Biophilic Futurism: Popular Buildings Reimagined (Covered in Plants)

A recent Guardian article states a scary fact: over the last decade, the rainforest emitted 20% more CO2 than it captured

 (1). This is due to extreme deforestation in places like Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (2).

When trees are cut down, there’s a two-part effect on the CO2 emissions:

1. Fewer trees are absorbing CO2
2. When a tree is cut down, CO2 that was originally stored in it is released into the atmosphere (3).

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, around 420 million hectares of forest were lost between t

he years 1990 and 2020. The good news is that a) this rate has significantly slowed, and b) Mother Nature is fighting back. Taking into account the 

natural expansion of forests, only 178 million hectares have been lost.

These numbers should give us hope, but we need to do much more if we’re going to slow down climate change. 

37 Tonnes of Co2/year Captured

Imagine the Eiffel Tower’s greenhouse cafe. Where you can go to study, work or read while surrounded by cascading plants. This is the sort of romance that we’re looking for when we visit Paris. 

One trip from Frankfurt to New York uses around 1 tonne worth of Co2 (1). If we assume three of these flights happen per day, then 1,095 of these flights take place in a year. This building would offset 37 of those trips.

It’s not much, but it’s honest work.

1 Tonne of Co2/year Captured

The AI decided to place a beautiful walking garden under the tower – and looks like it straightened the building out while it was at it. While not historically sensitive, this version of The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a great example of what buildings could look like if we engineer them to support plant growth. 

The Co2 that this building would capture in one year would be enough to fill 500 fire extinguishers (1).

59 Tonnes of Co2/year Captured

The AI had a field day with this one. It decided that The Empire State Building needed a series of extensions in the form of luxury apartments. While not visually accurate, it’s definitely a place you’d like to book for your next New York holiday. 

This building would capture roughly 59 tonnes of Co2 if it was 75% covered in plants. This kind of biophilic futuristic renovation would cancel out the annual emissions emitted by 13 diesel-fueled cars.

21 Tonnes of Co2/Year Captured

Another beautiful renovation. The Shard is a particularly special building as it not only houses office space but also a five-star luxury hotel, three stories of restaurants and residential space. It’s 72 stories high in the heart of London – the perfect candidate for a vertical urban forest.

Covered in photosynthesising plants, this building would be able to capture 21 tonnes of Co2 every year and turn it back into oxygen. This is the equivalent of the Co2 released from using 48.6 barrels of oil (7).

129 Tonnes of Co2/year Captured

The tallest building in the world is – of course – in our sights for our new world order. All that vertical plant real estate is perfect for an all-you-can-eat Co2 buffet. Built in 2010, the Burj Khalifa is just over half a mile high (about 830 meters), making it a perfect carbon-capturing machine.

Not only will plants on this building look incredible, but, if done right, they will capture around 129 tonnes of Co2 every single year. That’s enough to cancel out the Co2 emitted from the electricity use of 21 homes in one year! (7)

51 Tonnes of Co2/year Captured

Once again, AI has had a field day here. While we’re not about to turn the ancient Pyramids into luxury apartments, we can see this type of building existing somewhere else near a desert oasis. 

If a theoretical building that matched the size and shape of the pyramids had at least 75% plant coverage, it would capture 51 tonnes of Co2 every year. That’s enough to compensate for the Co2 emitted from burning over 57,000lbs  of coal (7) – that’s 9,500 elephants worth of coal! (8)

4 Tonnes of Co2/year Captured

The Flatiron Building, while not accurately represented here, is one of the most popular buildings in New York City. It sits at 22 stories, or just about 87 metres high at the corner of a sharp turn intersection. It would add some much-needed green beauty to the concrete streets of NYC. 

This building would capture around 4 tonnes of Co2, which is equivalent to volume of about 4 hot air balloons (5).

2 Tonnes of Co2/year Captured

Now for a building we all know and love. Big Ben (or the Elizabeth Tower, as the building is officially known – Big Ben is actually the nickname of the bell that chimes)  is an iconic figure for not only London but the entirety of England.  While she may not be as tall as the Burj Khalifa, she certainly can play her part in the recapture of Co2. If we were to add a vertical garden to the sides of this popular clock tower, we’d capture around 2 extra tonnes of Co2 every year – equivalent to the Co2 released from almost 2.5 million smartphone charges.

One smartphone can be charged between 300 and 500 times in its lifetime, so this means Big Ben would offset the Co2 emissions from the lifetime of at least 500 smartphones!