Indian ‘Forest School’ Going To Be Built With A Rooftop Cycling Track

In the Indian city of Pune, an innovative forest school has been designed by Nudes, an architecture studio. The school is going to be draped by plants. However, its most striking feature is probably the infinity-shaped cycling track on its roof. The Pune Forest School is the victorious entry in a competition for designing a new facility for education in Pune. The city is located in the western part of India.

Nudes plans to build two cylindrical towers, each having six stories and also conjoined. Greenery will cover the entirety of the school apart from the looping rooftop cycling track. The highest building will be 32 meters tall. There will be an auditorium of double the height. On the five floors above it, there will be classrooms.

The track for cycling that is on the rooftop of the building will also present two bridges for crossing between the towers. One will be on the top of the other, identical to how the endless infinity symbol would be in three dimensions. On the other floors, the balconies will be stepped and covered by plants. The design depicts the balconies as running around the entire exterior of the two buildings. The facade’s vertical forest will be a sight to behold.

The Forest School Will Be A Gift For The City

Nuru Karim, the founder of Nudes, said that Pune is about three hours from Mumbai by road. Moreover, there has been dramatic growth in urban areas over the previous ten years. So this “green living skin” will be a massive air purifier that will remove pollutants. It will also, in turn, make it healthier for the city’s residents.

Phytoremediation is the process by which pollutants can be filtered from the atmosphere by plants. Specific plants can absorb chemicals that are toxic through their roots or leaves. Of course, they also carry out photosynthesis, by which carbon dioxide is converted into oxygen.

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In India, Pune houses the eighth-largest population. However, the city has been struggling with air quality worsening over the past few years. In a 2018 study, Pune’s air pollution was shown to be four times more than the standard that the World Health Organization has determined as safe.

A One-of-a-kind School For Climate Change

The Forest School by Nudes will be aimed towards fixing the urban issues of Pune. The added plants on every level as well as making a track for bicycles for the city that has very few cycling tracks and pedestrian walkways are the two main objectives. The basement level will also have tennis courts and a pool for swimming.

Each floor’s accessible service track will also let professional horticulturists have access to the façade of green. This way the plants can be maintained. Karim added that students will not be allowed to access the plants because of concerns for their safety.

However, he added, that students will nurture and grow some of the plants which will be on the ground and the courtyard. Trained gardeners will then place them in higher levels. The building will also be shaded by the plants’ leaves. As a result, the building will be naturally cool and also be protected from noise.

Read: Can Tiny Urban Forests Provide Fresh Air In The Cities?

Pune’s forest school is going to be a school for children from nursery to 18 years of age. Nudes are hoping that this project will have a healthy environment for schooling and provide hands-on lessons about climate change and the environment. However, the current pandemic has delayed the construction by quite a while.

The architecture office of Nudes, founded in 2007, focuses, particularly on learning and sustainability. https://www.comedianjoshwolf.com One of the other projects by Nudes is a pavilion created by undulating bookshelves, which aims to promote literacy among adults in Mumbai.