Name: Bosco Verticale
Address: Milan, Italy
Architect: Stefano Boeri
Style: Modern / Sustainable
Description: Completed in 2014 in Milan’s Porta Nuova district, Bosco Verticale consists of two residential towers about 112 m and 80 m tall, designed by Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca, and Giovanni La Varra of Boeri Studio. The façades host a remarkable assemblage of vegetation, approximately 800 trees (480 large and medium, 300 small), 5,000 shrubs, and 11,000 perennial and groundcover plants, across more than 90 species, equating to some 30,000 m² of woodland compressed into just 3,000 m² of urban footprint. This ambitious scheme reflects Boeri’s vision of a “home for trees and birds that also houses humans,” redefining the high-rise as a vertical ecosystem rather than merely a built crystalline volume.
Beyond its striking visual impact, Bosco Verticale delivers a host of environmental benefits: it filters particulate pollution, absorbs CO₂ while producing oxygen (around 30 tons of CO₂ sequestered annually), moderates the local microclimate through shade and humidity control, dampens noise, and enhances residential thermal comfort—reducing interior temperatures by 2–3 °C thanks to foliage shielding. The project has also become a habitat for urban wildlife, over 1,600 birds and insects were recorded shortly after completion and won significant recognition, including the International Highrise Award (2014) and CTBUH’s Best Tall Building Worldwide (2015), cementing its status as a global prototype for green architecture, urban reforestation and sustainability in dense contexts.
Related Buildings:
1,000 Trees Shanghai
Little Island Hudson River Park
More Reading:
Milan Vertical Forest Turns 5 (Youtube)
The Architect Transforming Cities Into Vertical Forests