Photo: Stefano Boeri Architetti

Africa’s First Vertical Forest Is Coming to Egypt

Cairo News National Parks Art + Architecture
by Eben Diskin Aug 20, 2019

Starting next year, construction is set to begin on Africa’s first vertical forest. The architectural feat has been designed by Italian architect Stefano Boeri and will be built 30 miles east of Cairo, Egypt, in the future new administrative capital of the country. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2022.

The vertical forest will consist of three cube-like apartment blocks that will measure 98 feet by 98 feet and be seven stories tall. The three buildings will be covered with 350 trees and 14,000 evergreen shrubs of over 100 different species.

But it’s not all aesthetics — Dezeen explained that the plants will provide natural shading, improve the air quality, absorb seven tons of carbon dioxide, and produce eight tons of oxygen per year.

To fight climate change, we are in desperate need of trees, and meeting this demand by incorporating trees that will absorb and store carbon dioxide emissions within the urban landscape is plain genius.

In announcing the vertical forest project, Stefano Boeri expressed his hope that, “Cairo can become the first North African metropolis to take on the great challenge of climate change and ecological conversion.” The firm is also involved in vertical forest initiatives in the Netherlands, Italy, and Albania, which speaks to the growing popularity of green architecture.

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