Milan’s Bosco Verticale: How Trees Became Part of the Buildings

Milan’s Bosco Verticale makes you look up for an unusual reason: branches reach out from residential balconies, turning two tall buildings into a changing patchwork of leaves. The effect belongs to the skyline, but the best visit begins at street level, where you can see how the towers relate to their neighbourhood.

This is a living residential development. Come for an architecture walk and views from the surrounding public spaces, rather than expecting a public forest inside the buildings.

What the vertical forest is

Bosco Verticale consists of two residential towers in Milan's Porta Nuova area, completed in 2014. Boeri Studio's project credits name Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca and Giovanni La Varra. Vegetation is distributed across projecting balconies as an integral part of the architecture, rather than confined to a decorative roof garden.

The architects’ Vertical Forest project page explains the relationship between buildings, vegetation and urban biodiversity. Trees, shrubs and smaller plants create a varied exterior whose appearance changes with growth and the seasons. The project’s publication record provides further background on the completed development.

The useful question is not simply “How many trees fit on a tower?” It is how planting is selected, supported and maintained in an exposed vertical setting. That makes the project interesting even to visitors who would not normally organise a day around architecture.

The Project in Historical Photographs

The archive photographs in this article come from the project’s early period. One shows construction; another is a design rendering. They are historical material, not evidence of how mature the planting looks today.

Comparing those early intentions with a current exterior view can become part of your visit. Look for the different balcony depths and the way vegetation softens some edges while leaving others clearly visible. Avoid judging an occupied, growing building solely against a polished early illustration.

A neighbourhood walk with time to look

Our suggested outing starts in the Porta Nuova area, then moves towards the towers and the neighbouring public spaces before continuing into Isola. Use a current walking map to choose the approach that suits your arrival station. The pleasure is in the change of scale: broad modern spaces, planted façades and streets with a more everyday neighbourhood rhythm.

Pause at several public viewpoints rather than searching for one supposedly perfect spot. Close up, the balconies and trunks stand out; farther away, the towers become a patterned surface. A café stop gives the outing a natural break and supports the idea of seeing this as a district where people live.

What a photograph cannot tell you

A green façade alone cannot demonstrate every environmental claim made about a building. Avoid treating an attractive image as a complete measurement of carbon savings or urban cooling. Those questions require evidence about construction, maintenance and long-term performance.

For visitors, there is plenty to appreciate without assigning a miracle to the trees. Observe the design, respect residential entrances and keep cameras directed towards the architecture rather than into private homes.

If you enjoy unusual Italian settings, our Grotta Palazzese guide examines a restaurant built into a seaside cave. For a historic town where plants contribute at a very different scale, browse our Spello guide before planning a separate Umbrian trip.

The greenery requires design and continuing care

Bosco Verticale was developed by Boeri Studio, with Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca and Giovanni La Varra credited on the project. The architects date the Milan work to 2007–2014. This gives the construction photographs and renderings their proper place: they document a proposal becoming a built residential project, rather than a forest that is still waiting to be installed.

The architects describe planting selected for different exposures and balconies arranged to accommodate growth. Maintenance and irrigation are managed collectively, with specialist gardeners caring for the vegetation. These details matter because a tree on a high balcony is not equivalent to a pot left outside an apartment window. The visual effect depends on structure, water, space and repeated work as well as on the original design idea.

From a public viewpoint, look for where the building's straight edges remain visible and where branches interrupt them. Then move farther away and the same balconies begin to read as a patterned surface. That change of scale is a useful way to appreciate Bosco Verticale without needing access to its private spaces. The planting also changes over time, so an early rendering, a construction photograph and an occupied building answer different questions. The first communicates an intention, the second records assembly, and the living exterior shows a design that requires continuing care.

Reference: www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net