With the ever-growing population and limited amount of space to house them, a lot of forests have to be cut down to make space for living premises. This overpopulation and deforestation has led to an increase in pollution. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, the need for a clean and pollution free environment has given rise to apartment blocks that serve a dual function. Besides providing living space to the general populace, they act as air cleaning towers.
The vertical forest towers are becoming increasingly common and have sprung up in a number of places, the latest one being in Paris. This will be a wooden structure and will house around 2,000 trees, plants and shrubs. Similar towers are already present in Switzerland as well as Milan. Plans for a full forest city are in the pipeline in southern Chinese mountains, which is set to include a million plants. This city once completed will absorb 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 57 tons of pollutants from the air annually and at the same time, release 900 tons of oxygen.
Stefano Boeri, an Italian architect, is the main driving force behind these vertical forest towers and the Forêt Blanche project, which goes up in Villiers sur Marne, a community in the eastern suburbs of Paris. The tower will stand tall at a height of 54 meters and will house offices and commercial services on the lower floors, whereas there will be residential apartments on the top.
It will have a mixture of terraces and balconies on all four sides. The faces on all sides are planned to hold 2,000 trees, shrubs, and plants as indicated by the architects firm Stefano Boeri Architetti. This will be the same as one hectare of forest. The plan is complete but a timeline of the project has not been announced yet.
