Italian designer Stefano Boeri is planning to bring about the first vertical forest in the New Administrative Capital, currently undergoing set up in the deserted and barren region of Cairo. The three buildings designed for this would involve trees and plants that are pollution absorbing.

Although Stefano Boeri Architetti, Boeri’s Italy based company, has built several vertical forests throughout the world, this is the numero uno in Africa. This development would also bring about two other talented designers- Shimaa Shalaash, an Egyptian designer, and Italian architect of landscapes, Laura Gatti. The designs dictate a triad of 7 story buildings shaped like a cube, filled with a veritable forest..

The three buildings will contain around 350 trees along with over 14,000 shrubs from around 100 species. While one building would function as a hotel, others would be used as housing complexes. 

This planned city is soon going to overthrow Cairo as the capital of Egypt and would contain ministries, financial districts, apartments, and embassies. Since Cairo is suffering from overpopulation and pollution, this seems to be a viable solution.

Boeri believes that in the current scenario of lack of space, a vertical forest would be able to bring about a lot of square meters of forestry in a few square meters. It would also provide shelter for a host of insects and birds. The shrubs and trees would photosynthesize and produce clean oxygen for all.

The idea came out in 2014, after Boeri designed the Bosco Verticale in Milan, which comprises of two apartment buildings of 114 meters and 76 meters each, containing up to 20,000 shrubs and 900 trees.

Yet, this is still not the first of its kind. Such architecture that brings forth the environment into consideration has already been established in Australia’s ‘One Central Park’ in Sydney, and Singapore’s ‘Gardens By The Bay’.

Liuzhou Forest City is another one of Boeri’s plans that would be located in Guanxi, one of Southern China’s industrial regions. This would comprise of around 40,000 trees and almost a million shrubs. The greenery is said to absorb up to 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and around 57,000 kgs of other pollutants while releasing just short of a thousand tonnes of O2.

Boeri has worked his miracles in the Netherlands with the Trudo Vertical Forest, that is 19 stories high, and would house around 120 affordable units for people with a not-so-high financial position.

Vertical forests not only deal with pollution but also combat the housing crisis. Boeri’s designs provide more and more housing, while also keeping space for other designs to come up. For, by 2050, it is estimated that around 68% of the entire world’s demography would shift towards the urban areas.