In early December 2010, Norwegian firm Snohetta was chosen by the University of Guadalajara, Mexico to design their new Museum of Environmental Science. Neither party wasted any time, construction of the Museum is expected to begin within the next few months. Snohetta beat out designs from Shinguru Ban, Diller Scofidio Renfro, Smiljan Radic, and Maurico Rocha among others. Engineering firm AREP assisted Snohetta with the structural, theatre, and acoustic engineering as well as consulted on the implementation of sustainable practices.

According to the CCU website the Museum will contain a library, restaurants, a forum of demonstrations, recreational land, planetarium, classrooms, workshop, and 4 showrooms. The CCU goes on to say the Museum will focus on the natural wealth and environmental problems of the region as well as maintain exhibits on global issues and showcase the latest in green developments. Snohetta embodied scientific progression and sustainability with a modern and biotic design that draws inspiration from the natural landscape of the Guadalajara region. Read the rest of this entry »

The Kralingen Mountain project, also being called the Rotterdam Mountain project started in 2009 and headed by MVRDV has entered a feasibility study phase and moved one step closer to realization.

The Kralingen Mountain project is a vision for an area on the north side of Rotterdam, NL. Kralingen is the name of the neighborhood that the project area is in. The mountain is the focus of the project; the massive hill that will cover the 1.7km of motorway and rail that slices through the center of the project are and the necessary space MVRDV and the other Kralingen Mountain associates had to create to effectively develop the area and leave the vital traffic artery undisturbed.

High income residential neighborhoods and parks will be built on top of the hill, offering residents and parkgoers views of the area surrounding the development, characterized by expansive green space and  meandering Rotte River. Read the rest of this entry »

Following a groundbreaking ceremony this past December, work has begun on the Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM) designed NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The stunning €460m headquarters will replace the “temporary” buildings have been in use since 1967. SOM was awarded the contract back in 2003 but it took seven years for construction to begin.

SOM says of their design, “Like fingers interlaced in a symbolic clasp of unity and mutual interdependence, the design for this international treaty organization headquarters represents its changing mission from opposition and prevention to unification and integration”.

SOM made a strong post-modern expression of solidarity in the form of the Headquarters, and infused the strength of design with a sense of inter-transparency in the incorporation of exterior glass facades and the heavy use of transparent interior materials.

The NATO Secretary General sees the design as a desperately needed sign of permanence for NATO, saying In an unpredictable world, NATO is here to stay. And NATO will stay here in Brussels.” Read the rest of this entry »

Last month, Los Angeles based Ehrlich Architects won the international design competition for the United Arab Emirates Ferderal National Council’s New Parliament Building Complex in Abu Dhabi. Ehrlich’s design was picked of a group of 14 internationally recognized firms. The firms submitted entries on invitation only, the list included major firms Foster + Partners, Massamiliano Fuksas Architects and Zaha Hadid Architects.

Ehrlich teamed up with Emirates based architecture firm Godwin Austen Johnson and landscape architecture firm ValleyCrest Design Group during the second phase of the competition to create their design.

Ehrlich said the design “melds familiar Arabic design language with contemporary form and the latest technological advances, creating meaning, maximum functionality and environmental sustainability”. The centerpiece of the Complex is a cylindrical rotunda surrounded by an arched dome topped with colored glass. The colored glass will cast Islamic patterns into the rotunda, which houses the Assemby Hall.

Surrounding the Assembly Hall is a complex of traditionally inspired government offices. The exterior architecture is inspired by the historic sun dried mud brick architecture that exemplifies Middle Eastern traditional design. Traditional influences are a theme in many Godwin Austen buildings. The interior of these offices will be modern 21st century offices for the leaders of one of the world’s fastest growing nations. Read the rest of this entry »

Urban food production is not a new concept. We’ve seen countless designs here on eVolo for vertical farms, urban ecosystems, and arcologies, but French firm Zundel and Cristea has taken the urban farm concept in an entirely different direction. Instead of proposing a monumental project like a vertical farm, they put together a design for smaller urban farm centers planted throughout a city.

The centers are designed to grow food, process it, and some to even serve it in on site restaurants. On the inside bowls of the spiraling structures is the green space where various types of food and greenery is grown. Visitors and urban farmers would go out to the spirals to harvest and enjoy the green space. Food would then be taken into the superstructure and processed where it could be served or packaged and brought to market.

The small scale of each of the double spiral structures allow for Zundel and Cristea’s urban farms to be regional centers for the districts they individually serve, a sort of park and bazaar in one. Placing them in urban landscapes also reduces the green house emissions that would normally be needed to transport produce from rural farms to city centers. Centers would be topped with wind turbines as well, to create an energy sustainable landmark that is economically, socially, and agriculturally productive. Read the rest of this entry »

Mecanoo designed the Library of Birmingham, England with the goal of solidifying Centenary Square as a center for arts, culture, and entertainment. The quite loud design and edutainment intentions of the Library has garnered it the name “super library” by the press.

