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.
Description: CopenHill, otherwise known as Amager Bakke is a pioneering combined heat-and-power waste-to-energy plant situated on Amager, just outside Copenhagen, Denmark. Designed by architect Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and opened in early 2017, the facility processes up to 400,000 tons of municipal waste annually and provides district heating and electricity for approximately 150,000–550,000 homes depending on demand. The plant exemplifies high environmental performance, featuring filtration systems that reduce sulfur emissions by 99.5% and NOₓ by 95%, among the cleanest in the world, while supporting Copenhagen’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2025.
More than just a power station, Amager Bakke reimagines industrial architecture as sustainable vibrant public infrastructure. Its sloped, 41,000 m² rooftop hosts a year-round ski slope, hiking trails, a tree-lined urban park, and the world’s tallest permanent climbing wall at 80 m, all built atop a functioning power plant. The aluminum-brick façade, conceived as a planter-like structure, supports greenery and diffuses natural light into interior spaces. The plant also incorporates playful elements such as a smokestack engineered to emit vapor rings as symbolic CO₂ markers, reflecting BIG’s vision of “hedonistic sustainability” and transforming what was once hidden into a social landmark for Copenhageners and visitors alike.
Name: Villa Savoye Client: Pierre and Eugénie Savoye Address: Poissy France Architect:Le Corbusier Style:International Style
Description: Villa Savoye, constructed between 1928 and 1931 in Poissy on the outskirts of Paris, France, is a masterwork by Le Corbusier that crystallizes the principles of modern architecture. Commissioned by Pierre and Eugénie Savoye as a weekend retreat, it was conceived as the ultimate embodiment of Le Corbusier’s “Five Points of Architecture” – slender pilotis elevating the structure, an open floor plan liberated from load-bearing walls, free-form facades, horizontal ribbon windows, and a flat roof terrace serving as a garden. Executed in reinforced concrete and finished with white plaster, the villa is designed to appear as a floating volume above the greenery, while a gently curved ground level lent partially painted in green hides service spaces beneath.
Inside, the spatial experience is governed by a ramp that guides visitors from the entrance through the interior salon and upward to the sculptural solarium, fostering a flowing architectural promenade rather than discrete rooms. Ribbon windows frame panoramic views like living paintings, while the roof garden demonstrates Le Corbusier’s desire to blend architecture with landscape. Though initially beset by construction challenges and underused after the Savoye family moved out, the villa was rescued from demolition, designated a French historical monument in 1965, restored from 1985 to 1997, and since 2016 has been included in UNESCO’s World Heritage list as part of The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier. Its design remains a touchstone of International Style and a milestone in 20th-century architecture.
Name: Saint Thomas Church Address: 1 West 53rd Street, New York NY Architect:Bertram Goodhue and Ralph Adams Cram Style: French High Gothic Revival
Description: Episcopal parish church facing Fifth Avenue on the corner of 53rd Street in New York City. Current building was designed by the team of Bertram Goodhue and Ralph Adams Cram in 1914 in the French High Gothic Revival style. The church itself is beautiful throughout, of particular note is the Rose Window.
Name: Azabudai Hills Address: Tokyo Japan Architect:Thomas Heatherwick Style: Sustainable
Description: Mixed use development in excess of 9 million square feet in Tokyo. Retail, apartments, office space, hotels. Standout feature are the gardens design by Thomas Heatherwick, that run along the sloping and swooping terraces falling off the roofs. Heatherwick excels at bringing nature in to urban spaces to create warmth and adventure. The property is Platinum LEED certified, giving it high ranks in the sustainability department.
Name: Little Island Hudson River Park Client: New York City Address: 13th Street West Side Highway, NY NY Architect:Thomas Heatherwick Style: Sustainable Architecture
Description: One of those magic places in New York City that seems somewhat implausible and maybe at first unnecessary. Little Island is exactly what the name suggests, a little island on the Hudson River. Replacing the almost completely deteriorated Pier 55 between roughly 12th and 14th streets off the West Side Highway. Restoring the old piers and giving them adaptive re-uses had / has been an on going project for many years. Mostly parks and green spaces, but also playground, tennis courts, restaurants, skate parks. The island is entirely artificial, created by tulip shaped concrete pillars sunk into the riverbed. Its primary use is an amphitheater / general performance space, but more than that it’s also a natural haven for all sorts of floral, and fauna, at least birds. Beyond its functional aspect it can also be seen as an architectural laboratory for sustainable design, the park is set above the 500 year flood plain, the open access to nature and the blending of nature with the functionality of the park.
Name: The Lido Spa Address: 40 Island Avenue Miami Beach FL Architect: Norman Giller Style:Miami Modern Architecture
Description: The large sign on the facade reading The Lido Spa pays homage to the properties history, today it is more well know as The Standard Hotel Miami Beach. However, the original building was constructed in 1953, designed by the architect Norman Giller and called The Monterrey Motel and Yacht Club, sitting on Belle Isle in Biscayne Bay just off of Miami Beach proper. It became the Lido Spa in 1960, marketed as the first health resort in Miami Beach. Interestingly enough at the time there was a tax deduction for “businessmen” who needed rest and recuperation. The owner had gym facilities, mineral baths, pools, and dietitians on property, thus guests could take advantage for the tax deduction. The Lido mostly appealed to older individuals looking for relaxation and healthy living in the sun. By the end of the 20th century it was effectively a retirement home. The Lido continued to operate well in to 2000’s when it was purchased by Andre Balazs, also owner of the Raleigh Hotel. Balazs, closed the property for renovation, led by the architect Alison Spear, and reopened it 2006.
Related Buildings: Motel Ankara, Miami Beach The Vagabond, Miami
Name: Willard Hotel Client: Henry Willard Address: 1401 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC Architect:Henry J Hardenbergh Style: Beaux-Arts
Description: The Willard InterContinental Washington DC, commonly known simply as the Willard Hotel, is a historic and refined Beaux‑Arts landmark located at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in downtown Washington, D.C., just two blocks from the White House and Metro Center. The story begins in 1816, when six two‑story row houses occupied the site; these were unified and expanded under Henry Willard in 1847 into a grand hotel that quickly earned the nickname “the Residence of Presidents” for hosting nearly every U.S. president since Franklin Pierce in 1853. The current hotel building, designed by architect Henry J Hardenbergh, the same architect behind New York’s Hotel Plaza and Waldorf Astoria was completed in 1904, rising twelve stories as Washington’s first skyscraper, later expanded in 1925. Architecturally, it combines turn‑of‑the‑century grandeur with modern luxury, offering spacious guest rooms, elegant function halls, and signature venues such as Peacock Alley, the Round Robin Bar, and Café du Parc.
Beyond its architectural significance, the Willard Hotel is deeply woven into U.S. history and culture. In February 1861, Abraham Lincoln was famously smuggled into its lobby by Allan Pinkerton and stayed there until his inauguration, conducting staff meetings in its iconic public rooms; during that same year, Julia Ward Howe composed “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” while staying at the hotel. The hotel has been a meeting place for Civil War peace conferences, literary figures like Mark Twain and Walt Whitman, and political events including Martin Luther King Jr.’s final edits to his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. After closing in 1968 and standing vacant for nearly two decades, the Willard underwent a meticulous restoration and reopened in 1986 as the Willard InterContinental Washington, fully revitalized and reaffirmed as a premier venue for historic luxury and social prestige
