China Is Building Vertical Forests in Nanjing to Fight Pollution
Sometime next year, the city of Nanjing, China, will become home to Nanjing Green Towers, two buildings that will serve as Vertical Forests designed to fight air pollution. The towers will be stylized with about 1,100 trees and a combination of over 2,500 shrubs and plants. [1]
The new architecture will absorb enough carbon dioxide to create about 132 pounds (60 kilograms) of oxygen daily.
China is known for having a mammoth problem with air pollution. Smog is so severe in China that the country expects to have over 800,000 cases of lung cancer a year by 2020. The worst air pollution is in Beijing, but the air can be toxic in Nanjing as well. As I write this, the air quality in Nanjing is 109, which is “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
The towers will stand at 354 and 656 feet tall (107 and 199 meters). The shorter building will house a Hyatt hotel with a rooftop pool. A podium below will be home to restaurants, shops, a food market, event space, and a conference hall. The taller building will have offices on 28 floors and, elsewhere, a museum, a rooftop club, and a “green architecture school.” [1] [2]
Future vertical forests are being planned for Chongqing, Shijiazhuang, Liuzhou, Guizhou, and Shanghai. [1]
Nanjing Green Towers will be the third vertical forest built, joining those of Milan, Italy and Lausanne, Switzerland. All these projects were designed by the architecture firm of Stefano Boeri, noted for eco-friendly projects around the world. [2]
Sources:
[1] CNET (Featured image credit: Stefano Boeri Architetti)
[2] Travel+Leisure