved that even a simple ventilation shaft can be transformed by dense vegetation that seasonally features beautiful flowers. Together with Patrick Blanc, the inventor of the vertical garden, François ranks highly among the most important proponents of new green architecture in Europe.
In 2021, François finished his biggest project to date: “Le Ray” is a new neighborhood in the city of Nice in southern France on the Mediterranean coast. The site used to be the site of the city’s former sports stadium that was demolished when a new suburban plaza was opened. After demolition, most of the 10-hectare area became a new public park designed by Jean-Frédéric Gay, incorporating the remaining sports facilities. But along Main Street, where bus and tram lines provide a quick connection to downtown and the beach, a new housing development with 350 apartments and 65,000 square feet of commercial space has taken root.