Buildings That Breathe: Greening the World's Cities

by Nancy F. Castaldo

Imagine looking out from your 18th floor apartment in the middle of the city and seeing trees right in front of you. In an effort to stem climate change, reduce pollution, combat heat, and protect biodiversity, architects are teaming up with botanists, urban wildlife ecologists, and other scientists to design high-rise forests, living walls, and vertical farms in some of the world’s most populated places. These projects are happening all around the world, and they will not only change the urban landscape, but they will provide urban dwellers with a healthier place to live and work.

For Buildings That Breathe , author and environmental journalist Nancy Castaldo connected with architect Stefano Boeri at the World Forum on Urban Forests and was invited to his office in Milan where she visited Bosco Verticale, the first high-rise forest. Planted with 750 trees, 5,000 shrubs, and 11 perennials on two apartment towers, the project provides an urban habitat for birds, insects, and people while creating a micro-climate that produces oxygen and provides shade for high-rise residents. Explore Bosco Verticale, as well the planned Liuzhou Forest City in China and other green architecture projects around the world, looking at how people are working together to change the urban landscape of the future.

Genres: Nonfiction, Environment

112 pages, Library Binding

Published November 1, 2022

About the author

Nancy Castaldo is an award winning author of children's books, a certified National Geographic educator, and photographer.

She loves writing books for curious readers that get them thinking about the world around them.

Reviews

[Lorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Environmental science books for older students that both inform and amaze are often hard to find. This title from Twenty-First Century Books an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group meets that hard-to-find age-appropriate book for grades 7+ need for school and public libraries that students will want to read. Coming in at 112 pages with the bulk of the text before page 100, reading this won't be over a student's time constraints if they are reading for class, science labs or for activism information.

The text itself covers a lot of ground and while the chapters are short and well-arranged, the font size is tiny so there is a lot jammed into a book that appears small by its trim size. Readers will learn about the history of green building, examples of green building like green roofs and living walls, how projects like these are being done all around the world, what the future might look like, and how young people can get involved in projects in their own neighborhood.

In addition to the informative text, photos and text boxes bring to life the green builds being discussed in the text. Extensive source notes, bibliography, further information, list of places to explore in cities around the world by project, and a calendar of world events help the reader incorporate the material into research or activism work.

I would recommend this book for purchase by middle school, high school and public libraries.

This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.

[Margaret Crampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most fascinating and inspiring books I have ever read. Greening urban buildings both inside and out offers solutions and impactful options to a multitude of challenges, issues, and problems in cities including:
1. Reducing greenhouse gases with a positive contribution to climate change.
2. ‘Treescrapers’ (buildings covered in a vertical forest) such as Bosco Verticale in Milan offer residents a wildlife experience and atmosphere cooled by the transpiration of millions of leaves.
3. Urban farming on a large scale inside buildings using artificial light, recycled water and grey water provides cost effective fresh vegetables where none have been before, with minimal land use and transport costs.
4. Roof planting provides insulation and lowers roof runoff where flooding can be an issu. Roofs in cities offer
acres of space and in Chicago there’s a
rooftop prairie where they harvest wheat!
5. Plantings take place in wasteland pockets and the development of parks is important in urban spaces even disused railway tracks.
It is not possible to adequately summarize this multi disciplinary and meticulously researched book to do justice to the fascinating worldwide imaginative developments in city greening . I highly recommend this book to all city dwellers!

[Bonnie Grover · Rating 4 out of 5]

@ncastaaldo takes reader along to Bosco Verticale, the first high-rise forest in Milan, Italy and to other innovative projects aimed at greening our cities. This book is packed with interesting science including the fact that scientists first warned about global warming and climate change back in 1958. Trees and other plants are one of the keys to helping our planet.

Although the thought of planting trees to clean our air is not new, the ideas of green high-rise buildings and “libraries of trees” is an idea who time has come. This book offers a far more interesting way to learn about the importance of plants and animals to our environment than a biology textbook.

[Martha Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy Castaldo is at the top of her game! She's written a wonderful, hopeful, exciting book about how architects and city planners are changing our cities to support more trees, plants and wildlife! She covers green roofs, forest buildings, indoor urban farming, living walls as well as the darker side of all these improvements, eco- gentrification. She has a whole chapter on what (older) kids can do to help their cities be more green. Clear and simple for kids, this book gives urban kids a chance to participate in improving their cities from the ground up! A great read.

[Jason Van Meir · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as in-depth as i’d anticipated, was not the target age range for this book. topics included hydroponics, living walls/buildings, green roofs, and some tenets of urban greening.

i would like to read more in depth about the biochemical mechanisms in carbon capture/sequestration, as well as more detailed green infrastructure design guides if anyone has recommendations!

[Jennifer Hottinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love the photographs and life through plants brought to cities. Urban gardens, green roofs, and "tree"scapers...how awesome! Plants are so wonderful for the planet and the beauty...Wow-just WOW!

[Nandhana Prakash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very inspired by this book and how many young people made a difference in their communities.
I read this book for a book project in school, I got glued to it, it was so fascinating and inspiring!! Definitely recommend!!!!!

[Bilegjargal · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy read - but filled with examples from around the world on how cities can be turned into greenery. I had needed a holistic, very brief overview of green urban designs to come up with ideas to use GIS with it - this book definitely helped.

[Ranette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book interesting on how we can save the planet by greening up our cities, but it was so repetative after the first 3r. Great ideas