The Bubble Skyscraper was designed by Iranian architects Farzad Mirshafiei, Amin Aghagholizade, Farzin Misami, and Peyman Aali. 

The exterior shell was designed based on the aerodynamic properties of bubbles against cross-wind deflection during strong ocean winds. Three legs at the base and a structural braced core provide additional resistance against lateral forces.

 According to the wind and solar orientations, there are gaps between bubbles at different levels. Green spaces and sky-gardens are accommodated in these gaps to provide the building and the community with social spaces – intelligent trapdoors in these areas allow natural ventilation produced by the chimney effect of the central atrium. The electrical and mechanical systems are embedded in pipes running along the facade that illuminate with different colors at night. Some of the green elements of the Bubble Skyscraper are: wave energy convertors, water recollection systems, solar panels, and wind turbines. Read the rest of this entry »

Alabama-based architectural firm Forrest Fulton designed a 900,000 sqf building that resembles a mountain in Yerevan, Armenia. The biomorphic building consists of a structural lattice that connects the city and landscape to the project. The hill is covered with regional plants and it is accessible to pedestrians as a leisure park. From the top there are excellent views to Mt. Ararat in Turkey. Read the rest of this entry »

A recent design competition called for entries for a backcountry ski patrol and emergency services operation center for a site at 9,000 ft in elevation somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. The winner of the 2010 Cavin Family Traveling Fellowship was Garrett van Leeuwen, a recent graduate of Architecture at Cal Poly, who now has $10,000 to use towards travel in order to learn about sustainable building. Garrett’s winning design 11,300 square foot facility incorporating emergency medical facilities, a backcountry operations center, sustainable building strategies as well as passive solar design.

The location for the backcountry operations center is at the top of a hill in a large valley with commanding views of the nearby ridges and terrain. Four main program categories make up the operations center – avalanche control, emergency medical service, ski patrol office and vehicle storage. Each program category needed an increasing amount of space, with vehicle storage needing the most and avalanche control needing the least. So four separate rooms were designed for a each purpose in ascending size, and linked together with storage towers and a hallway. Read the rest of this entry »