Panit Limpiti, a student from Thailand, has designed the “Permaculture Floating Tower,” a skyscraper to be located in Omval, Amsterdam that will cater to the region’s worst-case-scenario situation: a flood.

The area above sea level in the Omval zone is quickly decreasing. With the ability to withstand high water levels, and through the design of a floating landscape, this building will stand strong, no matter the weather forecast.

The building will utilize desalination to create drinking water, and will harness wave energy. A bio-digester cooks gas to also produce energy. Bio-diesel is also produced on site. The building is comprised of residential units and an urban park. Read the rest of this entry »

Daniel Simmons unveiled his design for a series of structures small enough to be collected as artworks. They can be disassembled and transported to a variety of venues for exhibition, both outdoors and in gallery spaces. As new structures are acquired, they can be clustered together in configurations freely decided by their owner, forming the fragment of a laneway or small courtyard. Read the rest of this entry »

Rugel Chiriboga, Brad J. Bartholomew, and Allison Elsaesser from Little have proposed a sustainable skyscraper complex for one of the world’s most dense urban landscapes: Mumbai, India.

With its large population and the richness of the wetlands that surround the city, what Mumbai’s new construction needs to focus on, say the designers, is sustainable practices that can protect the environment surrounding the city, but also nurture the people who live there. A new complex needs to also be fully connected to its surrounding urban fabric, says the group.

The Dharavi Building complex will feature a multitude of uses: it will have two residential towers, which will feature both indoor gardens and outdoor rooftop gardens, and vertical farming sections. With live plant life, the façade performs a green function, and the building as a whole serves as a sustainable icon, a new gateway for the city. In the complex will be a new market square and a new community plaza that will be surrounded by storefronts that offer social services to the public. Read the rest of this entry »

Lee Sang-ho, graduate student from Busan, South Korea, has designed the “Vertical Sprial,” a skyscraper that will serve as the “green energy landmark tower” for the city of Busan.

Busan is the second largest in Korea, and is the largest port city. It is also considered to have the second-largest solar radiation levels in the country, and the highest wind levels, making the building perfectly situated to utilize solar and wind technologies to generate energy.

The building will generate energy through several means, including the rotation of solar energy panels that will move throughout the day to capture the maximum sunlight in the day.

The building will have an observation deck from which to admire the ocean views. The tower is split into three sections according to use, and each section has a cafeteria to accommodate the people working there. Spiral walkways will feature greenery, and twist throughout the building to create calming paths to lift the spirits of those inside. Read the rest of this entry »

The “Slum Dweller,” a skyscraper designed by architects Monica Copaja and Angel Tenorio , is a project  that seeks to “bring light” to the city of Lima.

The city has, in recent years, been rapidly expanding, the architects say, growing in a disorganized manner, with density creating a “desperate” need amongst the people for private ownership of land. What the architects propose is to build an inspiring tower of many important uses in the San Cristobal Hill area, one that has long inspired awe: the Hill was a sacred ritual site for the native pre-Columbian people of Lima, and has remained a favorite spot in the city thanks to its impressive skyline vistas.

The lower levels of the skyscraper will be used to better the social services of the city, and will feature uses such as a communal kitchen, a children’s nursery, and a sports hall. In the middle zone, workshops and a school will educate people of all ages. And on the top levels, a cultural zone with art galleries, auditoriums, conference rooms and a library will enrich the lives of those who visit. Read the rest of this entry »

Three Copenhagen architects and a graduate student in Los Angeles have collaborated to create a new landmark for the Harbor of Copenhagen. A skyscraper that houses a mixture of uses, including, “public, private, pauses, passages and parks,” this tower, conceived by Mathias Juel Christensen, Neel Gøbel Andersen, Søren Hansen, and student Bjørk B. Christensen, serves as a lighthouse, a beacon that welcomes ships to the great city of Copenhagen, and simultaneously harkens to the harbor area’s rebirth from abandoned shipyards to thriving residential district.

