Asia’s First “Vertical Forest” To Combat China’s Pollution

Renowned architect and urban planner Stefano Boeri has announced that he will lead the design of Asia’s first plant-filled residential towers in Nanjing, China.

After the success of Boeri’s ‘Bosco Verticale’ in Milan, Chinese developers were eager to replicate the ‘vertical forest’ in a project that will provide roughly 60kg of oxygen per day and 35 tons of CO2 absorption each year.

The Nanjing design lays out the construction of two towers that will feature terraces lined with 1,100 trees, and 2,500 cascading plants and shrubs. The tallest tower will be 200 meters high, and will include offices, a museum, a green architecture school, and a private rooftop club. The smaller tower, at 108 metres high, will operate as a Hyatt hotel, with shops, a food market, restaurants, and a swimming pool on it’s rooftop. It is also hoped that the green towers will rejuvenate biodiversity in the city, attracting birds and insects to its ‘living walls.’

The Nanjing towers are due to be completed in 2018, and could set a precedent in China and the rest of the world for a new way to begin transforming urban environments and combat greenhouse gas emissions.