Architect is revolutionizing the industry with 'vertical forest' concept for high-rise homes: 'Best ... in the world'

Italian architect Stefano Boeri is bringing nature into big cities with his "vertical forest" concept for sustainable high-rise homes, which promote urban biodiversity and improve the quality of life for residents. 

The innovative, eco-friendly dwellings have earned Boeri and his studio the 2025 MIPIM award in the Best Mix-Use Project category for their Wonderwoods project, located in the heart of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Euronews explained that Wonderwoods is the first vertical forest in the Netherlands that features both apartments and public amenities, including dining areas, commercial spaces, and sports and leisure opportunities. 

Opened in February, the 341-foot tall Wonderwoods houses 200 apartments that overlook the city center, but the building gives a new meaning to the term concrete jungle. It incorporates 360 trees and 50,000 plants into the balconies and façades, providing fresh, clean air for residents and also helping reduce stress. 

Plus, the vegetation — equivalent to about 2.5 acres of forest, according to Boeri's architecture firm — absorbs carbon dioxide and produces oxygen, helping to cool the area near the building and benefiting the planet. 

Wonderwoods Vertical Forest also attracts wildlife, including birds looking for shelter, a nesting spot, or a place to rest. As urban biodiversity is generally declining worldwide because of habitat loss, human expansion, and pollution, Wonderwoods will help restore balance to the local ecosystem and allow humans and animals to coexist peacefully. 

"The recognition of the MIPIM Award as the best 'Mixed Use' building in the world, has captured the profoundly urban character of Wonderwoods: a multipurpose and highly biodiverse architecture, open to the daily life of the citizens, plants and birds of Utrecht," said architect Francesca Cesa Bianchi during the award ceremony, per Euronews.

According to the news outlet, Boeri's love for trees and nature goes back to his childhood when he read a book about a young man who abandoned city life and decided to live out his days in the forest. As Boeri got older, he realized cities just needed some regreening and envisioned building a "home for trees that also houses humans and birds," per his website, and that's when the vertical forest became a reality. 

Vertical forests add texture and variety to otherwise drab, gray urban buildings, and they're also functional, bringing life and animal habitats back into the city landscape. 

While Wonderwoods is the first multi-purpose vertical forest building, Boeri has already constructed several others, including the Bosco Verticale in Milan — the first of its kind designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti. The two towers boast 300 apartments, 21,000 trees, shrubs, and perennial plants, and around 1,600 birds and butterflies.

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In 2021, Boeri also opened the Trudo Vertical Forest in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, which caters to students, young couples, and anyone who needs affordable housing options. In addition, Euronews reported that Boeri is building more vertical forests in China and Dubai, both places that would benefit from more greenery in the densely packed cities. 

"I try to promote urban forestation because that's what we need," Boeri previously told Euronews. "We have to multiply the number of trees everywhere. And the reasons are very clear. It's a faster, cheaper and more inclusive way to try to take down global warming."

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