It is unusual for a new, predominantly residential tower blocks to become a staple on a city's tourist trail, especially in a city so well provided with architectural delights, shops, bars and entertainment as Milan.
But the Bosco Verticale has achieved that status as one of Milan's most photographed - and at least among a certain hipster design-loving demographic - one of its most Instagrammed.
That's largely because of the 20,000 plus trees and shrubs that sprout from every part of the 381-foot-high façade. Bosco Verticale – the Vertical Forest - is in the business-minded Porta Nuevo area of business-minded Milan and is a soft riposte to the city’s more usual brutalist architecture.
Architect Stefano Boeri intended a forest in the sky and it was the job of Laura Gatti, agronomist and landscape designer extraordinaire, to bring it to life.
“When we planted the building in 2012, we never expected it to become so famous around the world,” she says.
“Italy has a great gardening culture but it belongs to the past and everyone thought it was impossible to believe you could live so high with a garden outside your home, dealing with the rain and the wind, the insects and birds.
"This summer, when Milan had terrible weather including a tornado and a stream of storms, high winds and heavy rain, Bosco Verticale’s planting was not damaged at all.”
Gatti has specialised in green buildings for two decades, working on 30 designs from Brazil to China all with the same vision, to integrate the building with nature.
“Dense cities have great services but a lack of space, pollution and climate change consequences so the opportunity to bring in nature is a growing trend. Biophilia is not a new idea but more and more it is changing the way we see our built environment,” she says.
Her latest project is Fo.Ro. Living in Rome, Foresta Romana to give its full name.
Currently under construction on a busy road ten minutes south of the Italian capital, it will have 118 studio to four-bedroom apartments with curving balconies, growing slightly wider at the top so that it will “rise like a forest” say the developers.
Properties start from €314,000 for studios with one-bedroom homes from €600,000, for sale through Savills.
All homes will have some outside space and communal facilities will include a gym and wellness centre, co-working space and lounges and a concierge service, all rarities in Rome.
Interior green walls and a verdant rooftop garden are part of the plan but as in Milan, Gatti’s design for the balconies will provide the most dramatic images.
“We have selected the plants already, 186 trees, over 2,000 large shrubs and 700 smaller ones and nearly 900 creepers and climbers,” says Gatti. “Shrubs will be mostly evergreen to give good privacy and coverage and plants will climb and cascade.”
Riccardo Leonelli, head of new developments for Savills Italy is at pains to highlight the sustainability qualities of Fo.Ro. Living, rejecting accusations of greenwashing.
They include solar and photovoltaic panels producing energy for the irrigation, lifts and heating and cooling systems.
“Bosco Verticale transformed Porta Nueva,” says Leonelli. “It was the catalyst for change in the area, bringing new restaurants, shops and people.
"The same will happen here in Rome’s Ardeatino district. Other developers are looking at the area including three new projects due to start next year. In five years it will be transformed.”
Buyers concerned that their gardening skills are not up to the task can be reassured.
“These plants require professional care and that will be the work of a dedicated team,’ says Leonelli.
“There will be a schedule of care requiring only three or four visits a year. As an owner, all you must do is open your door to let them in.”
For Gatti, the personal benefits of connecting with nature should be the focus, a healthier and more productive way to live she says.
The work that she and the architectural team did at Bosco Verticale won significant praise. The building was awarded the International Highrise Award in 2014 from a list of 800.
The following year it won the overall Best Tall Building Worldwide from The Council on Tall Buildings and in 2019 the same organisation included it in a list of the 50 most iconic skyscrapers built since 1969.
No wonder copycats are springing up across Europe, including Wonderwoods in Utrecht, also designed by Stefano Boeri.
