Algae Urba Canopy, as part of the Future Food District project, is being developed by Carlo Ratti Associati at the central crossroads of the Milan EXPO site. The pavilions’ façades and canopy utilize new systems of micro-algae, designed by Cesare Griffa and ecoLogicStudio. Two prototypes – full scale models of the façade and canopy – are being previewed as part of INTERNI’s Exhibition-Event ‘Feeding New Ideas for the City’ during Milan Design Week.

The functioning principle of these prototypes is based on the exceptional properties of micro-algae organisms, which are ten times more efficient photosynthetic machines compared to large trees and grasses. The façade and canopy currently being developed for EXPO Milano 2015 develop a natural man-made ecology and explore the use of algae as an integrated architectural cladding and urban agriculture system. Algae can represent an important part of creating a healthy and live-able planet. Giving life to mysterious urban gardens, algae can be used as an innovative energy and food production system within our cities.

The Urban Algae Canopy, based on ecoLogicStudio’s ‘HORTUS’ system, is presented with a 1:1 scale prototype of the world’s first bio-digital canopy integrating micro-algal cultures and real time digital cultivation protocols on a unique architectural system. The potential of micro-algae have been integrated within a custom designed four-layered ETFE cladding system, whilst the flows of energy, water and CO2 are controlled and regulated in real-time and made to respond and adjust to weather patterns and visitors’ movements. Once completed, as part of the EXPO Milano 2015 Future Food District, this special edition of the Urban Algae Canopy will produce the equivalent amount of oxygen as four hectares of woodland, and up to 150 kg of biomass per day – 60% of which are natural proteins.

The Urban Algae Façade – based on Cesare Griffa’s ‘WaterLilly 2.0’ system – is the prototype of a micro-algae façade, being developed in a special edition for EXPO Milano 2015. ‘WaterLilly 2.0’ is a project for a micro-algae vertical farm to be implemented as an architectural skin. The intention here is that, integrated into the green system of the cities, micro-algae can help in absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, while acting as a second skin of buildings, boosting passive cooling and increasing shading of the façade. Read the rest of this entry »

LAVA Architects did an exciting proposal for a library in Kazakhstan. Instead of creating an individual icon, they wanted that the library establishes relationships between Astana the city, Kazakhstan the country, and the rest of the world.

Information has traditionally been stored in the form of books, but the internet and digital storage devices have multiplied the possibilities infinitely. Books and printed media are only one form of information storage yet are still a widely accepted form of information. The library of the future is therefore an information hub connected as much to the individual user in the city as it is to the rest of the world.

The proposed building form reflects both the traditional approach and future tendencies, and it also suggests the reading of the city as a modern 21st century polycentric network of relationships. The outer perimeter is based on the square form in plan, which is representative of tradition, stability and order. The cutouts into the rigid square form open the interior of the building to the outside, providing a sense of openness and invitation.

Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is only just over a decade old and a wide range of ambitious building projects are always in full swing – 1,700 cranes are currently in operation on 650 separate sites in a city which less than ten years ago, had a population of only 280,000, and today boasts almost a million.

Dutch architectural practice BIG Architects won the first prize  for national Kazakhstan library. Read the rest of this entry »

GXN, 3XN’s green innovation unit, is the architect of the 150m2 meeting pavilion that will be a movable spearhead for developing the construction industry in a more sustainable direction. The technology and design of the pavilion, developed in collaboration with engineers from COWI, Cradle 2 Cradle® Denmark and others, point towards a future where buildings contribute positively to the environment.

The solar cells integrated in the roof are angled so that they are exploited most efficiently. Together with a heat pump producing three times the heat energy it consumes in electrical power energy, the solar cells ensure that the building has a surplus of energy.

The materials used in the pavilion are either 100 % biological degradable or recyclable. Among the degradable materials are bio-composites, which are building blocks, made out of for example flax or hemp. Well known building materials like steel and glass are also used as they can be recycled and therefore would not turn into waste if the pavilion some day is demolished. The C2C Pavilion is an on-going project, meaning that the pavilion is to be continuously improved as new inventions within sustainable building come about.

GXN was established in 2007 as an internal division of Danish architectural practice 3XN, and has since day one been working with applied architectural research in green materials and building technologies. The ‘G’ stands for Green, highlighting GXN’s dedication to ecological design research through digital processes and innovative material solutions. GXN competencies span over architecture and design projects, research and innovation and external consultancy. Read the rest of this entry »

The following project is the outcome of a workshop, held at Architectural Association, Design Research Laboratory, London, UK. The theme of the workshop was self-organizing and self-assembly systems, cellular automata and game of life.

Computational / parametric architecture stays very close to contemporary theory of algorithms. The authors of the workshop have already implemented cellular automata and particularly game of life in architectural project Fashion Design Museum in Kyiv, 2009. Current project designed within the Architectural Association (AADRL) was aimed to go deeply into cellular automata theory and practice and to define the strategies of control the self-organizing system and to find the directions of usage in architectural design. Implementation of the algorithm for space tessellated into truncated octahedrons instead of usual cubic voxels also became a contribution into cellular automata research.

