Bjarke Ingels Group and Carlo Ratti Associati have started building a 280-metre-high skyscraper in Singapore, which will feature a four-storey vertical park complete with treetop cocoons.
The tower, at 88 Market Street in the city-state's financial district, will contain 29 floors of office space and 299 apartments, along with gardens spread through the building.
BIG and CRA's design shows the glass and steel facade of the 51-storey tower being "pulled apart" at the base, mid and upper levels to allow trees and plants to protrude out.
"At multiple elevations, the facade peels open to reveal urban oases for its users and the surrounding city ? animating the elegant smoothness of modern architecture with the ubiquitous tropical nature," said BIG founder Bjarke Ingels.
The tower will become the joint-second tallest building in downtown Singapore, with only SOM's Tanjong Pagar Centre rising higher.
Construction of the 93,000 square metre mixed-use skyscraper, being developed by Asian real estate company CapitaLand, is already underway, following a groundbreaking ceremony on 9 February 2018.

A public park will be located on the ground floor, with spaces for exercise classes, art installations and community events.
Paths and covered walkways through the forest will lead to a 19-metre-high open space in the tower's podium housing shopping and dining outlets, as well as the lobbies for the offices and residences.

Four interconnected levels of the tow...