The Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) towers in Milan were inaugurated earlier this month. Covered by vegetation equal to one hectare of forest, the two towers will absorb carbon dioxide and dust, and create a favourable microclimate for people and birds alike in a city notorious for its air pollution.
The project is part of the redevelopment of Milan’s Porto Nuova district and was designed by Italian architect Stefano Boeri to combine high-density residential development with urban tree planting. The two mixed-use towers, measuring 80 metres and 112 metres, house 800 large and medium-sized trees, over 4,000 shrubs and 15,000 ground cover plants, according to an article on Inhabitat.com.
Acting like green lungs, the towers will absorb carbon dioxide and dust to help improve air quality. They will also lessen the urban heat island effect, reduce noise pollution and create a humid microclimate that produces oxygen while also providing shade.
As the design team at Boeri Studio explains, this kind of “biological architecture” also promotes biodiversity because the rich and diverse foliage creates a vertical environment that can be colonised by birds and insects.
The project was recently shortlisted for the prestigious International Highrise Award 2014, which called it an “impressive example of a symbiosis between architecture and nature”. Stefano Boeri is currently in China where he plans to replicate the Bosco Verticale project.
Lorenzoclick, flickr/Creative Commons