Tree+chic

— Plant Intelligence

In the beginning, the image of Milan was revolutionized by the Vertical Forest. The many awards that Boeri won for it led the architect to invest in new collaborations with botanists around the world. “Houses for plants inhabited by humans” would have quickly conquered the planet in a less elitist and increasingly sustainable direction. In Lausanne the Tower of the Cedars, in Paris The Fort Blanche, in Antwerp the Green Palace, in Canada the Wonderwoods and the first social housing experiment in Eindhoven: the Trudo Vertical Forest.

Today the geometry of green has changed, from horizontal to vertical, but what is changing most is the relationship between man and nature, artificial-natural and internal-external architecture.

Green is no longer a decoration, but an integrated and technological functional element, selected with a logic linked to biology and biodiversity. It is nature that designs projects, often completely different within the same country. Because Nanjing has the temperatures of Berlin and therefore conifers, while Guizhou has a tropical climate, and therefore palms.

— 100% Seaweed

In its history, human beings have produced over 8 billion tons of plastic, 6 billion of which have ended up in the oceans and underground. Those who still speak of “plastic” are banned, rejected or considered obsolete. Today, a new generation of start-ups is engaging in the creation of new disposable packaging made of seaweed. The idea was born from the observation of the most natural shell on the planet: the fruit peel.

As a raw material seaweed have several advantages: they are cheap, easy to grow and to extract and available on any coast. Not only. Seaweed can help reduce the acidity of the oceans and thus global warming. So give space to the imagination. From water bottles to the edible cups by New York company Loliware, but also detergents and beauty products.

After all, what could be more exotic and chic than a perfume packaged in seaweed?

— Anti-terrorism Is Organic

We know that trees play a crucial role in reducing pollutants and heavy metals in cities and so also in health costs. Each year, a tree can absorb between 4 and 10 kilos of CO2. A maple tree is able to neutralize 820 milligrams of nickel and 5,200 of lead. What not everyone knows is that in a historical period in which big cities are always under “terror alert”, trees increase road safety. And then, from the archistars around the world, there are various bio-urbanization projects.

Instead of the classic concrete blocks, we will use trees to protect roads and squares from Kamikaze cars.

A project already put into practice in New York, in 2015, with the Million Trees project, and ready to be spread in all the main European cities. Making the pedestrian areas of our cities wider and greener will lead us to a healthier but also safer urban life. 

Trees will save us. Even from terrorists.