Architectural Record – August 2019

124 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD AUGUST 2019 PROJECT LE NOUVEL KLCC

LOCATION KUALA LUMPUR

ARCHITECT JEAN NOUVEL, ATELIERS JEAN NOUVEL

snapshot

PHOTOGRAPHY: © ROLAND HALBE

An hour’s drive from Malaysia’s dense forests, a

new residential complex brings native greenery to

Kuala Lumpur’s modern skyline. Le Nouvel KLCC

comprises two slender towers–43 and 48 stories–by

Ateliers Jean Nouvel that rise above the capital’s

main business district, Kuala Lumpur City Center

(KLCC). To create the vertical gardens, French land­

scape architect and botanist Patrick Blanc applied

a grid of stainless­steel cables across the buildings’

glass facades and threaded them with high­ and

low­climbing varieties of liana vines. Because the

range of factors affecting plant life–including

insects, sunlight, and intense winds–vary from

level to level, Blanc had to use 243 species of the

plant to accommodate the disparities. In addition

to the veil the vines form, a lily pond next to the

swimming pool on the seventh floor, which joins

the two towers, is an oasis of serenity within the

bustling metropolis. Kara Mavros