The library is better described as a cultural center than simply a library. It will attach to the Repertory Theatre next door and share a box office and reception desk as well as shared programs and events. The Repertory Theatre will run shows in the 600 person theatre inside the Library. The Library will also feature a unique outdoor amphitheatre for performances that is sunk into the ground and attached on an underground level to the main structure.

To pay tribute to the industrial artisan history of Birmingham, Mecanoo added the ornamental circle/star shaped design that adorns each exterior wall. The façade masks an interior designed around eight cylindrical rotundas that house various collections and let in natural light. To engage visitors to the surrounding Centenary Square, Mecanoo added a cantilevered balcony to overhang the square. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently picked as the winning design for an addition to the Fallingwater grounds, Patkau’s design implements a bold design with striking subtlety to create a serene community of cottages sunk into the Pennsylvania hills. The award was the first ever to be given out by Fallingwater for new construction on the grounds.

The design for the cottages explore the synergy of environment and architecture so well realized by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Fallingwater house 75 years ago. The Patkau cottages take Wright’s design principles to the 21st century and shed all conventionalism both inside and out. Non-angular interior walls create a comforting cocoon space within the hills and the choice of bare wood visually blurs the line between the interior and the rolling hills the cottages are set in and around. Outside, the cottages nearly disappear in the hills, engaging guests with the surrounding hills. The cottages are laid out in a proximity that encourages interaction between guests yet still respects privacy.

Patkau designed the cottages to be sustainable as well, further solidifying the unification between the built and nature. The built-in-hill design embraces the energy saving benefits of the natural heat retaining qualities of earth and all incorporate kitchen and grey water recycling. Read the rest of this entry »

The Boston Arcology is a proposal by Schopfer Associates that seeks to “create a visionary and iconic structure predicated on this principle of Arcology…”. The BOA as it is referred to by its designers is a more realistic take on the concept of arcology design that they claim is entirely realistic with the techniques of today.

The BOA was designed to answer a number of concerns that coastal cities like Boston will be facing over the next 50 years. Schopfer took environmental change in particular as a major design platform and designed the BOA to “float” in a 105ft retaining pool that it would be housed in, in which water from Boston Harbor would freely flow. The buoyant element is made out of all things, concrete.

The BOA, like many other arcology models is modeled as a re-concentration of urban development away from the urban sprawl that has characterized metropolitan growth over the last 60 years. It has the residential capacity to house 15,000 occupants between hotels, offices, retail, museums, condos and a new city hall. Schopfer drew inspiration from Boston’s modern and postmodern built environment for architectural inspiration and incorporated the styles into the contemporary design of the BOA. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week we featured the Foster + Partners design for the Zayed National Museum on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. This is Zaha Hadid‘s design for the Performing Arts Centre, one of three other major architectural projects that will be joining the Zayed National Museum on Saadiyat Island in the coming years.

To create perhaps the most elegant design on Saadiyat, Zaha Hadid applied a set of algorithmic patterns to a number of processes to create basic design schemes, which were further processed with scientifically designed plans and parameters. The almost methodical design process led to a remarkably biological and kinetic structure.

The exterior superstructure appears to slip out from the earth like a serpent, gliding westward to the seafront. The interior is equally organic biotic-like cavities that branch out in veins to each theatre. Zaha Hadid’s structural design with the flowing natural quality combines a modern 21st century design with what some say is the sort of movement and emotion of Art Nouveau to create a truly beautiful landmark on Saadiyat Island. Read the rest of this entry »

Arguably one of the more creative entries into the Architizer-organized 2010 Total Housing competition, the Stairscraper is dense urban living re-imagined for the 21st century.  Barcelona firm Nabito Arquitectura is behind the spiral design that combines the best of high-rise and single level apartment living. Their unique design won them top accolades in the Total Housing competition.

The competition was a challenge to design with a particular focus on individual apartment spaces, entrants had to “focus on the interior layout and design of the domestic unit”. Nabito Arquitectura (NA) started by questioning the quality of traditional apartment spaces. Tower’s offer views of the city and can house a high density of apartments in a small footprint. Single level style can offer yards and a better sense of community, but neither can offer what other can. So why not combine the best of both?

To create a high-rise apartment building with ample personal green space, NA took a traditional cylindrical high-rise design and fanned each floor out from the center like a deck of cards. The rotation frees up the roof space of one floor to be used as a yard for the apartments above it. The spiral climbs steeply, and the “yards” are set up on what could be called the upstairs side, so ample vertical space is set between apartments to allow in maximum sunlight. Nabito layed out multiple floor plans for each level, ranging from one apartment to three, set up in all different configurations. Read the rest of this entry »