Courtesy of Boeri Studio

Bosco Verticale, by Boeri Studio (now recognized as Barreca & La Varra and Stefano Boeri Architetti), is a high-density tower block that experiments with the integration of a lush landscape within the facade of the architecture.  The Vertical Forest, currently in construction in Milan, Italy, deal with the concept of regenerating the lost forests on the ground within the inhabitable space of buildings.  The towers are 80 metres and 112 metres tall.  Together they will have the capacity to hold 480 big and medium sized trees, 250 small size trees, 11,000 groundcover plants and 5,000 shrubs – the equivalent of a hectare of forest. For more on this project, follow us after the break.

Architects: Boeri Studio (Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca, Giovanni La Varra)
Location: Milan, Italy
Design Phase: 2006 – 2008
Construction Phase: 2008 – 2013

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Courtesy of Filippo Taidelli Architetto

Architects: Filippo Taidelli Architetto (FTA)
Location: Milan, Italy
Program: Building renovation
Client: Immobiliare Zenale
Size: 2.500 sqm
Budget: € 4.000.000
Partners: Arch. Piero Castellini Baldissera
Consultants: Manens Intertecnica S.r.l., Enco Engeneering Consulting, S. Sesana, Studio Tre, Falegnameria Ori e Bonetti, LDW Lighting Design Workshop
Photographs: Courtesy of Filippo Taidelli Architetto

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Courtesy of Morfearch

The aim of the sustainable residential complex, designed by Morfearch, is not only the production of new buildings able to satisfy living space requests, but the will to offer public services to the new settlement and open to the “outer” population. The project area, crossed north to south by divergent paths, generates trapezoidal spaces that become the generating principle of the different parts of the whole complex: every secondary parcel is indeed composed by different size tanks, 30 to 120cm high, open to different uses, materials, and patterns: green areas, water, paved spaces, vegetation and gardens, available for residents with a leisure, but also social, function. More images and architects’ description after the break. read more »

Courtesy of Holcim Foundation

The Holcim Award winners for Europe were recently announced in Milan for sustainable place making and materials innovation. The Holcim Awards Gold 2011 for Europe and USD 100,000 was awarded to German architects realities united for a project on the UNESCO World Heritage site of Museuminsel in the heart of Berlin. The Flussbad urban plan will remediate an area rich in cultural heritage by transforming an under-utilized arm of the River Spree into a natural 745m-long “swimming pool”. The project will form a swimming zone equivalent to 17 Olympic-sized pools – and directly improve the quality of urban life and the ecology of the waterway. More information on the awards after the break. read more »

© Andrea Martiradonna

Architects: Pietro Bagnoli + Franco Taglibue (ifdesign)
Location: Milan, Italy
Consultants: Luca Leo, Stefano Gervasi, Diego Borroni, Guido Scavini
Graphic Design: Fabiano Cocozza
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 320 sqm
Photographs: Andrea Martiradonna, Pietro Bagnoli

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Photo by David Orban - http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidorban/

Mixed in with the Gothic Cathedrals, buildings, sculptures and domes of Milan, the Torre Velasca stands out as one of the few modern buildings in the city’s ancient center. The Torre Velasca, planned to loom over its surrounding structures at a height of nearly 1,000 meters, was to be an important addition to Milan’s skyline. For this reason, it was crucial that the architects, BBPR, find ways to blend the design of the Torre Velasca, completed in 1958, with that of the classic architectural beauties of historic Milan. More on the design of the Torre Velasca after the break. read more »

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Architect Piero Ceratti shared with us his concept design, titled ‘Eagle Nest Hut’, for a mountain hut/shelter powered by wind turbines. This alpine hut can be installed in very extreme sites while minimizing the point of contact with the rocky ground. More images and architects’ description after the break. read more »

© Francesco Jodice

Architects: tiarstudio / Federico Florena, RMA / Roberto Murgia
Location: Milan, Italy
Client: Effetti Digitali Italiani
Structural Engineer: EncoCrema
Light Design: Rossi Bianchi Lighting Design
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 950 sqm
Photographs: Francesco Jodice

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© Mariela Apollonio

Architects: OBR
Location: Milan, Italy
Project Area: 27,400 sqm
Photographs: Marco introini, Mariela Apollonio, Maurizio Bianchi

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© SPEDstudio

SPEDstudio has won second place for the Casa della Memoria Design Competition in Milan, Italy. Casa della Memoria, with an area of 185.80 sqm, will house the headquarters of some of the associations involved in the preservation and dissemination of “memory” of the conquest of freedom and democracy in Italy, as well as multi-purpose areas and exhibitions.

