The Bosco Verticale, 10 years old, as told by Iwan Baan’s photographs

The Bosco Verticale turns a decade old. The twin skyscrapers designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti are not only one of Milan's most famous architectural landmarks, but also the one that best tells the story of the evolution of the city and the Isola district where they are located. The vertical forest stands where, until a few years ago, the "Stecca degli Artigiani" was, a complex built in the 1950s that housed artisan workshops, bicycle repair shops and cultural spaces. It was one of the most vibrant and interesting countercultural hubs in Milan in the early 2000s - a city with fewer institutional structures then, but far more vibrant than today. Once a working-class and "isolated" area, Isola is now connected to the city centre thanks to the Porta Nuova project. The neighbourhood has undergone a transformation similar to many around the world, where former proletarian zones have become attractive hubs for a spending class working in creativity, finance and culture, similar to Williamsburg in New York or Neukölln in Berlin. In this new Isola, increasingly beautiful and green, but also inherently exclusive, the Vertical Forest - a luxury complex that has replaced a former social meeting place - stands as both the epicentre and emblem of gentrification in Milan.

Located at the junction between Isola and Porta Nuova - one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the history of Milan - the Bosco Verticale was completed in 2014. The complex comprises two residential towers, one 80 metres high and the other 112 metres. It is "a prototype building for a new architecture of biodiversity that focuses not only on man but also on the relationship between man and other living species," said Boeri during the building’s early years. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Vertical Forest, and to celebrate, Stefano Boeri Architetti has curated a monograph entitled Bosco Verticale, Morphology of a Vertical Forest.The book traces its history and highlights its design significance, with contributions from Beatriz Colomina, Emanuele Coccia and Paul Hawken, among others. Accompanied by graphics, illustrations and a new portfolio by Iwan Baan - some of which we present here - the photographs show the Vertical Forest in its context, without which it would not be the same.