In Antwerp’s New South (Nieuw Zuid) district, top Italian architect Stefano Boeri has presented the “Palazzo Verde”. The apartment building is again in the style of Boeri’s well-known “vertical forests” and features several roof gardens and green terraces. A total of 86 trees, 1,000 shrubs and 1,200 plants are provided.
Boeri became world famous with his sustainable housing projects, with trees and plants in the leading role. His ‘Bosco Verticale’ in Milan won one prize after another, and in China he draws complete urban forests.
The more we incorporate nature into our cities, the more we can cope with climate change
Stefano Boeri
Stefano Boeri is known for his designs that center on nature. His ‘Bosco Verticale’ in Milan is a true vertical urban forest: the two residential towers, 110 and 76 meters high respectively, are planted with no fewer than 900 trees and 15,000 shrubs. In China, he is currently working on Forest City, an urban forest with 40,000 trees and more than a million plants that will accommodate 30,000 inhabitants.
With Palazzo Verde, his very first design on Belgian soil, Boeri is continuing this tradition: the building will probably be the greenest residential project in our country, and the first to improve urban air quality.
Cities play an important role in global warming, but they can also provide the solution. The urban forests, Boeri calls his richly planted buildings, are an idea that he played with as a child. “I have an obsession with trees,” he said.
I have always been fascinated and influenced by trees, since childhood. I see them as individuals, with their own evolution and intelligence
Stefano Boeri
To highlight the urgency and need for more trees, Boeri organized the World Forum on Urban Forests (WFUF) for the first time in late 2018. Leading up to that forum, he also presented his manifesto, which calls for greener cities, a healthier world and more urban forests.
“The more we incorporate nature into our cities, the more we can cope with climate change,” Boeri explained. “Just think of the benefits: better air quality, less energy consumption, better urban biodiversity. And, not insignificantly, a green environment increases the sense of happiness of the people who live there. That’s why a design like Palazzo Verde is crucial for the coming years.”
A green environment increases the feeling of happiness in the people who live there
Stefano Boeri
The L-shaped Palazzo Verde building offers some 60 apartments with lush greenery on the terraces and on the three roof gardens. In total, the design envisions 87 trees, 1,000 shrubs and 1,200 plants. In addition, an indoor garden of 360 m2 will also be laid out.
Botanists and engineers calculated that the green architecture of Palazzo Verde can purify more than 5 tons of CO2 per year. Thus, the design becomes the very first residential project on Belgian soil that purifies the urban air and fights against air pollution and global warming.
