Green Walls for Urban Climate Mitigation

Throughout the last years, vertical green walls are increasing their existence in modern buildings, providing numerous benefits to the buildings and to the surrounding area. Milano citizens are becoming increasingly sensitive to environmental issues. The excessive soil consumption and the improper exploitation of renewable resources such as water and air, have brought and daily bring microclimatic imbalances that make the metropolitan citizens more and more careful and respectful for the environment in which they live. The urban designer, in fulfilling his role, finds himself with a demand that varies according to the information of the mass media, promoters of healthy living, which involves paying attention to what we introduce into our organisms. This theme is becoming more and more relevant in cities like Milan, where the rhythms of life are marked by productivity, at the service of a city that represents the Italian business district. Today’s citizen claims the quality of the reduced free time that remains between the daily commitments and, suffocated by rhythms and pollution, want to breathe fresh air and live in a healthy environment. Always more often public administrations are promoting the reconstitution of the city through the use of urban greenery which is fundamental for making people live and feel good, but often - especially in urban centers - there is no land available for the planting as all horizontal surfaces remained covered by asphalt or houses. However, there are many vertical surfaces that can be redeveloped and converted into green filters for the pollutants absorption and restoration of the native microclimate. Some experiments are being done in the metropolitan territory, but nowadays the maintenance of the green walls is still too high and, by performing a pro and cons evaluation, usually the owner doesn’t find convenient to choose this wall type. Even if the technology has not been still suitably developed and spread, the creative beauty potential and efficacy of the filtering walls in air cleaning, especially in big cities, has not to be underestimated and set aside. The significance of the mitigation capabilities at urban scale could reveal magnificent potential that has not yet been investigated. The main examples constructed in Milan will be shown at the present condition.