The facade, a mixture of cement and titanium dioxide, captures nitrogen-oxide pollution and converts it into a harmless salt that easily rinses off the walls when it rains. Palazzo Italia also consumes 40 percent less energy than a conventional building of its size, and emits zero air pollution. “We wanted the building to be an osmotic organism,” says lead architect Michele Molè—like a tree that breathes in carbon dioxide and exhales oxygen. This article was originally published in the January/February 2016 issue of Popular Science.
