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Stefano Boeri's first Vertical Forest in China completes in Hubei province

2022-01-25T14:16:00-05:00

A new landmark in the long history of Chinese housing experiments is about to be inaugurated as Stefano Boeri Architetti's “social forest” has been completed in Huanggang.

Located in Hubei Province’s second-largest city, Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex is a near-identical twin to the firm’s previous “social forest” development in the Netherlands. The new development consists of two residential towers in a five-building mixed-use complex taking up approximately 4.54 hectares (11.2 acres) in total area.

Image courtesy RAW VISION

According to the architect: “The design allows an excellent view of the tree-lined façades, enhancing the sensorial experience of the greenery and integrating the plant landscape with the architectural dimension. Thus, the inhabitants of the residential towers have the opportunity to experience the urban space from a different perspective while fully enjoying the comfort of being surrounded by nature.”

Image courtesy RAW VISION

Image courtesy RA...

Stefano Boeri releases documentary about 'world’s first social housing vertical forest'

2021-12-22T14:59:00-05:00

Stefano Boeri Architetti has released a short documentary on the Trudo Vertical Forest, which the firm bills as “the first social housing vertical forest in the world.” Built in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, the project draws its inspiration from the firm’s Bosco Verticale in Milan.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Stefano Boeri Architetti (@stefanoboeriarchitetti)

The 19-story tower rises 230 feet (70 meters) and contains 125 apartments designed to accommodate long-income users, particularly young couples. In addition, thirty homes in the building have been reserved for asylum seekers, political refugees, and people with disabilities.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Stefano Boeri Architetti (@stefanoboeriarchitetti)

The facades are adorned with 135 trees of various species as well as 10,000 shrubs and plants. To service the extensive greenery, the scheme contains four collection tanks housing 20,000 liters of rainwater eac...

A case for nature: Architect and regenerative design strategist Amanda Sturgeon pushes for rewilding cities

2021-04-06T20:39:00-04:00

More cities are incorporating biophilic design approaches for several reasons. While some firms genuinely practice regenerative and sustainable design methods, others could be placed into the category of "greenwashing" to satisfy trends and bolster their firm's PR efforts. However, according to architect and regenerative design strategist Amanda Sturgeon, the goal is to have buildings "that are intimately connected to the living systems that have evolved with us, that celebrate the human-nature connection that is central to our wellbeing."

In her recent article for The Guardian, Sturgeon makes a case for rewilding cities. She explains, "rewilding is about adding nature everywhere, not just in parks, by using nature-based solutions or green infrastructure at the edges of our streets, in leftover spaces, and on and within our buildings."

Featured on Archinect: McMansion Hell's Kate Wagner dissects issues with big tech and the 'blurred line' between private and public space. Image cou...

When green architecture gets too green

2020-09-16T13:09:00-04:00

An experimental green housing project in a Chinese megacity promised prospective residents life in a "vertical forest", with manicured gardens on every balcony. [...] The problem? The mosquitoes love the plants, too. [...] Without any tenants to care for them, the eight towers have been overrun by their own plants - and invaded by mosquitoes.

Stefano Boeri envisions cuboid vertical forests for Egypt's new capital

2019-08-09T15:30:00-04:00

A trio of mid-rise residential towers proposed by Italian firm Stefano Boeri Architetti could help clean the air in Egypt's new administrative capital city, while also providing affordable housing for that city's residents.

Of the verdant towers, dubbed "Africa's first vertical forest" by the architects, two would contain affordable housing units while the third will contain a hotel. The trio of forested buildings is slated for a new 6.5-million resident city currently under construction roughly 30 miles east of Cairo.

The experimental buildings are proposed as part of a new town plan developed by Boeri and architect Francesca Cesa Bianchi, and could contain up to 350 trees and 14,000 shrubs when completed. The sustainably-minded town plan also envisions bringing green roofs to the district's existing buildings, in addition to erecting new, vertically-oriented plant-filled surfaces. So-called "green corridors" will link the new city together, as well, solidifying the beneficial imp...

Bjarke Ingels Group designs "urban tree farm" that will become Quito's tallest building

2018-10-15T14:49:00-04:00

Rising 33-stories, the stack of concrete boxes that will make up the IQON tower in Quito, Ecuador, will become the city's tallest building. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, the firm's first project in South America recently began construction.

Image by Bjarke Ingels Group.

Plans for the residential tower involve the creation of an 'urban tree farm'—"we are letting La Carolina park climb up and into the building by planting native trees and plants on the terraces," says the architects. Each terrace will host a different species of tree, allowing the building's façade to celebrate the country's biodiversity.

