Milan (IT)

Milan is the capital of the Lombardy region, and the largest metropolitan area and the second most populous commune in Italy with a population estimated to be about 5,270,000 in the 1,891 square kilometers (730 square miles).

Milan is the second richest city in the European Union, after Paris. It is Italy's main industrial and financial center and one of the most significant globally. Its strengths lay in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism.

Info: http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/portal/tur/en/arteecultura/milan_360

Kleurrijk / Colorful: Torre Arcobaleno

The building dates back to 1964 providing water to the steam-locomotives of the Garibaldi Station. When the last steam trains were scrapped 40 years ago, it remained active for another ten years after which dilapidation set in.

The Torre Arcobaleno (the rainbow tower) was created in 1990 - in preparation of the 
 the 1990 World Cup Soccer being staged in Italy - as a colorful tribute to Milan design creativity recalling the Master Italian Ceramists. The tower is 35 metres high with over 1000 metres of surface area.

Details: http://www.torrearcobaleno.it/english/

Groen / Green: Bosco Verticale

The Bosco verticale (Vertical Forest) is composed (2014) of two residential towers respectively 111 metres and 78 metres high. These two prestigious buildings, that cultivate more than 900 species of trees (approximately 550 trees in the first tower and 350 in the second) on 8900 m² of staggered terraces, is an active interface to the surrounding environment. It is a metropolitan reforestation project that contributes to the regeneration of the environment and the biodiversity by reducing temperature fluctuations, contributing to the production of oxygen and ensuring a significant uptake in the absorption of fine particle emissions.

And above all: it is beautiful to look at.