![Tour Vegetale de Nantes by Edouard Francois](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/07/Tour-Vegetale-de-Nantes-by-Edouard-Francois.jpg)
One year ago...
Vertical gardens, secret courtyards and mist-spraying pools were in the news this time last year: a forested skyscraper was proposed for Nantes in France (above) and a foliage-clad house was completed in Brussels (below).
![House on the outskirts of Brussels by Samyn and Partners House on the outskirts of Brussels by Samyn and Partners](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/07/House-on-the-outskirts-of-Brussels-by-Samyn-and-Partners.jpg)
London was enjoying a somewhat warmer summer than the current rainy one and the secret garden inside Peter Zumthor's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion was proving a welcome respite from the heat (below).
![Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 by Peter Zumthor Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 by Peter Zumthor](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/07/Serpentine-Gallery-Pavilion-2011-by-Peter-Zumthor.jpg)
Meanwhile Tadao Ando was cooling pedestrians in Mayfair, London with a mist-generating pool with trees growing out of it (below).
![Silence by Tadao Ando Silence by Tadao Ando](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/07/Silence-by-Tadao-Ando.jpg)
Finally a half-glass, half-plant showroom opened in Bangkok (below).
![Vertical Living Gallery in Bangkok by Sansiri and Shma Vertical Living Gallery in Bangkok by Sansiri and Shma](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/07/Vertical-Living-Gallery-in-Bangkok-by-Sansiri-and-Shma.jpg)
See all our stories about gardens | See all our stories from July 2011