Urban Green

The flowerpots on walkways in Kyoto would not have struck me if they had not always been standing in front of houses together with miniature Torii, which indicate holy places.

Several long rows of carefully cultivated green plants in a very dark, secluded backyard in Manhattan, or a lonely gum tree in a deserted Parisian passage, seem similarly odd.

The architects of an impressive administration building in Lisbon obviously felt compelled to integrate nature into their project.They put real trees as decoration on a dazzling white concrete panel - the only green in the large complex.

The way people use plants tells a lot about the meaning of nature.