First Vertical Forests to Be Planted in Nanjing

A group of Italian architects is set to construct the first vertical forest in Nanjing.

Images courtesy of Stefano Boeri Architetti

The vertical forest design was an innovation of an Italian architecture firm, Stefano Boeri Architetti. The Nanjing Green Towers are two multi-rise buildings that will be constructed in the Pukuo District.

Boeri made similar designs in Milan, Italy, and Lausanne, Switzerland.

Vertical forests are buildings that are designed to house thousands of trees and shrubs on the structures’ exterior. The design that was made for the Nanjing Green Towers will have trees on the buildings’ uppermost deck.
The Nanjing Green Towers will be completed by 2018. Future projects will be implemented in other Chinese cities such as Shijiazhuang, Liuzhou, Guizhou, Shanghai and Chongqing.

The eco-friendly project set in Guizhou will be a forest hotel located in 400 acres of rolling hills. The hotel will have a gym, a lounge, bar, a restaurant and a VIP area.

Stefano Boeri Architetti is bringing the vertical forest concept popularized in Milan to Nanjing, China with the Nanjing Towers. The two green towers could provide the city with a breath of fresh air, producing around 132 pounds of oxygen every day as they absorb carbon dioxide. They’ll accomplish this air-cleaning feat with 1,100 flourishing trees from 23 local species and 2,500 cascading shrubs and plants.

Images courtesy of Stefano Boeri Architetti

The two towers at 656 feet and 354 feet tall will rise above the Nanjing Pukou District, which Stefano Boeri Architetti’s press release describes as an area that will likely lead modernization efforts in the south of China’s Jiangsu province and help develop a Yangtze River economic zone. Nanjing Yang Zi State-owned Investment Group Company Limited is promoting the towers and is listed by Stefano Boeri Architetti as an investor in the project.

The taller tower will hold offices, a museum, a green architecture school, and a rooftop club. The second tower will host a 247-room Hyatt hotel and rooftop swimming pool. A podium 65 feet high will include shops, restaurants, and a conference hall. Balconies on the buildings will allow inhabitants to get up close to the nature thriving on the building facades.

600 tall trees and 500 medium-sized trees will grow on the towers, and Stefano Boeri Architetti says the trees and cascading plants will help regenerate biodiversity in the area.