
Milan-based architecture firm Stefano Boeri Architetti is designing a vertical “forest tower” in the Netherlands as a “social housing project” that will bring both greenery and affordability to the city of Eindhoven.
The 250-foot-tall Trudo Vertical Forest will have 125 units measuring around 500 square feet each. The building is designed for low-income residents, particularly young renters who want to live in an urban environment.
Each unit will have a 50-square-foot balcony with one tree and 20 plants and shrubs, with a total of 125 trees and 5,200 plants from 70 different species on the tower’s façade. The vegetation serves a functional purpose beyond aesthetics, as well—Stefano Boeri Architetti hopes the project’s ecosystem will offset pollution, thanks to the capability of trees to absorb more than 50 tons of carbon dioxide a year.
“The high-rise building of Eindhoven confirms that it’s possible to combine the great challenges of climate change with those of housing shortages. Urban forestry is not only necessary to improve the environment of the world’s cities but also an opportunity to improve the living conditions of less fortunate city dwellers,” says Stefano Boeri of the project.
The vertical forest is one of the firm’s many nature-infused projects: Inspired to bring more trees into the urban environment, it has designed similar properties for sites in Milan; Shanghai and Nanjing, China; Paris; Lausanne, Switzerland; Utrecht, Netherlands; and Tirana, Albania.