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© Courtesy of Balmond Studio

Architects: Balmond Studio – Cecil Balmond
Location: Milan, Italy
Project year: 2011
Photographs: Germano Borrelli, Nicola Vascellari

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© Daici Ano

Architects: Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane
Location: Milan, Italy
Project area: 534 sqm
Project year: 2010 – 2011
Photographs: Francesco Niki Takehiko, Daici Ano

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© Santi Caleca

Architects: King Roselli Architetti – Riccardo Roselli
Location: Milan, Italy
Project Architect: Arianna Nobile
Interior Design: Daniele Del Prete
Design Team: Andrea Ricci, Mario Augusti, Katia Scarioni, Giandomenico Florio, Fabrizio Bonatti
Landscape: Dana Vocino
Consultant: Federica Pistola, Andrea Imbrenda
Client: DEC
Project area: 50,000 sqm
Photographs: Santi Caleca

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Vítor Gabriel shared us showing experimental installations that mix micro-architectures or macro-objects created by international designers during the Design Week that took place at Milan from April 11 to April 17. Enjoy it!

Z-Chair Chair / Zaha Hadid

Revealed earlier this month in Milan, Sawaya & Moroni‘s New Collection 2011 includes pieces from high profile architects Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, and Dominique Perrault. William Sawaya and Paolo Moroni, founding partners of Sawaya & Moroni, focus the production of their furniture on contemporary designs intertwined with differing cultural backgrounds, resulting in unique pieces and a selective group of architects and artists.

Ben van Berkel of UNStudio also presented new furniture this month in Milan.

More about the chairs after the break.

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UNStudio Furniture Designs

This year, I Saloni of Milan will be celebrating its 50th year! The cultural institution has grown dramatically over the years from an initial 328 exhibitors featured in 11,000 square meters to over 2,500 in an area now measuring over 200,000 square meters. The Salone Internazionale del Mobile is almost here and several architects will be presenting new furniture. Ben van Berkel of UNStudio has shared three new seating designs that will be featured this month: My Lounge Chair for Walter Knoll, the New Amsterdam Chair for Wilde+Spieth and the SitTable for PROOFF. “The architectural approach to furniture is different from that of the industrial designer as the architect begins with the space and the environment that the chair will become a part of.  All the details of the chair are considered for their spatial effects. This architectural approach to furniture is connected to a very personal ideology of space,” explained Ben van Berkel.

More about the chairs after the break. read more »

© Giuseppe Albera

Architects: AMA – Albera Monti & Associati: Giovanni Albera [Partner], Nicolas Monti [Partner],Rita Saragoça Saramago Silva Pereira
Location: Milan, Italy
Project area: 80 sqm
Photographs: Giuseppe Albera

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© Buratti+Battiston Architects

Architects: Buratti+Battiston Architects
Location: Milan, Italy
Project year: 2007 – 2009
Photographs: Buratti+Battiston Architects

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© Marcello Mariana

Architects: Buratti+Battiston Architects - Gabriele Buratti, Oscar Buratti, Ivano Battiston
Location: Milan, Italy
Collaborators: Roberta Numi, Marco Viganò
Project area: 240 sqm
Photographs: Marcello Mariana

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© Courtesy of UAU Office

Architects: POINT
Location: Milan, Italy
Designers, architects and artists: Marco Verrando, Francesca Rossotti, Mansueto Francesco
Project year: 2010
Photographs: Eurostands SpA, UAU Office

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