UNStudio’s recently completed Kutaisi International Airport serves domestic and international flights for use by tourists, national politicians and international diplomats. The airport is destined to become a central hub, with up to one million travellers targeted in 2014-2015. UNStudio’s design comprises the full airport development, including a revision of the runway, the master plan for the landscape and planned future development thereof, the terminal building, offices, a meteorological station and the air traffic control tower.

UNStudio’s design comprises the full airport development, including a revision of the runway, the master plan for the landscape and planned future development thereof, the terminal building, offices, a meteorological station and the air traffic control tower. The umbrella further guarantees views from the terminal plaza to the apron and to the Caucasus on the horizon and vice versa. The central point in the umbrella is an exterior patio which is used for departing passengers. The transparent space around this central area is designed to ensure that flows of passengers are smooth and that departure and arrival flows do not coincide. Read the rest of this entry »

German studio HENN is announced winner of a competition to design a 280-meter skyscraper in Taiyuan, China. The new tower for the Venke Group will be located on the north-south axis in the center of the Chinese metropolis. It is designed as a mixed-use – office space will be housed together with a hotel on the upper floors and a retail area at the basement level.

Regarding the form of the skyscraper, the longer sides are shaped as convex shells with vertically accented facades, constructed with opaque aluminum elements and glass of different degrees of transparency. Due to trapezoid-like shape which significantly reduces with the building height in the upper levels, the amount of directs sunlight is precisely determined, as it has to perfectly suit the planned use of the space within. Therefore the offices receive optimum solar shading and maximum interior daylight, the hotel guests can enjoy the widest possible views over the city. The overall presence of the building is powerful and solid, and the narrower sides of the tower with their concave curvatures and smooth glass surfaces are helping the appearance. The structure is elegant and diagonally braced, and it allows views into the building’s interior. The entrance area of the high-rise is located on the west side of the building, along the busy boulevard. Read the rest of this entry »

Huaxi Urban Center Tower in Guiyang by Tom Wiscombe a showcase of the recent renaissance of investigation, regarding structure of contemporary high-rise buildings, material capacities, dynamic lateral forces and legal constraints. The list of most used and known structural types – moment frames, braced frames, trussed tubes and shear wall systems has been successfully expanded in order to include new morphologies and materials, including non-metric cellular formations, exo-skeletal lattices and futuristic carbon fiber composite networks.

This particular project revisits the problem of “architecturalizing” tower infrastructural systems, in author’s own words. What the architects chose is to create technological ambiance, rather than express the literal image of technology. The created ambiances defined by translucency, shrouding, color effects and pretty exotic lighting, but it is also an outcome of hybridizing mechanical with other building systems, in a way that the synergistic forms are created.

The duct work is allowed to migrate out of the central core towards exterior and the glass envelope, wrapping the building, starts to take on duct behavior by de-laminating, in order to create pleats to enable air flow. The pleats branch and run across the building facades, linking to floor plenums on each level at several points throughout the perimeter of the building. Hot air rises, due to stack effect, and the building is passively cooled. The second layer, made in perforated metal sheets, acts as a sunscreen during the daytime however allowing the views through. Read the rest of this entry »

German based GraftLab designed three towers in the heart of newly prestigious Chinese city of Dalian. The development will rise in the center of business district and it comprises of two residential towers, a high-rise for Dalian Daily Newspaper’s headquarters and commercial facilities housed in lower, three-story volume which provides base for the towers.

The focus of the design on the extreme verticality of the proposed volumes and each volume is composed of multiple vertical planes, breaking off at the top of the structure resembling shards of glass. The peaks of sharp-edged tower act as a display of ever-changing light situations due to sun movements across the sky, resembling the shiny peaks in a mountain range. Due to angled roofs, the interior spaces are highly dramatic with an abundance of daylight for luxurious penthouse units and conference rooms. Read the rest of this entry »

Strikingly polished and smooth, Lofty chaise lounge, designed by Piergiorgio Cazzaniga for MDF Italia is the result of successful synergy of manual work and advanced technology. The chair is derived from the work of a sheet metal worker together with sophisticated math calculations and laser cuts, welding machines and steel cleaners made it possible to shape steel geometrically. The production of this 130 kg piece of art is limited to fifty pieces per year. Structure, as well as the shell and base are made in mirror-polished AISI304 stainless steel. The dimensions of chaise longue with headrest are 80 x 140 x 86,5 cm, while seat is 26 cm high.

