Sustainability, Nature, Community - The Project 1000 Trees by Thomas Heatherwick

1000 Trees, curated by Thomas Heatherwick, is a hybrid project that hosts offices, exhibition spaces, restaurants and shops not far from the M50 artistic district in the neighbourhood of Putuo. The complex owes its peculiar architecture to the notable quantity of plants integrated in the structural columns of the buildings - over 1.000 trees and 250.000 individual plants - making them a sort of extension of the large green space which hosts 1000 Trees. The entire complex takes the form of two mountains separated by a valley and covered in luxurious plants of various types. The preference was for species native to the delta zone of the Yangtze River which do not require particular maintenance, being evergreens. One of the facades offers commissioned graffiti by Chinese and international artists - an homage to the graffiti that was left over the years on the walls along the road that flanks the new complex. An old mill and a warehouse in the area were preserved, offering an example of the urban regeneration taking place. Thus, 1000 Trees creates a new concept of urban nature, seeking out a new balance, born from a synthesis between the natural and anthropic landscapes, between spontaneity and calculation.