By: Roy Gilb
Bosco Verticale
Milan, Italy is one of the most polluted cities in Europe. One radical idea to mitigate this problem is creating the “greenest” building possible. The Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) looks like something out of a futuristic movie and will easily be the greenest building in Milan upon completion. The architectural masterpiece was designed by Stefan Boeri Architects as part of their BioMilano initiative to convert about 60 abandoned farms around the city into a greenbelt of environmentally-friendly buildings. The Bosco Verticale will have a green façade on every side with dense forest systems planted on each floor. These forests will serve as a microclimate for the building filtering out the polluting dust particles from the city. The fully-functioning and living bio-canopy will also absorb CO2, moderate extreme temperatures, lower noise pollution, and oxygenate the air all without electricity. On top of all those perks, the building will provide (somewhat) natural aesthetic beauty that is so often absent from cityscapes, and lower the living or working costs for the occupants.
Projects such as the Bosco Verticale provide hope for the polluted cities in the world and the green movement, especially if sufficient funding and support is provided. This short article is pertinent to our class discussions of the atmosphere and biosphere. More specifically, the building provides an excellent example of how plants regulate a variety of processes on Earth.
http://www.greenmuze.com/nature/trees/4243-milans-vertical-forest.html
This is a great example of the power of plants in affecting Earth’s processes. It’s amazing that plants can absorb CO2, moderate temperatures, lower noise pollution, oxygenate the air, and be very aesthetically pleasing all naturally. I find the idea of a man made “forest” constructed to reduce human caused pollution to be incredibly ironic, but also really exciting. Lots of the comments on the article discuss the roots of the trees and how they will affect the building’s structure, which I’d like to know more about as well. Also, what kind of security threats does the building pose in terms of falling branches? Regardless, it will be interesting to see the outcome of this “vertical forest,” and if more will be built in the future.
Ruby Shumaker
Very interesting stuff. I’ve also heard of buildings in cities where they will not just grow trees, but also agricultural products. This could help cities with pollution as well as hunger problems. Large cities could produce great quantities of food rather than buying from outside sources. This is an interesting topic to explore as the world’s population continues to grow and climate change may cause problems for some agricultural farmers.
this is a cool extension on the idea of green roofs, that have begun to see a rise in popularity across the united states over the past 15 years. Green roofs can provide tremendous benefits to both economically for the individual business and to the cities as a whole, if you have enough buildings with in a city. There have also been studies to suggest that work productivity increases when employees can see green space. I think it is also interesting to note that these vertical forrest are in Italy, the united states has had a history of lagging behind the rest of the world in green technologies, Germany has an advantage of about 30-40 years of green roof technologies over the united states. The fact that other countries are more aggressive in pursuing these technologies will put the united states at a disadvantage down the road. I would be interested to see if any of these ideas of vertical forrest are being considered in cities around the united states.