The Why Factory is a revolutionary think-tank founded by the Delft University of Technology and award-winning architecture firm MVRDV. The studio is led by Winy Maas and concentrates on the production of models and visualizations of future cities. We are really excited about this topic which we extensively covered it in the latest edition of our print publication ‘eVolo_03 – Cities of Tomorrow’.

One of the most stunning designs is a floating city in Phuket, Thailand composed of a series of islands that resemble an open water lily. The islands are designed to maximize their ability to capture solar energy through a series of large-scale petals or photovoltaic cells which are incredibly efficient, sustainable, and stunning.  Read the rest of this entry »

Placing 3^rd at the London 2012 Olympic Games Information Pavilion Competition, the proposal introduces a recognizable and engaging form to London’s Trafalgar Square. A folded athletic track starts at the higher level of the square in front of the National Gallery, traversing a stairway and leading visitors to a lookout point. At the middle of its length a folded segment creates a separating track which descends towards a live event display screen.  The fold itself shelters the pavilion’s main entrance and facilities such as the cafe, souvenir shop and information stand, along with necessary technical facilities.

The material, placement and form of the structure are derived from the environmental analysis of the site and support a sustainable design approach. The track is made from Nike “Grind” recycled running shoes. It orientation maximizes the utilization of daylight and cross-ventilation for passive cooling, with the adjacency of fountains contributing to the cooling effect. Read the rest of this entry »

The Everrest project designed by Simon Takasaki is a  monument that commemorates the end of mining in Duhamel, Germany. The design characterizes by its careful integration to the landscape, urban context, and historical site.. 
The 30 meters-high, walk-in sculpture, holds the ‘path of the history’ of the site. 
As a memorial, the sculpture offers the viewer a path within a mountain appearing as part of the natural topography.
 The path leads over a natural base of broken bricks, boulders, and a well lit and airy great hall -a space designed for contemplation and inspiration. 
It serves for exhibitions or smaller events such as chamber of music or reading room . Read the rest of this entry »

The aim of the CCP Architectural Design Competition for the Artist’s Center and Performing Arts Theater in Philippines was to create a new theater building next to the existing one, within the Arts Sanctuary Cluster of the 62 hectare property. Buensalido Architects, an architectural practice based in Manila’s Makati City, proposed a design which tries to represent the cultural diversity and interweaving of different artistic attitudes . By comparing the cultural blend to the interlaced threads of tapestries, the design concept evolves, establishing two structures as architectural threads originating from various locations within the cultural complex. The structures are then connected with imaginary splines that wrap around the given sites. The curvilinear threads blend, creating strong volumes that culminate in an upward sweep towards the sea at the New Performing Arts Theater site.

Unlike the old performing arts building, dominated by vehicular access routes, the new structure emphasizes the pedestrian qualities of the site. With ramps, bridges and steps, the open public space surrounding the building is transformed into several smaller plazas, suitable for outdoor activities, art installations and performances. Read the rest of this entry »

Harvest Green Project explores the notion of the “foregrounding” a new agri-food system in and around the strategic urban location of an arterial transit hub. By 2050, there will be globally an additional 3 billion people to feed, and traditional farming simply can’t sustain this increase in population. Therefore, incorporating urban farming prominently into the fabric of the city, and in a synergistic mixed-use development integrated with transit, is a way to re-assert the cultural and environmental importance of locally produced food to the health and sustainability of the city and its residents.

If successfully implemented, projects like the The Harvest Tower, designed by Canada-based firm Romses Architects, can offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply, year round crop production, and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for large-scale traditional horizontal farming. Read the rest of this entry »

The soon to be opened Media-ICT building is a project by Cloud 9, the studio founded by Enric Ruiz-Geli. In 2005, the studio won the public competition organized by the Barcelona Zona Franca Consortium and the 22@ District to design a home for the TIC (Information and Communication Technologies) community. This new facility is intended to act as a point of contact between media companies and institutions.

Each façade of the Media-ICT is different, maximizing their efficiency by taking into account their orientation with respect to the sun. The decision was taken to cover the south glass wall with a double skin, or membrane, of EFTE (ethylene tetrafluoro ethylene), a material that is light and elastic but so strong that a small surface can support the weight of a Land Rover. In total, there are 106 membranes or pillows of EFTE, silvery-blue in color, which will slowly inflate, or deflate depending on the climatic conditions. Each ‘pillow’ is controlled separately, with individual sensors measuring heat, temperature and the angle of the sun. On the side of the building that faces the headquarters of the CAC (the Audiovisual Council of Catalonia), currently under construction, there will be just one large pillow of EFTE, but in this case it will be filled with a vertical cloud of nitrogen particles: the resulting density of the air will be used to create a solar filter to protect the interior of the building. Read the rest of this entry »

The main inspiration for this project designed by Santosh Kumar Ketham is to explore the theme of re-using material collected from construction sites, including rusted steel and painted metal.

The pavilion to be located in Karmelitermarkt (market square) area of Vienna, will house a theatre for Indian Classical Music in addition to accommodating a small museum and other ancillary facilities. The lower level occupies performance zones and the upper level will have a concert hall.

The project aims to deploy mutation brought about by fire as the primary generator of pavilions geometry and disposition; transforming the site into heterogeneous ensemble of forms unified by functional distribution. The pavilion also aims to address the tension between what exists as an immediate built context and its intended use as a cultural promenade and gathering. Read the rest of this entry »

“Splash” was designed by Joel Cullum and it was the runner-up in judges’ voting in last month’s DesignByMany Building to Building Bridge Challenge. The aim was to explore the creative ways of connecting two neighboring buildings, while trying to implement the principles of modularity, adaptability to various conditions, quick assemblage, etc.

Structurally, it is “a bridge caught within a single frame of explosive velocity. The tensional lattice work is integral to the structure of the suspended deck, whilst providing the chaotic, yet ordered network of cables and compression rods working to freeze the fragments in mid air.” Read the rest of this entry »

London farm tower designed by Brandon Martella rests on the south bank of the Thames River overlooking Potter’s Field. Like a tree the tower collects rainwater and solar energy to maintain survival. Wind is harvested through vertical axis turbines that align the perimeter structure. The residential programmed floors take advantage of cross ventilation through the use of operable windows and louvers while the hydroponic floors are a continual hydronic system recycling the humid green house air content by collecting condensated water on the inside of the ETFE pillows and letting gravity bring the water down through the hydroponic racks. Read the rest of this entry »

Herzog & de Meuron’s project for the new Bordeaux stadium is an expression of fundamentally new architecture. The pure shape of the volume, by contrast to its light and open structure, creates an at once monumental and graceful architectural piece elegantly suited to the grand landscape of Bordeaux.

Stadium architecture combines three constitutive elements: the bowl containing the game and its spectators, the concourse as the transitional element between the playing field and the outside surroundings and, finally, the overall appearance. Herzog & de Meuron’s approach is to reinterpret these three elements in light of the site-specific characteristics: the resulting architecture is thus one-of-a-kind, reflecting the intrinsic features of the site.

We aim to present an architectural object in which highest functional quality is combined with a unique identity. We are confident that allying these two criteria, functionality and strong identity, endows our project with an emotional dimension that the public can feel, and that is inextricably bound to the stadium’s traditional role of staging sports. Read the rest of this entry »