The balancing act of this extraordinary piece of furniture is the product of the finest, careful calculation. Entirely self-supporting, this futuristic seat can rotate 180 degrees atop its polished stainless steel base. Read the rest of this entry »

“Floatastic” is the name of the pavilion which served as a research base for investigation on balance through buoyancy. The research was developed by Qastic Lab, which built the pavilion that, at the same time, acted as a temporary shading device for a wedding ceremony in New Haven, Connecticut. The aim of the structure was to avoid imposing of any loads on the ground, which happens with traditional pop-up assemblages of this type. Instead, architects proposed a well-fabricated balloon, filled with Helium, in order to raise the imposed loads of fabric veils as well as any possible dynamic environmental loads toward the sky.

By harnessing of Helium the structure achieves buoyancy. The whole process is based on a dialogue between helium container and the loads; therefore testing of possible architectural and spatial effects is possible, together with articulation of the relation of balloon edges and fabric veils. By using the method of reversing load bearing systems it is possible to define the form of the pavilion – geometrically precise formwork is precisely fabricated with the edges that randomly vary.

The surrounding environment and its micro-climate on the site fluctuate in 24-hour cycle, so the research showed that the pavilion will inevitably experience many buoyant conditions which will be unique but however steady. Read the rest of this entry »

The project of a Mediatheque – “Newer Orleans” in US, by UNStudio, helps better understanding the building as a tool in re-establishing a balanced ecology between culture and commerce. Here the participants can congregate without fear of reprisal – it could be called the safe haven and it acts as a setting that people transiently share.

This is what architects from UNStudio were imagining as the future of one of the world’s most vibrant, yet stricken places – a public construction, open, accessible, and forward-looking. However, as they stated, the task of rebuilding New Orleans undoubtedly leads to a paradox – on one hand the city needs new buildings symbolizing hope and courage towards the future while on the other people have to realize what happened and address recent history. The dramatic fact has to be noticed; therefore it should be avoided to tell complete new story after a disaster has occurred. Read the rest of this entry »

“Living Tomorrow” in Amsterdam, by UNStudio, is a temporary building that combines a laboratory, a gallery and an auditorium. The edifice functions as a basis for the different innovative technologies to be exhibited and it acted as a prototype, showing high-end technology environments for living and work. As the requirement for the structure was to be most innovative, it has an expiration date – five years after the opening it is planned to be demolished due to new technologies coming to the market. During this period the displayed concepts will be constantly evolving and adapted to the latest developments.

The ground floor houses the entrance, auditorium, event hall, exhibition room, administration and kitchen are located, while the four levels above contain more exhibition rooms, a small restaurant and other secondary facilities. Visitors can get acquainted with the products and services, which can enhance the quality of living or working in the near future. The building systems feature alternative heating and cooling methods, in addition to the latest technologies. Read the rest of this entry »

Synthesis Design + Architecture’s proposal for the recent Keelung Harbor Terminal Building in Taiwan was clearly inspired by the geometric patterns of Taiwanese Hen Cages as well as the structural shells of luxury racing yachts. Building’s shape appears as a reaction to the programmatic content and performative requirements, and is created in rather dynamic transition from exo-skin to exo-skeleton. However, the architects at SDA state that, although it appears to be formal expression, it is actually an “informed form”, responsive to the integration of sustainability, urban context, program, circulation patterns and weather. That kind of integrated design response further informs building’s orientation, spatial layout, façade design as well as the choice of material and structural system.

The program of this unique harbor building is divided into three experience groups and cyclical sequences. Three groups share programmatic overlaps and the exchange between the groups is therefore enabled. As the sustainable approach is integrated into the design from the very beginning, the building strives to generate an efficient operational strategy which uses passive techniques in order to manipulate the natural conditions, and for the benefit of internal environment. Building orientation is into the direction of the prevailing wind direction, which allows the air flow to be drawn into the flanks of the tower, providing natural ventilation for the main structure and the façade. Read the rest of this entry »

As stated at Telus, this dynamic tower, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in collaboration with Dialog, is $400-million, 750,000 square foot LEED Platinum project which will significantly transform Calgary’s skyline as an architectural marvel, creating a dynamic community of blended urban living and working. This vibrant mixed use will offer 430,000 square foot of office space, mostly for Telus, and it is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2017.

Designed for downtown Calgary, a typical North American city center with a cluster of corporate towers surrounded by a periphery of low density suburban homes, Telus Sky Tower proposes different way of living in a lovely and more sustainable mixture of living and working at the very intersection of light rail and main roads in the heart of the center, which creates more varied and pedestrian-friendly center for this city. The idea behind the design is to smooth the transition from working to living, as the tower takes off from the ground to touch the sky. Read the rest of this entry »