Earlier this year, Italian architecture firm Stefano Boeri Architetti took second place in the coveted Emporis Skyscraper competition for its two massive tree-covered apartment buildings known as "bosco verticale," or vertical forest.
Now the same design is coming to Lausanne, Switzerland, under the guise of "The Tower of the Cedars."
"In the sky of Lausanne we'll create the chance for trees and humans to live together," Stefano Boeri, the firm's founder, said in a statement. "The challenge to enhance urban biodiversity of species in our cities continues."
There will be over 24,000 on plants on all sides of the 384-foot tower, including 6,000 shrubs and 18,000 perennials. But according to Boeri, the cedars will be the real star of the show.
Known for their durability and imposing size, a fleet of 100 green cedar trees will cover the building's facade. That makes it the first high-rise building in the world to feature exclusively evergreen trees, the company says.
Most of the units in the 36-floor building will be apartments, ranging in size from two to five rooms. There will be a gymnasium, office spaces, and a panoramic restaurant on the top floor.
Construction will begin in 2017.
Boeri's previous design, in Milan, was comprised of two similar buildings that featured 90 species of plants and more than 700 trees, all of which had to be airlifted into place.
Both vertical forests employ similar eco-friendly designs in the interior.
The same water that flows through the building's plumbing system gets diverted back onto the porches to feed the plants.
In the summer, the foliage filters sunlight into the rooms. In the winter, the bare branches let light in.
From Singapore to South Korea to Australia, and now Switzerland, vertical forests are becoming more common.
They coincide with the rise of vertical farms, which serve as a testament to the world's shrinking supply of fertile ground.
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