After 5 year construction, Stefano Boeri Architects' brilliant "Bosco Verticale" towers are finally complete. World's first vertical forest comprises a fantastical pair of luxury high-rises that add nearly 10.2 thousand square meters of lush vegetation to the skyline of Milan, a city notorious for its air pollution. However, "Bosco Verticale", which translates in English as "vertical forest," will be more than just a beautiful sight to behold--like a pair of green lungs, its forested facade of 21 thousand plants will absorb CO2 and particulates, dampen noise pollution, lessen the urban heat island effect, and create oxygen and favorable microclimates. The "Bosco Verticale" mixed-use towers were constructed with US$ 2.5 billion public-private investment as part of the redevelopment of Milan's Porta Nuova district. The towers, measuring 80 meters and 110 meters, house 800 trees between 3 and 9 meters tall, over 4 thousand shrubs, and 15 thousand ground cover plants including vines and perennials. Created with LEED Gold certification in mind, "Bosco Verticale" is also equipped with a gray water recycling and irrigation system as well as photovoltaic solar cells. The buildings welcomed its first residents last month, but those families weren't the only ones to call the vertical forest home; a thriving bird population has already begun to nest in "Bosco Verticale's "rich foliage, of which over a hundred different species of trees and shrubs are represented. "The real key to this project is biodiversity," says Boeri. In addition its 22 thousand residences, the high-density mixed-use towers also comprise 6400 square meters of office space and 650 commercial spaces. Nearly two out of ten property buyers are foreigners. The superstructure was also recently shortlisted for the prestigious International High-rise Building Award 2014 (The City of Frankfurt has bestowed The International Highrise Award every two years since 2004. The honor is awarded to a structure that combines exemplary sustainability, external shape and internal spatial quality, not to mention social aspects, to create a model design. The prize, a 50 thousand euro is awarded to the planners and developers jointly) as one of the five most beautiful and innovative high-rises in the world that were recently completed. Boeri is currently in China, where he plans to replicate the "Bosco Verticale" project.

When a few years ago, Italian architect Stefano Boeri announced about his plan to build world's first vertical forest in Milan, nobody believes, that the structure is certainly more than just a fantasy. In fact it's well on its way to being completed this year. The project's two towers have already reached full height, and since April of 2012 teams have been installing trees on the structure and late in 2013 we will meet its opening. Milan is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and the Bosco Verticale project aims to mitigate some of the environmental damage that has been inflicted upon the city by urbanization. The design is made up of two high-density tower blocks with trees and vegetation planted on the facade. The Bosco Verticale is a system that optimizes, recuperates, and produces energy. 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. This not only improves the quality of living spaces, but gives way to dramatic energy savings year round. Each apartment in the building will have a balcony planted with trees that are able to respond to the city's weather - shade will be provided within the summer, while also filtering city pollution; and in the winter the bare trees will allow sunlight to permeate through the spaces. Plant irrigation will be supported through the filtering and reuse of the grey water produced by the building. Additionally, Aeolian and photovoltaic energy systems will further promote the tower's self-sufficiency. The two towers measure 80 meters and 110 meters tall respectively, and together they have the capacity to hold 480 big and medium size trees, 250 small size trees, 11 thousand ground-cover plants and 5 thousand shrubs (that's the equivalent of 10 thousand square meters forest). The types of trees were chosen based on where they would be positioned on the buildings' facades and it took over two years of working with botanists to decide which trees would be most appropriate for the buildings and the climate. The plants used in the project were grown specifically for the building, pre-cultivated so that they would gradually acclimate to the conditions they would experience once placed on the building. Milan's environment does not promote biodiversity. The new plantings will provide an urban eco-system able to support the presence of birds and insects. Bosco Verticale has the potential to balance out the city's environmental damage and to create a self-sufficient ecosystem. Even more impressive is the fact that the construction of the towers cost just five percent more than an average skyscraper, and the project's vertical design provides space that is equal to an area of sprawl measuring 50 thousand square meters.