Imagine a hotel that breathes alongside its guests, vacuuming up carbon dioxide and exchanging it for oxygen. That’s the vision Milan-based architect Stefano Boeri just unveiled for the Mountain Forest Hotel in Guizhou, China. The 180-suite hotel, opening in fall 2017, will feature at least 360 trees sprouting from specially designed balconies, recalling a hill on the site demolished years earlier. Like the architect’s other Vertical Forest projects in Italy and Switzerland, “it’s a symbol of restitution,” Boeri says. “Buildings have to take care of nature.”
–Julie Shapiro
More Must-Reads from TIME
- How the Electoral College Actually Works
- Your Vote Is Safe
- Mel Robbins Will Make You Do It
- Why Vinegar Is So Good for You
- The Surprising Health Benefits of Pain
- You Don’t Have to Dread the End of Daylight Saving
- The 20 Best Halloween TV Episodes of All Time
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
Contact us at letters@time.com