Following the recent terror attacks in Barcelona, Italian architect Stefano Boeri has suggested that European cities be redesigned to include trees with bulky planters rather than concrete barriers to prevent vehicles targeting pedestrians.
Boeri, known for his plant- and tree-covered buildings, made the statement in response to string of vehicle-led terror attacks in Barcelona, Nice, Berlin, London and other locations in the last 18 months.
"We cannot afford to see the thousands of squares and public spaces present in the hundreds of European cities transformed into war check-points, knowing that only one derisory percentage of these thousands of squares will be really hit from terrorist attacks," Boeri told Dezeen.
"A big pot full of soil has the same resistance to a Jersey [modular concrete barrier], but it can host a tree ? a living being that offers shadow; absorbs the dust, subtle pollutants and the CO2; produces oxygen; homes birds." The architect believes that planting would integrate better with picturesque plazas, monuments and architecture, complimenting instead of spoiling them.
"To terrorists that are already succeeding in fearing us and seek for us not to leave our houses, we must not give also the satisfaction of ruining our extraordinary historic and cultural heritage of urban collective places," he said.
Dezeen spoke to Boeri following a televised interview published by Italian news outlet Repubblica.it, during whic...