27-story "Vertical Forest" under construction in downtown Milan

[wtmusic]

"The most exciting new tower in the world is under construction in Milan. At 27 storeys high, Bosco Verticale is a splinter beside the Shard, the 87-storey skyscraper under construction in London. What sets the Milan tower apart is that it will be the world’s first vertical forest, with each apartment having a balcony planted with trees. In summer, oaks and amelanchiers will shade the windows and filter the city’s dust; in winter, sunlight will shrine through the bare branches.

Bosco Verticale is the vision of Stefano Boeri, architect, academic and former editor of design and architecture magazine Domus: he begins his presentation with Ovid’s fantasy of the nymph Daphne being turned into a tree. But, he adds, such a metamorphosis adds only 5 per cent to construction costs. And, he argues, it is a necessary response to the sprawl of the modern city. If the units were individual houses, it would require 50,000 sq m of land, and 10,000 sq m of woodland. Bosco Verticale is the first element in his proposed BioMilano, in which a green belt is created around the city and 60 abandoned farms on the outskirts are restored to community use."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/03b0f876-ea83-11e0-b0f5-00144feab49a.html

Interesting concept. I'm curious how they intend to prevent branches dropping onto pedestrians below, or a fire fueled by hot/dry weather turning the building into a 27-story torch...

[Kennah]

1. Add Godfather's pizza to the concrete mix. That shit is already burnt.

[FirstLight]

2. coolness...

k&R