Terreform's ONE designs Monarch Butterfly sanctuary tower

The visionary team at Terreform ONE in New York City have unveiled designs for an eight-story Monarch Butterfly sanctuary tower that promises to enliven the facade of a forthcoming commercial building with a vertical terrarium. 

The diagrid structure will be made out of 3D-printed carbon-sequestering concrete components infilled with a dual-skin facade wrapped with glass and "pillows" of ETFE foil. The design will create a three-foot by 70-foot "vertical meadow" filled with "suspended milkweed vines and flowering plants to nourish the butterflies at each stage of their life cycle," according to a project website. 

The performative facade will also be coated with "hydrogel bubbles" and small algae-filled sacs that will serve to purify air and building wastewater, while also mainta...