Remarkable Forest Hotel Takes Green Architecture to a Whole New Level

We've heard of vertical gardens but what about vertical forests? The Mountain Forest Hotel in Guizhou, China's Wanfeng Valley is a carbon-sucking, sky-high marvel created by Milan-based architect Stefano Boeri.
The Mountain Forest Hotel, located in Guizhou, China, is so green that it will improve the air surrounding it. Photo credit: Stefano Boeri Architetti China
Boeri is the visionary behind similar plant-covered structures, such as Bosco Verticale in Milan and The Tower of the Cedars in Lausanne, Switzerland that features trees and plants on every floor.
“It’s a symbol of restitution,” Boeri told TIME of the Mountain Forest Hotel that's opening fall 2017. “Buildings have to take care of nature.”
The 31,200-square-meter development was designed in collaboration with Chinese artist and interior designer Simon Ma for the Hong Kong-based Cachet Hotel Group. In addition to rooms and suites, additional hotel amenities will include two restaurants and lounges and recreation facilities such as a swimming pool, spa and a fully equipped fitness center.
The developers point out on their website that the hotel was inspired by the site's original topography and ecosystem, which is also known as the Forest of Ten Thousands Peaks.
"The design aims to restore the landscape, by reconstructing a former existing hill that was flattened years ago, in this way emulating the past and present hills," Boeri's group said.
"Symbiosis is the goal. Sustainability not only depends on energy conservation, but on a wider biodiversity. The symbiosis between man, architecture and nature is the real sustainability."
With plants and trees lining every floor, the hotel is like a reconstruction of the former hill on the site that was demolished years before. Photo credit: Stefano Boeri Architetti China
The New York Times named Guizhou as one of its 52 Places to Go in 2016. The province had been one of China’s least inaccessible regions until a $20 billion high-speed railway that opened in 2014 cut travel time from Guangzhou, the nearest major city, from 20 hours to four.
Spa Business Magazine notes that Boeri is involved with several Chinese projects, including a stock exchange building in Shanghai and a "Forest City" masterplan in Shijiazhuang, the smog-choked capital and largest city of North China's Hebei Province.
"Shijiazhuang for its part, has a sad record: it is the city with the highest rate of air pollution in China. A pall of smog and soot that rises only a few days a year," Boeri says of his concept.
"The Forest City in Shijiazhuang will be a new city for 100,000 inhabitants. A city of new generation, capable of becoming a model of sustainable growth in a large country that each year sees 14 million farmers migrating to the cities."
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
South African Solar-Powered Eco-Village Will Be Car-Free
This Eco-Village Is Being Built From More Than 1 Million Recycled Plastic Bottles
‘World’s Most Sustainable City’ to Run on 100% Solar
Will Philadelphia Become the Vertical Farming Capital of the World?
New EarthX Special 'Protecting the Amazon' Suggests Ways to Save the World’s Greatest Rainforest
To save the planet, we must save the Amazon rainforest. To save the rainforest, we must save its indigenous peoples. And to do that, we must demarcate their land.
A new EarthxTV film special calls for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous people that call it home. EarthxTV.org
- Meet the 'Women Warriors' Protecting the Amazon Forest - EcoWatch ›
- Indigenous Tribes Are Using Drones to Protect the Amazon ... ›
- Amazon Rainforest Will Collapse by 2064, New Study Predicts ... ›
- Deforestation in Amazon Skyrockets to 12-Year High Under Bolsonaro ›
- Amazon Rainforest on the Brink of Turning Into a Net Carbon Emitter ... ›
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Anke Rasper
"Today's interim report from the UNFCCC is a red alert for our planet," said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The report, released Friday, looks at the national climate efforts of 75 states that have already submitted their updated "nationally determined contributions," or NDCs. The countries included in the report are responsible for about 30% of the world's global greenhouse gas emissions.
- World Leaders Fall Short of Meeting Paris Agreement Goal - EcoWatch ›
- UN Climate Change Conference COP26 Delayed to November ... ›
- 5 Years After Paris: How Countries' Climate Policies Match up to ... ›
- Biden Win Puts World 'Within Striking Distance' of 1.5 C Paris Goal ... ›
- Biden Reaffirms Commitment to Rejoining Paris Agreement ... ›
Trending
Plastic Burning Makes It Harder for New Delhi Residents to See, Study Suggests
India's New Delhi has been called the "world air pollution capital" for its high concentrations of particulate matter that make it harder for its residents to breathe and see. But one thing has puzzled scientists, according to The Guardian. Why does New Delhi see more blinding smogs than other polluted Asian cities, such as Beijing?
- This Indian Startup Turns Polluted Air Into Climate-Friendly Tiles ... ›
- How to Win the Fight Against Plastic - EcoWatch ›
In a historic move, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) voted Thursday to ban hydraulic fracking in the region. The ban was supported by all four basin states — New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York — putting a permanent end to hydraulic fracking for natural gas along the 13,539-square-mile basin, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
- Appalachian Fracking Boom Was a Jobs Bust, Finds New Report ... ›
- Long-Awaited EPA Study Says Fracking Pollutes Drinking Water ... ›
- Pennsylvania Fracking Water Contamination Much Higher Than ... ›
Colombia is one of the world's largest producers of coffee, and yet also one of the most economically disadvantaged. According to research by the national statistic center DANE, 35% of the population in Columbia lives in monetary poverty, compared to an estimated 11% in the U.S., according to census data. This has led to a housing insecurity issue throughout the country, one which construction company Woodpecker is working hard to solve.
- Kenyan Engineer Recycles Plastic Into Bricks Stronger Than ... ›
- Could IKEA's New Tiny House Help Fight the Climate Crisis ... ›