1000 Trees – Vertical Forest Architecture in the City of Shanghai

🗺️ Location: Putuo District, Shanghai
👨🎨 Architect: Heatherwick Studio (Thomas Heatherwick)
📅 Completion: Phase 1 in 2021
🏗️ Program: Commercial facilities, gallery, restaurant, office space, rooftop, public walkways, etc.

🌱 An ‘Artificial Mountain’ Rooted in the Urban Core

This building, which looks like a garden on a cliff growing right in the middle of the city, boldly breaks the mold of traditional shopping malls and experiments with how nature and architecture can harmonize.
Designed by Heatherwick Studio, this project is special because it’s not just a building with trees ‘added’ on, but a structure designed specifically to support the trees themselves 🌳🪵

🧱 Structural Features
Over 1,000 concrete columns form the exterior walls, each serving as a planter.

The spatial sensation created by the three-dimensional walkways and overlapping vertical layers makes it feel less like a building and more like a terrain.

Post by Regina Y | Aug 8, 2025