The aim of the study was to develop an algorithm that analyzes the system and cellular automata based on the statistical data decides how to change the input parameters – rules of growth or initial generation, and modifies the geometric structure of the system given the strategies that are necessary for the achievement of design (frame search, combining in clusters , etc.). Much of the workshop was dedicated to testing of various input conditions and rules’ generation. The second phase consisted of obtaining numerical data from the complex system. Third was the interpretation and searching the path of application of numbers obtained. And fourth – a change of the morphology of generative field and the manufacture of a physical model of the variations’ catalogue and graphical explanation of the search tree of desired result.

Workshop tutor was Mostafa El Sayed while the team members are Dmytro Aranchii, Paul Bart, Yuqiu Jiang and Flavia Santos. Read the rest of this entry »

Dongdeamun Design Plaza by Zaha Hadid Architects opened 21 March 2014 by hosting Seoul Fashion Week. DDP also hosted five separate design and art exhibitions featuring works by modern designers as well as the prized collection of traditional Korean art of the Kansong Art Museum. The Design Plaza has been designed as a cultural hub at the very center of Dongdaemun – an historic district of Seoul. DDP is a catalyst for the instigation and exchange of ideas and for new technologies and media to be explored. It has been designed as an architectural landscape that revolves around the ancient city wall and cultural artefacts discovered during archaeological excavations, preceding DDP’s construction.

The design of the development is a very specific result of how the context, local culture, programmatic requirements and innovative engineering come together – the whole new civic space is created allowing the architecture, city and landscape to combine in both form and spatial experience.

It is place for leisure, relaxation and refuge – a new green oasis within the busy urban surroundings of Dongdaemun. The design integrates the park and plaza seamlessly as one, blurring the boundary between architecture and nature in a continuous, fluid landscape.

Dongdeamun Design Plaza’s design and construction sets many new standards of innovation. It is the first public project in Korea to implement advanced 3-dimensional digital construction services that ensure the highest quality and cost controls. These innovations have enabled the team building DDP to control the construction with much greater precision than conventional processes and improve efficiency. Implementing such construction technologies make the development one of Korea’s most innovative and technological advanced constructions to date. Read the rest of this entry »

“Meta-Follies for the Metropolitan Landscape” by ecoLogicStudio is a spatial mechanism which aims at establishing a playful dialogue with the user enabling the development of clouds of knowledge, a form of meta-language based on material experience, patterns recognition, sedimentation of feelings as well as a real-time meta-conversation.

This smart and responsive installation, a fibrous structure, has been conceived algorithmically and will keep evolving algorithmically once it will be handled over to its end users and it will commence its exhibition tour following unknown itineraries across different regions, cultures, languages and environmental contexts; it cannot be predicted how would these contexts read and respond to the project nor the pavilion can be designed to respond to a specific context in a traditional sense. However the machine nature of this proposal allows a dynamic form of contextual relationship with the surrounding urban environment, one that works through intuitive aesthetic appreciation as well as behavioral response.

Referring to Slavoj Zizek’s call for the development of a “new terrifying form of abstract materialism” the pavilion confronts the artificiality of the contemporary urban landscape with the production of a new form of hyper-artificiality able to offer refuge and consolation to the crowd of post-ecologists. Such emerging group of urban dwellers have stopped searching for a new Arcadia and are determined to develop a new ‘shanty’ version of it. Within this paradigm aesthetic codes are redefined – the beauty of nature, the proportion of the classic and the idealization of the early ecologists are substituted by the abstraction of digital meta-fields, of mathematical minimal paths, which define an algorithmic manual for the assemblage of new material systems made of processed industrial waste, post-consumer recycled plastic, bundles of electrical wires, solar photo-voltaic cells and cheap reused Chinese sound kits.

Such an improbable assemblage of ‘urban trash’ is pushed to the limit and engineered to reveal a new aesthetic, spatial and behavioral milieu, a new urban eco-language.

Regarding fabrication and material technologies, the process used for the pavilion is “slow prototyping” – few specific components of the project are custom-prototyped while on the others will be re-used, re-cycled and hacked existing trash technologies, to become integral part of our new prototype. In ecoLogicStudio they believe that there is no need for fast architecture, like there is no need of fast food, but there is a new need for a slow architecture, able to simultaneously embody the object, the process and the interface. They advocate architecture that operates like a swarm, or in the swarm – able to convert a multitude of simple instructions into an emergent meta-language of forms, movements and effects. Read the rest of this entry »

Koichi Takada Architect’s design for Sydney by Crown, focuses on providing a building that both enhances the existing street-scape and provides an iconic and recognizable addition to Sydney’s skyline. Inspired by the masonry character of significant heritage buildings and their characteristic arches, a duality is introduced to the facade, represented by the varied aesthetics of the podium and tower. The through-site link comprises an eight-storey atrium and is designed to enrich and regenerate public amenity in this area of the CBD. The sculptural tower element floats above the podium, shaping the skyline with a gentle and organic form.

The design is exciting, innovative and unique and is intended to set a new benchmark for architectural design in the western skyline of Sydney’s CBD. It represents a shared outcome that captures the objectives of the council controls while allowing an imaginatively refined design.

