Milan has much to offer the discerning tourist: classic architecture, glorious piazzas, and of course, this painting. Its latest tourist trap, however, might be my favorite yet. Designed by architect and academic Stefano Boeri, Bosco Verticale is a 27-story tower of tree-lined units currently under construction in Milan, Italy. Once complete, the green structure will be home to the world's first "vertical forest.""Covered in plant life, the building aids in balancing the microclimate and in filtering the dust particles contained in the urban environment,"
"The diversity of the plants and their characteristics produce humidity, absorb CO2 and dust particles, producing oxygen and protect the building from radiation and acoustic pollution."Okay, vertical, sure. But forest is a bit of a stretch. The building will contain apartments, each with a balcony adorned with trees and plants that will shade during the summer and allow sunlight in winter.
The real genius, however, is that all this greenery doesn't cost that much. As Boeri told the Financial Times, planting the trees only adds five percent to construction costs—it would require 50,000 square meters of land and 10,000 square meters of woodland otherwise.