The Italian Cultural Institute in Istanbul publishes the volume Storie di Architetti Italiani (Stories of Italian Architects), which collects the contributions of the speakers invited to the cycle of meetings Storie di Architetti Italiani, conceived and curated by Moira Valeri from 2016 to 2021, including a paper by Stefano Boeri.
The text, entitled Un Bosco Verticale (A Vertical Forest), deals with the genesis and future of the first prototype of the typology in Milan, starting from the inspirations that influenced the project – from Calvino to Beuys to Hundertwasser – up to its construction.
The Bosco Verticale, designed by Boeri Studio, is the prototype building of a new architecture of biodiversity, which places not only man but the relationship between man and other living species at the centre. Built in the Porta Nuova area, it consists of two towers, 80 and 112 m high, housing a total of 800 trees (480 first and second size trees, 300 smaller ones), 15,000 perennials and/or ground cover plants and 5,000 shrubs. A vegetation equivalent to that of 30,000 square metres of forest and undergrowth, concentrated on 3,000 square metres of urban area. The project is thus also a device to limit city sprawl induced by the search for greenery (each tower is equivalent to about 50,000 square metres of single-family houses). In contrast to ‘mineral’ façades made of glass or stone, the vegetal screen of the Bosco does not reflect or amplify the sun’s rays, but filters them, generating a cosy indoor microclimate without harmful effects on the environment. At the same time, the green curtain ‘regulates’ humidity, produces oxygen and absorbs CO2 and fine dust.
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