Organizing a total of 220 apartments, including 42 serviced apartments, Koichi Takada’s scheme focuses on a design that enhances both public and residential amenity. A ground plane opens to Kent and Clarence Street, with an arcade activated by retail and commercial uses. The apartments on the lower levels are protected by recessed balconies, defining a visual and spatial identity similar to a New York loft.

In Koichi Takada Architects, they learn from the processes, formations, structures and natural life in the environment to inspire their design. They state that nature teaches them and there is more to architecture than the creation of beautiful forms – it must involve all of our senses. The feeling of a soft breeze, the acoustics in a cave or the ambiance of natural light through a tree canopy – these are elements they try to involve in the experience of architecture. Read the rest of this entry »

Like most of Singapore’s architectural city-scape, Changi airport is meant to be iconic with its multi-functionality of mixed-use space. Iconic as the design that had to be provided is the chosen design firm -Dutch UNStudio with lead architect Ben van Berkel. The new 125,000m2 development for the airport in Singapore is located at the heart of the airport complex and serves to connect the airport’s ensemble of terminals and existing structures.

UNStudio’s design proposal for the new complex offered a blend of nature and mall, with unique attractions that additionally provide an attractive destination for the residents of Singapore. The new structure accommodates food and beverage areas, garden activities, retail areas, lounges and a cineplex and movie themed attraction.

The three main components – Attraction, Aviation and Retail are merged to form one program and are weaved together throughout the building. The garden attraction forms the main thread within the design and is a theme of all the activities in the building. The varied hexagonal units in the double-layered facade control daylight penetration and views while maximizing shading in the areas where this is required. UNStudio’s design for the new complex presents a high-performance building targeting low consumption energy levels and high standards of comfort.

The main aim was to increase Changi’s international reputation as a transport hub and strengthen its connections with Singapore’s infrastructure – and this is way design turns into a very effective tool for communication and realization of major ideas. The so-called Project Jewel’s area is calculated at 3.5 ha of building site, thus providing Singapore’s residents with a new cityscape attraction to visit, enjoy and reside in. Read the rest of this entry »

Studio Echelman installed its largest sculpture at the TED Conference’s 30th anniversary, March 2014. The monumental aerial sculpture spanned 745 feet between the 24-story Fairmont Waterfront and the Vancouver Convention Center, challenging the artist to work on her most ambitious scale yet – over twice the size of her largest previous sculpture.

The most interactive sculpture of this studio was presented with an original, interactive work created in collaboration with artist Aaron Koblin, Creative Director of the Data Arts Team in Google’s Creative Lab. At night the sculpture came to life as visitors were able to choreograph the lighting in real time using physical gestures on their mobile devices. Vivid beams of light were projected across a massive scale as the result of small movements on spectators’ phones. In the daytime, the sculpture’s delicate yet monumental form is subtle, blending in with clouds and sky. A complex matrix of 860,000 hand and machine-made knots and 145 miles of braided fiber weighing nearly 3,500 pounds span 745 feet make up Skies Painted with Unnumbered Sparks.

In order to achieve such scale and complexity, Echelman turned to Autodesk and they collaborated to create custom 3D software to model the sculpture and test its feasibility. Therefore it was possible to manipulate the design and to see the results immediately. The structure is made entirely of soft fibers and is attached directly into existing city architecture. The project embodies the infusion of art and technology, as both continuously evolve together. Read the rest of this entry »

National pavilion for the United Arab Emirates by Foster and Partners occupies a large site and is accessed via its main circulation axis – the decumanus. From here, visitors are drawn into the mouth of a canyon-like space, defined by two undulating 12-meter-high walls. Influenced by ancient planning principles, the pavilion’s interior evokes the narrow pedestrian streets and courtyards of the traditional desert city, and its contemporary reinterpretation in the sustainable Masdar master plan. The high walls continue through the 140 meter site in a series of parallel waves, unifying the visitor spaces within a dynamic formal language designed to convey the ridges and texture of sand dunes. A ramp leads gently upwards from the entrance towards the auditorium.

The irrigation aqueducts that have historically supported agriculture in the region are introduced in digital form. The path further leads to a state-of-the-art auditorium, contained within a drum at the heart of the site. After the screening, visitors follow a route through further interactive displays and digital talks, including a special exhibit celebrating Dubai as host city for the 2020 Expo. The pavilion responds to the Milan Expo’s theme of ‘feeding the planet’ by integrating a variety of dining options around the theme of modern Emirati food. The exhibition trail culminates in a green oasis leading into a ground level café, with a formal restaurant on the first floor and a hospitality roof terrace on top.

Conveying a unique sense of place, the landscaping around the pavilion is designed to evoke the UAE’s terrain and flora, while the texture of the walls derives from a scan of dunes and represents the different shades of sand across the Emirates. The design targets LEED ‘Platinum’ through a combination of passive principles and active techniques, from capturing rainwater on the roof garden to integrating photo-voltaic cells. Most significantly, the building is designed to be recycled – wall panels are supported by a steel frame, which can be easily disassembled and reconstructed for the pavilion’s eventual relocation in the UAE. Read the rest of this entry »