The urban green has now become a requirement for many countries to regain a liveable dimension of the metropolis. More and more cities are in fact adopting green urban design strategies establishing criteria and guidelines for the promotion of urban and peri-urban forests consistent with the environmental, cultural and landscape characteristics of places. The aim from many sides is to reduce asphalt surfaces, replacing them with green spaces, patches of forest, large parks and green islands.
Here are three examples of sustainable urban architecture.
1. The Indoor Park in Stockholm.
The "S:t Erik's Indoor-Park" of the team Utopia Arkitekter is a indoor green lung, heated, located in the heart of the Swedish capital. Covering the park are six domes designed in wood, up to 23 metres high, covered in glass that allow daylight to filter through.
A city meeting place, this green park is a true masterpiece of architecture and green design set in one of Sweden's most beautiful cities.
2. Shanghai's artificial coastline
24 million inhabitants, the result of the economic boom of the past decades, Shanghai is today the protagonist of a afterthought urban in key greenwith a view to curbing the unbridled urbanisation drive it has been subjected to for years, to the detriment of its citizens' quality of life.
For this reason, the "Sanlin Bund Ecological Park"signed by TLS Landscape Architecturea large park covering 241 hectares, criss-crossed by canals connecting lakes and ponds, with marshy areas alternating with water gardens, meadows, forests... a true green paradise in one of the world's largest and most populous metropolises. And within the park there is also a square, an art museum, a sculpture park and many other meeting places.
3. The Garden Island for Sydney
We fly to the other side of the world, and precisely to Sydney where, on one of the largest islands located in the innermost harbour area, for years used as dry dock and owned exclusively by the army, the international architecture firm LAVA has now been granted permission to build a new neighbourhood called "Garden Island".
The project includes flats, public bathing establishments, cabaret stages and markets, and a large cruise ship terminal, all built using sustainable techniques and systems, and with roofs and façades full of plants and green areas.
Tiny Sydney from Timeflees - Filippo Rivetti on Vimeo.
You want becoming an urban green expert? Discover the postgraduate course in Green Urbanism by Italian Design Institute.
With IDI's course you will learn how to:
- Design green spaces in cities
- Choosing plants for city greenery
- The hanging green, the parietal green, the vertical green
- Rain garden, dry garden, wildflowers, green courtyards
- Design solutions and materials
