The residential highrise Bosco Verticale in Milan/Italy designed by Boeri Studio has won the prize for the world?s most innovative highrise. Two residential highrises with greened façades are part of a revitalization project initiated by the City of Milan which goes by the name of ?Metrobosco?. Each of the 113 different-sized apartments has access to at least one patio or balcony. High up on the treetops, the residents have their own ?little forest?, because there are almost 900 trees growing close to the façades, mixed in with thousands of shrubs, bushes and ground-cover plants choosen by façades exposition.
ph. Kirsten Bucher
Other four skyscrapers are the finalists of the competition: De Rotterdam (OMA), One Central Park (Atelier Jean Nouvel), Renaissance Barcelona Fira Hotel (Atelier Jean Nouvel), Sliced Porocity Block (Steven Holl Architects). De Rotterdam by OMA takes its orientation from the idea of a ?vertical city?, whose manifold functions appear to be visibly stacked. Its 30-meter-high base structure houses a parking garage on six levels. An expansive entrance foyer offers ground-floor access to a congress center, restaurants, bars, cafés and fitness studios. The entire complex also boasts offices, 240 apartments and a hotel. The external façades have been clad with an aluminum post-and-beam construction, making for a filigree appearance which changes depending on the viewer?s position.
© OMA ph. Ossim van Duivenbode
One Central Park by Atelier Jean Nouvel ...