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growing the idea
People in Italy are living in this treehouse
This structure was designed by Luciano Pia and incorporates more than 150 trees.
WAS BUILDING A treehouse something you did when you were growing up?
Well now, thanks to some pretty innovative architecture, some apartment owners in Italy are getting back to those simpler times.
Luciano Pia, an Italian architect, has created a building that incorporates tree life and has the appearance of a wooded area from a distance. This block of apartments incorporates greenery to make the block stand out from others like it.
The building, which is called ‘Verde 25′ (Green 25) and exists in Turin, Italy, is made up of 63 residential units and is covered in more than 150 trees. There are an additional 50 trees planted in the court garden below the structure.
According to its designer, the benefits of having this amount of greenery on the building are said to be numerous.
Having trees in close proximity to the dwellings is said to create oxygen, cut down on air pollution and create a micro climate that lessens the severity of weather temperature rising and falling in the summer and winter.
The aim of the project was to improve the energy efficiency of the building and make it as environmentally integrated as possible. To do this it has continuous insulation, sun protection, heating and cooling systems which take advantage of the geothermal energy and a system that recycles rainwater.
At the ground floor levels the support structures for the building are made to have a treelike appearance – giving an integrated appearance going up into the building. The building’s dwellings each have balconies that are different shapes to accommodate the trees.
