Shenzhen Energy Mansion – SEM is BIG’s proposal for an invited competition, organized by Shenzhen Energy Company. The skyscraper proposal is the result of the successful synergy between Bjarke Ingels group and ARUP and Transsolar, and its currently under construction.

The skyscraper typology has evolved as an economically efficient way to provide flexible, functional and well-illuminated work spaces for very dense population of professionals. However, since the early 20^th century, air conditioning and electric lighting have served as modern solutions to highly increasing demand without seriously thinking to environmental consequences or energy shortages. Today the tower needs to evolve into a new sustainable species. It must, however, retain highly developed qualities such as daylight, flexibility, views and overall usability while still exercising new and untested attributes. Read the rest of this entry »

This thesis project by Carmelia Chiang explored the implications of tangential space – the condition caused by two surfaces, either physical or implied, approaching to touch at a single point. The moment of the “kiss” resolves itself in spatial discomfort, awkwardness and tension.

Architects seemed to avoid tangential moments through history, as they considered it to be dysfunctional space – the acute angle. In an eternal effort to create better composition and what they would think of as usable space, methods of overlapping or distancing have been typically employed. As a rejection of this sensibility, the intention of this thesis is to treat tangential moments as catalysts for new use, novel spatiality, unique structural solutions and unexpected atmospheric settings. By designing architecture through tangency, this thesis explores the potential of tangential space in order to provoke new forms of spatial, programmatic and practical relationships in architecture. Read the rest of this entry »

The Linz Castle has been home to the Upper Austrian National Museum since 1965. and recently it faced requirement for the enlargement of the exhibition space and new construction of the Southern wing. HoG Architektur’s architectural concept of the new wing is based on two strategies – to construct the missing wing from the fire in 1800, without closing the courtyard of the castle completely and to preserve the unique location above the city, accessible by the public any time. In order to achieve this, the new wing was layered horizontally and the central entrance level was designed as a transparent, half-open storey. It resulted with a space created above the city on top of the historic foundation through which one can enter the foyer, the museum shop and the restaurant.

The first level contrasts the maximum openness of the ground floor – it constitutes a metallic shimmering, windowless bar that floats above the solid historic wall foundation when viewed from the city. The construction as elevated steel truss enables a wide span and a projection of 30 meters above the main entrance. The steel truss of the upper level is built on three Ferro concrete cores which open up the whole building vertically. Read the rest of this entry »

SOM’s Pertamina Energy Tower for Jakarta, Indonesia is the dramatic centerpiece of a new consolidated headquarters created for the Indonesian state-owned energy company. The tower will rise more than 500 meters above Jakarta as a stunning new landmark on the capital’s skyline. Complemented by performing arts and exhibition pavilion, a mosque, and a central energy plant, the 99-story “beacon of energy” will represent a new standard for sustainable development, bringing together 20,000 employees on its innovative, dynamic campus, as they state at SOM.

Following holistic design approach that integrates architectural design, structural engineering, and sustainable engineering services, this tower is the world’s first super-tall high-rise for which energy is the primary design driver. Sustainable strategies at the core of its design are exposed in its simple profile yet sophisticated architectural expression. The tower opens up at the crown, revealing a ‘wind funnel’ that will take advantage of the prevailing winds and increased wind speeds at the upper floors to generate energy. The tower is precisely calibrated for Jakarta’s proximity to the equator – its curved facade will mitigate solar heat gain throughout the year. Read the rest of this entry »

A cross between a vending machine, PEZ dispenser, and automated parking structure the Zipcar Dispenser inserts architecture into the implementation of high density shared automobile technologies. Conceived by Moskow Linn Architects, and touted recently by Build a Better Burb as part of their research into contemporary parking design, the core design principles of the proposal are to make Zipcars more fashionable and accessible while reclaiming urban lots along eastern seaboard communities. Read the rest of this entry »

Technology and society are co-evolutionary processes. As members of the creative vanguard of society, architects and designers are in the position to influence the direction of technology through their work. Drones, like any technology, are not inherently good or evil, but can be purposed for both good and evil ends. This project was undertaken in part to show one of the many peaceful applications which drone technology can be applied.

Much like the Spray Plastic House project by Archigram, this research is interested in exploring a new fabrication process and the ways in which this leads to new spatial, material, and organizational conditions that have the potential to affect society’s engagement with architecture and technology. Read the rest of this entry »

The building designed by Woods Bagot gives concrete expression to James Cook University’s aim to become one of the world’s leading research universities in the tropics.

As a repository of regional knowledge and research capacity, the institute will be perfectly positioned to make a significant contribution to the development of a sustainable quality of life for tropical communities. A truly imaginative and integrated design solution that was distinctive and uniquely desirable to the university’s community was paramount.

The design team, led by Mark Damant, in collaboration with RPA Architects, had an opportunity to create a building that represented its place and its context in a new and exciting way which has resulted in the delivery of cutting edge design elements. Attracting the best researchers was the central aim of the university, so it was crucial that the proposed building design would create an environment that optimised the working experience to a point where people would love engaging with the building. Read the rest of this entry »

Anchoring at the southern end of the main commercial street at Shanghai’s Hongqiao Changning Linkong Park, Aedas-designed Linkong 16-1 Novotel Hotel is a 220-key hotel occupying a block in the Linkong Park.

The design concept is derived from a ‘floating courtyard’ and utilises the verticality of the structure to create a well defined zoning which consists of public (retail podium), semi-public (leisure and hotel amenities) and private (hotel guestrooms) zones.

In addition to rational zoning, the design promotes a strongly interactive relationship among different functions, transforming the zoning diagram into a building mass with unique yet powerful spatial effect. The building comprises two components – one as a retail podium ‘floating’ along the water’s edge with spacious waterscape; and the other as a courtyard-style guestroom structure which seems like ‘floating’ in the air. Read the rest of this entry »

Hollywood, CA architectural firm, 5+design, conceptualized the retail and civic areas for the 3.3 million square metered Yongsan International Business District, a project that represents the largest single development in Seoul, South Korea and perhaps the world. The central retail spine components integrate the buildings with the landscape and the Han river. Street-level retail structures are three to five stories tall and arranged in clusters like villages.

Each village is a distinct district devoted to various retail aspects including global luxury goods, sports or local culture, with architectural styles ranging from traditional to contemporary that imitate the way cities and neighborhoods grow organically over time. Three underground retail levels feed into an outdoor pedestrian promenade, the Dragon Valley, which links Yongsan train station to the Han river and forms the primary public gathering space for the project. Read the rest of this entry »

Located at a hillside on the Hong Kong Island, this nine-storey private residence is set within an urban yet relatively low density area. Aedas designed a sculptural staircase that resembles three stacking ice cubes for the building, creating a sense of drama for the art-loving residents.

The owner of the residence is a vivid collector of modern art and has a strong interest in the sculpture of Henry Moore. Aedas expressed the collision between the formal aspects of family and the freedom of art form on the façade and staircase – the former is regimentally controlled in uniform lines and 1.5-meter modules; whereas the latter punctuates this defined order and divides the frontage neatly in three portions. This stark contrast becomes the focal point that is uniquely distinctive in the immediate environment. Read the rest of this entry »