SynecO (SynecO, Inc.) announces the construction and launch of "Green Pool," an Augmented Ecosystem-based Green Space at Azabudai Hills, managed and operated by Mori Building (Mori Building Co., Ltd.). This project builds upon pilot experiments conducted between 2019 and 2025 on the rooftop garden of Roppongi Hills Keyakizaka Complex, carried out jointly by Mori Building (Mori Building Co., Ltd.), Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. (Sony CSL), and Synecoculture Association.

(October 2019 — Mori Building Co., Ltd. / Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. Press Release)(Only Available in Japanese)

What is an Augmented Ecosystem?

In today’s increasingly dense, built-up urban environments shaped by economic optimization, our relationship with nature is reaching a major turning point. Beyond the conservation of biodiversity, a key theme in building the sustainable cities of the future is how to strategically harness the diverse functions of ecosystems — known as ecosystem services — within urban spaces and connect them to social and economic value.

Augmented Ecosystem (Note 1) refers to a state in which ecosystem functions are actively enhanced through human intervention, going beyond their natural state to serve various purposes. Practitioners developing Augmented Ecosystem leverage technologies such as AI to positively integrate human activities into the complex process of ecosystem self-organization. Research has shown that plants, which form the foundation of ecosystems, can drive soil microbial activity to become more diverse and active than in natural conditions, even in artificial environments such as building rooftops. This in turn delivers multifaceted value in areas such as food and health.

What is "Green Pool"?

Green Pool is a new form of urban green space that applies the principles of Augmented Ecosystems within an urban context.

By scientifically analyzing the interaction networks among diverse organisms — including plants, microorganisms, and animals (such as insects and birds) — and combining big data on biological species with observational data from Azabudai Hills and its surrounding environment, candidate plant species for introduction were carefully identified. Taking into account the constraints of an urban space, such as the available green area, approximately 80 species of useful plants with diverse functions — including edible and medicinal varieties — have been introduced across an area of approximately 60 square meters.

The mixed and dense planting of vegetation (gene pool) cultivates a rich and diverse plant community, which in turn forms a fertile topsoil (geo pool), creating an environment that serves as a habitat for a wide variety of living organisms. At the same time, the space is designed to offer visitors to Azabudai Hills and residents of the surrounding area new ways to engage with and find meaning in nature as part of their daily lives and activities.

About SynecO, Inc.

SynecO’s Website: https://www.syneco.inc/

(Note 1) Augmented Ecosystem:

An ecosystem that enhances biodiversity beyond its natural state through the active contribution of human intervention, resulting in improved ecosystem functions and the ability to obtain diverse ecosystem services according to specific purposes. This concept was scientifically formulated by Masatoshi Funabashi, Research Director at Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. and Representative Director & President of SynecO, Inc.