Image by Bjarke Ingels Group.

But, the scheme goes beyond the typical phenomenon of vertical forests by incorporating the trees into part of a green cycle. "Once the vegetation planted on the terraces of the building outgrows their planters, they can be replanted in parks all over the city," the firm explains.

Image by Bjarke Ingels Group.

The design is...

Social housing goes green with another urban forest designed by Stefano Boeri

2018-01-11T14:15:00-05:00

A social housing project in the Netherlands plans to adopt a Vertical Forest designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti. Now Eindhoven will join the list of Vertical Forest cities Milan, Nanjing, Utrecht, Tirana, Lausanne, and Paris.

The client, Sint-Trudo, has instigated the first Vertical Forest project to be used by low-income social groups—tackling climate change and housing shortages in one project. The building will have 125 social housing units within 19 floors of apartments, which will be rented out at affordable rates and include balconies with hundreds of trees and plants.

Promoting sustainable architecture worldwide, the firm is committed to improving city environments for both the climate and its inhabitants.

Stefano Boeri envisions Vertical Forest Seeds on Mars in Shanghai Urban Space Art Season 2017

2017-10-19T14:58:00-04:00

Stefano Boeri's Vertical Forest towers are slowly popping up around the world. In Shanghai, the concept is transported to the Red Planet in “Vertical Forest Seeds on Mars”. The project is part of the Shanghai Urban Space and Art Season 2017 exhibition (SUSAS), which Stefano Boeri co-curated with Li Xiangning (Dean of the Tongji University School of Architecture and Urban Planning) and Fang Zhenning (independent artist and international critic).

Currently open at Shanghai's Minsheng Port, the three-month SUSAS exhibition showcases art, architecture, urban planning, and design projects that envision the future of today's cities.

Image credit: Stefano Boeri Architetti.

Developed by Stefano Boeri Architetti's China studio and Tongji University's Future City Lab as a response to Earth's rising sea levels, the project envisions a “colony of Shanghai on the Red Planet” in 2117. Habitable “eco-systemic seeds” would travel via an interplanetary space st...

Stefano Boeri to Build Asia's First "Vertical Forest"

2017-02-03T12:25:00-05:00

The Nanjing Green Towers designed by Stefano Boeri will become the first “Vertical Forest” built in Asia, according to a press release. Following the prototype of towers built in Milan, the two towers designed for Nanjing Pukou District comprise the “interchange of green tanks and balconies”.

600 tall trees, 500 medium-sized trees, and 2,500 plants and shrubs will cover the façade. It is, according to the architects, a “real vertical forest” capable of regenerating local biodiversity. The building will capture 25 tons of CO2 per year and produce about 60kg of oxygen per day.

The first tower—the taller of the two—will include a museum, a “green architecture” school and a private club. The second tower, which is 108 meters tall, will contain a Hyatt Hotel with a rooftop pool.

As an essay by Mark Minkjan for Failed Architecture once noted, these sort of green towers “never come to look as lavish as they are projected”. Plants have trouble surviving the smog and high winds present at such...

Boeri Studio wins over OMA, Jean Nouvel, and Steven Holl for International Highrise Award 2014

2014-11-25T18:05:00-05:00

Now in its sixth year, the International Highrise Award 2014 went to Bosco Verticale in Milan, Italy by Boeri Studio (Stefano Boeri Architetti and Barreca & La Varra) with developer Hines Italia SGR. The biennial award recognizes high-rise towers around the world that are considered to best combine exterior + interior, sustainable, and social aspects. Buildings had to be at least 100 meters tall and commissioned within the last two years.

WINNER OF INTERNATIONAL HIGHRISE AWARD 2014: "Bosco Verticale"
by Boeri Studio (Stefano Boeri Architetti and Barreca & La Varra)

SHORTLISTED FINALISTS:

“De Rotterdam” by Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)

“One Central Park” by Ateliers Jean Nouvel

“Renaissance Barcelona Fira Hotel” by Ateliers Jean Nouvel

Sliced Porosity Block by Steven Holl Architects

More photos and other details on Bustler.

World's First Vertical Forest Will Open This Year in Milan

2013-01-10T10:05:00-05:00

Back in 2011 we reported on the Bosco Verticale — a new superstructure designed to bring the world's first vertical forest to Milan, Italy. While many were skeptical when it came to the feasibility of construction, Boeri Studio reports that the structure is certainly more than just a fantasy - in fact it's well on its way to being completed this year.

The age of flower towers

2011-10-10T20:54:39-04:00

Architects are tackling the problems of the concrete jungle with ambitious schemes using green technology to grow forests in the sky