A 'Vertical Forest' Is Coming to China

When thinking up ways to incorporate greenery into cities, many architects are looking up. One of the studios leading the vertical forest trend is Italy-based Stefano Boeri Architetti. After designing lush, green skyscrapers in Milan and Switzerland, the firm is now taking their concept to Nanjing, China with completion set for 2018, New Atlas reports.

The third iteration of their Bosco Verticale project will feature two towers, the first standing 656 feet tall and the second reaching 354 feet. Combined, the buildings will support 1100 trees and 2500 plants overflowing from concrete planters attached to the balconies. Inside, the structures will have room for a hotel, a food market, restaurants, offices, retail stores, exhibition spaces, a conference hall, and a green architecture school. A rooftop swimming pool will be built on the shorter tower and a private club will go on top of the larger one.

The vibrant plant life will do more than act as a pretty facade. The firm writes on their website that the towering nursery will absorb 25 tons of CO2 per year and emit about 132 pounds of oxygen per day. Though as New Atlas points out, the energy required to produce all those concrete planters may offset the project’s environmental benefits.

The French firm Edouard François showed us last year that it is possible to erect a “green” high-rise without all the extra weight. Instead of hundreds of trees, the M6B2 Biodiversity Tower features high-climbing vines that disperse seeds throughout Paris.

[h/t New Atlas]

All images courtesy of Stefano Boeri Architetti.