Bosco Verticale

Architect Stefano Boeri completed these two residential towers, roughly 110 and 80 metres tall, in 2014. Their staggered balconies hold hundreds of trees and thousands of shrubs that change colour with the seasons, pruned by gardeners who abseil down from the roof.

They're part of Porta Nuova, the skyscraper district that reshaped Milan's skyline: the spired UniCredit tower, Piazza Gae Aulenti with its fountains and the Biblioteca degli Alberi park spreading between the buildings.