Care is what unites all the buildings we want to introduce you to. Attention to nature, ecology and human comfort are embodied in forms atypical for modern architecture. Which one is closer to your spirit?
The forest in Milan only grows upward
Milan is famous all over the world as a trendsetter. This applies not only to clothing, but also to urban planning. Vertical forest or Bosco Verticale stands at the origins of a new direction in Italian architecture, which takes technology and environmental friendliness as its basis, skillfully combining these directions in elegant forms. The creator of this and many subsequent projects was the nationally and internationally renowned design studio Boeri Studio. Architects Gianandrea Barreca, Stefano Boeri and Giovanni La Varra are passionate fans of strict lines and colors, so they made their two snow-white towers quite restrained, but thanks to the abundance of living greenery, they do not seem boring, but, on the contrary, look like giant vertical gardens. One gets the impression that the facades were created only to become a container for plants. The relationship between humans and other living species is the basis of the concept of biodiversity architecture.
Skyscrapers with a height of 112 and 80 meters have an area of 29,300 m² and 18,200 m², respectively. But the most impressive figures do not concern the size of buildings. On every floor, every balcony and every windowsill there is a riot of greenery. In total there are:
- 480 large trees;
- 300 smaller trees;
- 5,000 bushes;
- 15,000 perennial low-growing plants.
The unusual appearance of Bosco Verticale directly affects its functionality. The authors of the project claim that their vertical forest can be equated to 50,000 m² of single-family homes. Green facades minimize the harmful impact on the environment, produce oxygen and maintain a comfortable microclimate inside residential units.
Wooden giant raised by man
It is unlikely that you have heard of the town of Brumunndal, so it will be all the more interesting to get acquainted with its architecture. If you decide to go to Norway, don’t be lazy to drive the extra 100 kilometers from Oslo to take a look. Brumundal is home to only 10,000 people, but it is here that there is a unique building known throughout Norway. At the time of its construction, which was completed in 2019, the tower Mjøstårnet (Mjøstårnet) was considered the tallest skyscraper in the world, although in comparison with the Burj Khalifa, its 85.4 meters now seem not so impressive to us. It is worth clarifying that Mjøstårnet has been awarded the title of the tallest building in a certain category, so to speak.
While our construction sites cannot do without concrete slabs and steel rods, Norwegian craftsmen from Voll Arkitekter decided to show that they can cope without them. The main material from which all 18 floors of the tower were built was unusual wood. Multilayer wood panels contain “wood plastic” in their composition, so they are dense and durable. The building codes of many countries are skeptical about such material, but in some countries it is already actively used. In addition to Mjøstårnet, the following objects can be called striking examples of wooden skyscrapers:
- student residence on the University of British Columbia campus;
- hybrid residential complex from Shigeru Ban, in which the usual concrete frame is covered with wooden panels;
- 24-storey office building HoHo Wien;
- Ascent apartment complex in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Mjøstårnet mixed-use tower has an area of 11,300 m². If you want to spend a weekend in Norway, we recommend staying a few nights at the Wood Hotel, which occupies part of the building.
House of 30 bricks
You thought correctly when you decided that it was physically impossible to build a building from such a tiny amount of building materials. But no one tried. Bureau OMA and Ole Scheeren decided to create a residential complex that would be more like an entire block in size. The Interlace, located in Singapore, consists of 31 houses. All of them are arranged in a chaotic order, so they resemble a pile of bricks forgotten by someone at a construction site. Each building is oblong in shape and consists of 6 floors. If you look closely, you will notice that there is also a six in their arrangement - the buildings are arranged in a hexagonal pattern around eight large courtyards. Since we're talking about numbers, let's continue. What else do you need to know about the Interlace residential complex:
- 170,000 m² is the total area;
- 145,500 m² are allocated for residential units;
- 24,000 m² are occupied by various services;
- 500 m² is provided for retail;
- 88.7 m – maximum height;
- 1040 apartments;
- 75-600 m² apartment area.
Due to the division of the entire residential complex into 30 separate parts, as well as due to their free arrangement relative to each other, it was possible to create a fairly close-knit community in which privacy is one of the most important places.