Will Form 8655 Duplicate 2024

Architects are building wooden skyscrapers and transforming high-rises into living gardens. These designs could go a long way in improving how we live in the future. Skyscrapers are symbols of modern ambition. They're enormous powerful structures that offer the one-two punch of space and bragging rights. However, the race to be the tallest is fueled by steel and concrete, materials that account for an estimated 16 percent of global fossil fuel consumption. Two countries in particular, Singapore and Canada, are attempting to transform the urban skyline. In Singapore, engineering firms like Whoa-ha are coding their buildings with lush native plants to deal with high densities in cities. Particularly in Singapore, where we are then limited, it is actually important to bring landscape greenery and nature very close to where people live and interact. That is how we connect people back with nature. Aside from the aesthetics of this building, these towers of green are also helping to bring biodiversity back to our urban centers. Because this building has vertical gardens integrated into its design, it actually contains 1,000 percent more plant life than could have existed on the original plot of land. Having buildings that integrate nature in this way within our dense cities could have a measurable impact on quality of life and the environment. Some of us may have experienced New York in the summertime. One of the reasons why we get a heat buildup in cities like this is a process known as insulation. When the sun hits a concrete skyscraper, heat is stored within the building and then re-radiated back into the environment, causing the air temperature to rise. However, when Whoa-ha designed the O Asia Hotel, they used plants to combat this problem. "So in our projects, we have always tried to aim for more than...