Jolly Green Giants: Metropolitan Reforestation Project In Milan Begins Construction.

After its initial design in 2007 by Italian Steffano Boeri's architecture firm Boeri Studio, Treehugger, Inhabit and Gizmag recently reported that construction of the Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) in Milan has finally begun. That intrigued me to do a little more research and bring you images of the original renderings , models and diagrams as well as some new construction photos.


above left: computer rendering of Bosco Verticale; above right: construction begins in Milan

With 24 floors (Torre E) and 17 floors (Torre D) respectively, the two residential towers will contain a total of 900 shrubs between 3 and 6 meters tall to help to absorb dust, smog and produce oxygen. The apartment buildings, examples of utilizing ecology in architecture, are expected to be completed next year and will include a restaurant, fitness center, parking garage, and rooftop garden.




CGI renderings and the architectural models of the towers:



Architectural models by One Off Protoyping

The construction has begun at Via De Castilla & Via Confalonieri, Puorta Nova I-20100 in Milan, Italy:




description of the project from the architect's site:
Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) is a project for metropolitan reforestation that contributes to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity without the implication of expanding the city upon the territory. Bosco Verticale is a model of vertical densification of nature within the city. It is a model that operates correlated to the policies for reforestation and naturalization of the large urban and metropolitan borders (Metrosbosco). Metrobosco and Bosco Verticale are devices for the environmental survival of contemporary European cities. Together they create two modes of building links between nature and city within the territory and within the cities of contemporary Europe.

The first example of a Bosco Verticale composed of two residential towers of 110 and 76 meters height, will be realized in the centre of Milan, on the edge of the Isola neighbourhood, and will host 900 trees (each measuring 3, 6 or 9 m tall) apart from a wide range of shrubs and floral plants.




On flat land, each Bosco Verticale equals, in amount of trees, an area equal to 10.000 sqm of forest. In terms of urban densification the equivalent of an area of single family dwellings of nearly 50.000 sqm.



The Bosco Verticale is a system that optimizes, recuperates and produces energy. The Bosco Verticale aids in the creation of a 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 from radiation and acoustic pollution, improving the quality of living spaces and saving energy.





Plant irrigation will be produced to great extent through the filtering and reuse of the grey waters produced by the building. Additionally Aeolian and photovoltaic energy systems will contribute, together with the aforementioned microclimate to increase the degree of energetic self sufficiency of the two towers. The management and maintenance of the Bosco Verticale’s vegetation will be centralised and entrusted to an agency with an office counter open to the public.

Project information:
location: Milano, Italy
year: 2007 (on going)
client: Hines Italia
built area: 40.000 sqm
budget: 65.000.000,00€

Architectural Design:
BOERISTUDIO (Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca, Giovanni La Varra)

Team:
Phase 1 – Urban plan and preliminary design
Frederic de Smet (coordinator), Daniele Barillari, Julien Boitard, Matilde Cassani, Andrea Casetto, Francesca Cesa Bianchi, Inge Lengwenus, Corrado Longa, Eleanna Kotsikou, Matteo Marzi, Emanuela Messina, Andrea Sellanes.

Phase 2 – Final design and working plan
Gianni Bertoldi (coordinator), Alessandro Agosti, Andrea Casetto, Matteo Colognese, Angela Parrozzani, Stefano Onnis.

Consultant for the vegetation project: Emanuela Borio, Laura Gatti

images in this post courtesy of ©Boeri Studio, some diagrams by Salottobuono and architectural models by OneOff Protoyping

An Amphibious Floating Garden That Purifies The Water, The Physalia.

The Gulf could use of couple of these right now. A futuristic vessel designed to clean European waterways, the “Physalia” project is an architectural prototype that aims at meeting the mutual needs of the sustainable management of water as a resource by architect Vincent Callebaut.



A half aquatic and half earthly amphibious vessel, it's a nomadic hydrodynamic laboratory dedicated to implement an international network of scientific partnerships. A floating purification system that is completely self-sufficient.



The vessel is designed to handle all types of water recycling (rainwater, international and domestic), purify water from agricultural pollutants, desalinate sea water, and cleanse induced waste such as sludge and ashes.

As transportation, it promotes commercial and fluvial transport, linking the Rhine and the Danube and the Seine-Escaut waterway. It can be used as agricultural irrigation, to cool industrial power stations and to promote hydro-electricity production.




“Physalia” is innovative scientific equipment dedicated to investigate solutions as much as it is an innovation unto itself. A “clean” vessel, for a new generation, it produces no sulfur or carbon emmissions.



