Bosco Verticale

No pipe dream this, but actually under construction in Milan. Designed by Stefano Boeri, whose web site says this:

Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) is a project for metropolitan reforestation that contributes to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity without expanding the city into the countryside. Bosco Verticale is a model of vertical densification of nature within the city. . . .

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. . . .

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.

I think these look very cool, but I have to wonder if it will really be possible to maintain them. Looking at these pictures I imagine these buildings in twenty years, most of the trees dead, sad clusters of weeds and a few ailanthus sticking out from the balconies. So they had better prepared to invest a lot in taking care of these.