Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest), Milan
Milan, Italy
21,528 sf planted terraces plus solar & wind

Image: Stefano Boeri Architetti by Paolo Rosselli

Greenroofs.com Featured Project July 22, 2019

As we continue to fine tune the agenda of our 5th biennial Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit 2019, we decided to replay one of most watched Featured Project videos ever, the Bosco Verticale by Stefano Boeri Architetti.  First published on January 15, 2018, the video has received 26,288 views on YouTube alone!

Stefano Boeri’s first Vertical Forest is located here in Milan, but many more are underway across the world.  We can’t to see more of the green architect’s work on über sustainable buildings!

Get a better look at the inside design issues on Vimeo from Studio Laura Gatti.  Laura presented the excellent “Greening the Vertical City – the Bosco Verticale and a Look into the Future of Urban Living” at our 2017 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit.

Image: Stefano Boeri Architetti

Image: Laura Gatti

Excerpt from Project Profile:

The innovative LEED Gold Bosco Verticale has elevated the definition of ‘green skyscraper’ to a new level. Designed by Boeri Studio, the award-winning Vertical Forest is a model for a sustainable residential building, a project for metropolitan reforestation contributing to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity. Without the implication of expanding the city upon the territory, it is a model of vertical densification of nature within the city.

Due to towering heights, terrace cantilevering, and heavy plantings, Arup performed geotechnical and structural engineering studies including wind tunnel testing. Developed by Hines, the first example of the Vertical Forest consists of two residential towers of 110 and 76 m high, situated in the center of Milan. All of the plant species were carefully selected by agronomists Laura Gatti and Emanuela Borio.

Images: Laura Gatti

The Bosco Verticale hosts 800 trees (each measuring 3, 6 or 9 meters), 4,500 bushes, and 15,000 plants from a wide range of shrubs and floral plants distributed according to the sun exposure of each facade. In addition to evergreen species, deciduous tree specimens include beeches, yellow acacias, oaks, maples, ash trees, ferns and ivy, which were arranged on the four different façades of the two skyscrapers. Specialized growth media is supplied by Europomice.

A team of aerial arborists perform pruning and other maintenance tasks several times per year, both inside and out. The over 20,000 plants absorb about 10,000 kilograms of CO2 per year and produce about 19,000 kilograms, or 42,000 pounds, of oxygen per year.

Images: Laura Gatti

More

The lushly planted Bosco Verticale and its ever-evolving seasonal facades offer residents a cool, colorful, and sustainable lifestyle and contribute dramatically to the Milan cityscape.

Conceived as a prototype of the skyscrapers of the future, Stefano Boeri Architetti continues with future designs for Vertical Forests throughout the world.

Year: 2014
Owner: Coima SGR – Porta Nuova Isola Fund
Location: Milan, Italy
Building Type: Multi-Family Residential
Type: Intensive
System: Custom
Size: 21528 sq.ft.
Slope: 1%
Access: Accessible, Private

Image: Stefano Boeri Architetti

At roof level, photovoltaic panels contribute to the self-sufficiency of the complex. Image © designboom.

Credits:

DEVELOPER:
HINES ITALIA

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN:
BOERI STUDIO (STEFANO BOERI, GIANANDREA BARRECA, GIOVANNI LA VARRA)

LANDSCAPE DESIGN:
EMANUELA BORIO, LAURA GATTI

MAIN CONTRACTORS:
COLOMBO COSTRUZIONI AND ZH CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER:
ARUP ITALIA

MEP ENGINEER:
DEERNS ITALIA

GROWTH MEDIA: EUROPOMICE

INTERIOR DESIGN:
COIMA IMAGE

Images: Laura Gatti

See the Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest), Milan project profile to see ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in the Greenroofs.com Projects Database.

Image: Stefano Boeri Architetti by Giovanni Nardi

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Love the Earth, Plant a Roof (or Wall)!

By Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEED AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher & Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summits Host