Physalia is 100% self sufficient in terms of energy. Its bionic structure is inspired from the pneumatophorous called “Physalia physalis” stemming from the Greek term "physalis" which means “water bubble”.



This aquatic pneumatophorous has perfect symmetry, an oblong shape and is partially translucent. It is the summation of natural and biotechnological ways to navigate on the European rivers - between the Danube and the Volga, the Rhine and the Guadalquivir, the Euphrates and the Tiger.



Its architecture is designed to utilize renewable energies and produces more energy than it consumes. Its roof contains a double pneumatic membrane with photovoltaic solar cells and under its hull, the hydro-turbines transform the energy of the fluvial stream into hydro-electricity, enabling it to navigate the waters.

The green roof with its pneumatic membrane and photovoltaic solar cells:

At night:


Aluminum covers the multi-hull steel structure. This silver-plated dress is covered by a Titanium Dioxide layer that reacts to the ultraviolet rays, enabling the vessel to reduce water pollution.

Hull construction and a view of the air garden:


In addition to being a self cleaning vessel, it can absorb and recycle by way of a photo-catalytic effect, the chemical and carbon waste in the water rejected by the traditional boats and by industrialists.




The interior of the Physalia illustrates the future of water travel by dividing it into four thematic gardens.

An interior look at the water and air gardens:


The “Water” garden: This marks the main entrance of Physalia between the berthing gates and the square. A great glass platform is suspended atop the water's surface reflecting on the interior vault. This reception space is dedicated to temporary exhibitions and the façades of the true aquatic balcony can also open to the landscape to be caressed by the outside breezes.

The water garden cross section and interior:



The “Earth” garden: This section constitutes the heart of the laboratory dedicated to international researchers who analyze the aquatic ecosystem. On top of this panoramic room, a planted vault stands.

The “Fire” garden: A confined and protected underwater lounge where armchairs surround a huge fireplace burning in the fireproofed hull of the vessel. One can access the planted garden from the circular banister that spreads under the planted vault and around the flames. One can admire the fauna and the flora in the middle of the vessel through the two panoramic glass portholes. It is a space dedicated to the permanent exhibits of aquatic ecosystems.

The “Air” garden: This is a space of oxygen and light spread under a pneumatophorous lens. This ecologic amphitheater opens towards the exterior landscape. In the center, we find an “H2O” acronym extruded under the shape of a circular and rotating water bar.

The Air Garden cross section and interior:



Man is in the center of this project which represents the balance between human action and respect for the environment. The architecture of this nomadic vessel, the concentration of nature, of biotechnology, information and communication is thus a reflection of the contemporary citizen who wonders about how his or her the actions effect the environment.



It is an audacious avant-garde project aimed at combining people with the notion of water respect, sharing in movement and dynamic balance. It is a project of trans-european leadership and a positive innovation of ecologic resilience.

To read the extremely verbose English translation, as well as the french version of this text, go here.

CONCEPT: Amphibious garden cleaning European waterways / Floating laboratories, museum and forum
YEAR: 2010
ARCHITECT: Vincent Callebaut
LOCATION: European waterways : Seine, Thames, Volga, Danube, Escaut, etc.
SURFACE AREA: 2000 m²
DIMENSIONS: 9m50 height, 80m length, 14m90 width
PERSPECTIVES: Philippe Steels

all images used with permission by architect Vincent Callebaut
©VINCENT CALLEBAUT ARCHIETCTURES

The New Monte Rosa Lodge - Sustainable, Beautiful & Now Open

above: cover of the newly published book on the building

The New Monte Rosa Lodge


The new Monte Rosa lodge project (also referred to as the Monte Rosa Hut) demonstrates that sustainable building is possible even in the middle of a glacial landscape.



Together with students, professors, and specialists, ETH Zurich has put together a project for the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) that is finally completed after 6 years.

photos courtesy of photographer Tonatiuh Ambrosetti, unless otherwise noted






The building technology for the new Monte Rosa lodge goes in new directions to attain a maximum degree of self-sufficiency and environmental safety in its energy and water use. Contributing factors include ample active and passive use of solar energy, good heat insulation and regeneration from outgoing air, as well as the use of efficient devices.



