Living Wall

A living wall bursts with vegetation at Paris's Musée du Quai Branly—a type of green wall that's catching on in some big cities.

These vegetated surfaces don't just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building's energy efficiency. 

What's more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what's called a "street canyon," or the corridor between tall buildings.