While many cities in the world have had to build up due to overpopulation and a growing urban area, Milan is following in their tracks simply to improve the environment. The new Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest), two residential towers, are being built as a way of reforestation, with each home retaining several trees, shrubs and floral plants in their own private garden. Maintained through the building’s self-sustaining watering system, the garden will be able to absorb CO2 and dust particles in the polluted urban environment and improve not only the living space, but the city as well through this absorption and the continued production of oxygen. The garden will also be surrounded by solar panels to reduce energy usage and cost as well as improve self-sufficiency.
Designed by Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca and Giovanni La Varra, the urban forest will, in total, house over 900 trees and over 2,000 shrubs and flowering plants, which on flat ground is equal to roughly 107,369 square feet of new forestation. Bosco Verticale will also be a new habitat for birds and insects that would otherwise be unable to thrive in an urban environment. “The creation of a number of vertical forests in the city will be able to create a network of environmental corridors which will give life to the main parks in the city, bringing the green space of avenues and gardens and connecting various spaces of spontaneous vegetation growth,” says Boeri’s architectural team. The first two residential towers are nearing completion on the edge of the up-and-coming Porta Nuova district with plans to open later this year.