The new Monte Rosa lodge, which opened last September, 2009, has a building energy self-sufficiency level of over 90%, and will serve as an example of sustainable construction and planning both in Switzerland and worldwide.


above: The New Monte Rosa Hut in splendid isolation between mountain tops (in the background the most famous of all, the 4487 m high Matterhorn) and glaciers (digital visualisation). photo by Stéphanie Marie Couson

Inside, the wood beams and surfaces are actually digitally carved by architects Gramazio & Kohler to give an enhanced faux woodgrain effect.



photos courtesy of Tonatiuh Ambrosetti

The digitally carved alpine timber wood interior by Gramazio & Kohler:








Hut facts:
2890 m above sea level, 5 floors, 18 rooms for guests and mountain guides, 120 beds and 10 reserve beds. 4 toilet systems, 2 washrooms with 14 wash basins and 4 showers, 200,000 litre cavern, 110 m2 photovoltaics, of which 84 m2 on the south face, 60.5 m2 thermal panels. Max. power of photovoltaics: 15.6 kW.


ETH Zurich press release:
- New Monte Rosa Hut SAC opens its doors

The "hut of the future" is finished. After about six years on the drawing board - two of which as a student project design - and a construction phase spanning two summers, the New Monte Rosa Hut above Zermatt is finally open for business.



Nicknamed "Mountain Crystal", the innovative building generates over 90 percent of its energy itself. It is scheduled to start receiving guests normally in March 2010 and will continue to serve ETH Zurich as a research object in power and building service engineering.


above: the silver aluminum shell

2,883 meters above sea level, the New Monte Rosa Hut is currently the most complex wooden construction in Switzerland. Covered in a shimmering silver aluminum shell and with a photovoltaic system integrated in the southern facade, it generates its own power and is expected to be at least 90 percent energy self-sufficient. Solar collectors installed in the grounds generate solar heat, which provides warm water and heats the ventilation system's supply air to control the temperature in the rooms. In the few months of the year where the ice melts, the water is collected and stored in a cavern to provide the guests with flush toilets and four hot showers. A bacteria-based microfiltration system cleans the sewage; the graywater is then reused to flush the toilet and for washing.


above: the North facade under construction

Computer in Zurich operates hut technology

Such a high degree of energy self-sufficiency requires the interaction of the individual components and shrewd energy management. Software developed at ETH Zurich is to operate the technology at the hut. The relevant data from the reservation system, energy storage and the weather station, for instance, is conveyed from the hut to a computer at ETH Zurich. The computer then uses the data to maximize the degree of energy self-efficiency. Any actions subsequently necessary - such as the command to engage the combined heat and power unit if the solar radiation is insufficient to generate enough power - are communicated back to the hut and performed automatically.

Today, representatives of ETH Zurich and the SAC inaugurated the New Monte Rosa Hut together with the general planning team and various patrons and sponsors. Numerous media representatives also took the opportunity to visit the innovative building at the foot of the Dufour Peak overlooking the Matterhorn.



The corner stone for the building was laid in August 2008 and the foundations were completed before the onset of winter. Thanks to prefabricated elements, which were initially transported by train and then flown to the building site by helicopter and assembled on site, the building was completed in the summer of 2009 after just five months. After the inauguration, the 120-bed hut will close for the winter before reopening for alpinists in March 2010; the season lasts until September.



Milestone for sustainable building

With its combination of outstanding architecture and groundbreaking technology, the project heralds a new chapter in sustainable building. ETH Zurich is looking to use it as an example of how marrying excellent architecture with sustainability and state-of-the-art technology can work. For the SAC - with over 120,000 members, one of the biggest sports unions in Switzerland - the building of the new hut is a milestone in its 145-year hut history.

The New Monte Rosa Hut cost about 6.5 million Swiss francs. Apart from the SAC and ETH Zurich, a number of patrons and sponsors also pitched in, without whose support the ambitious project would never have been possible.



In splendid isolation, on the edge of a glacier in pristine wilderness, the hut will be able to host 125 guests in the restaurant and hotel with very little environmental impact. The four floors will be realised in a wooden pre-fabricated structure. The realisation of bio-gas generation for human waste recycling is also being considered.

Projectmanager Marcel Baumgartner, dipl. Architekt ETH
New Monte Rosa Hut Project 2003 – 2009
Construction start 2006 by ETH Zurich and SAC, foundation laid 2008, doors opened 2009
Concept and Design, Prof. Andrea Deplazes, Departement Architektur, ETH Zürich.

all images and information courtesy of the ETH Zurich

The Hut is open and on exhibit to the public from Wednesday, 24. February 2010 to Thursday, 25. March 2010 Mon-Fri 8-21, Sa 8-16, in Haupthalle, Zentrum, ETH Zürich

Further information is available at http://www.neuemonterosahuette.ch/ (German and French only)



Go here to book a stay.