The industrial shipping zone in Copenhagen’s northeast section that has been in a state of decay since the 1980s is experiencing a housing boom, and this skyscraper will cater to that need by housing units for all ages: families, students, the elderly. Not only will all be welcome, but all will also get to enjoy the stunning views the harbor location brings: the tower will be constructed as a stack of rings with dwellings attached to the façade so that all units can enjoy panorama views. This also allows the core of the building to stay more open, creating a common space, or “neighborhood.” Though the unit designs will be diverse, a sense of continuity will be maintained through the common core. Read the rest of this entry »

The B+U proposal for the Taipei Performing Arts Center began with a study of sound waves. Sound was analyzed and transformed into a three dimensional form which informed the overall shape of the building. Inside are housed three performance areas. Radiating from a central foyer the Grand Theater and Playhouse form the bulk of the program to the north. Suspended above the plaza to the south is a multi function theater.

The uplifted section shelters the approach to the entrance, a multi layered foyer which connects to all three performance spaces. The parametric foyer is also a public gathering space that supports retail and assembly. Its massive staircase, glass walls and undulating form becomes the centerpiece of the building.

The Grand Theater seats 1500 while the Playhouse and Multiform Theater both seat 800 patrons. The design and program are intended to inspire and host contemporary performance for a wide range of audiences. Specific program use is accommodated by the scale and flexibility of the theaters. The radical building shell is intended to highlight the arts in society and celebrate contemporary sensibilities within the creative community. Read the rest of this entry »

Foster and Partners unveiled their design for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid, the Lusail Iconic Stadium which will provide a world-class football facility for 86,250 spectators during the opening ceremony, group games and final. Reflecting Doha’s culture and heritage, the stadium is designed to be highly energy efficient and capable of performing in extreme summer climatic conditions.

The stadium has a near-circular footprint and sits on the masterplan’s primary axis, which divides the stadium precinct into two halves. Encircled by a reflective pool of water, spectators cross the ‘moat’ to enter the building via six bridges. An outer pedestrian concourse extends from the water towards an array of smaller amenity buildings and a hotel at the stadium’s perimeter.

The saddle-form roof appears to float above the concrete seating bowl, discreetly supported by a ring of arching columns. Its central section can be retracted to allow the pitch to be either open to the sky or fully covered. The concave profile of the stadium’s outer enclosure evokes the sails of a traditional dhow boat and incorporates a system of operable louvres. Inside, the seating bowl is designed to enhance the experience and atmosphere for spectators: VIP and hospitality accommodation is concentrated along the sides of the pitch to create a continuous sea of fans behind each goal. Read the rest of this entry »

UNStudio, in collaboration with DP Architects, has been selected from a shortlist of five practices to design Plot A of the SUTD (Singapore University of Technology and Design) campus.

Located on a site of 76,846 m2 and close to both Changi airport – Singapore’s principal airport – and the Changi Business Park, the SUTD will be Singapore’s fourth and most prestigious university. The Singapore University of Technology and Design will offer four key academic pillars: Architecture and Sustainable Design (ASD), Engineering Product Development (EPD), Engineering Systems and Design (ESD) and Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD). The SUTD will be a driver of technological innovation and economic growth, with the new campus acting as both a catalyst and a conveyor for advancement, bringing together people, ideas and innovation.

UNStudio’s design for the new campus directly reflects SUTD’s curriculum, using the creative enterprise of the school to facilitate a cross-disciplinary interface; interaction is established between the professional world, the campus, and the community at large. The design for the campus offers an opportunity to embrace innovation and creativity through a non-linear connective relationship between students, faculty, professionals and the spaces they interact with. Read the rest of this entry »

Zaha Hadid and Lemghari Essakl, Managing Director of The Bouregreg Valley Development Agency signed an agreement for the architectural design of the Rabat Grand Theatre at a ceremony held in Rabat on November 5. During the event, Mr. Essakl also signed the project financing agreement with Mr. Salaheddine Mezouar, Moroccan Minister of Economy & Finance, Mr. Taieb Cherkaoui, Minister of the Interior, and Mr. Abdelouahed Kabbaj, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Hassan II Fund for Economic & Social Development.

With a dedicated land area of 47 000 sqm and a gross floor area of 27 000 sqm, the Rabat Grand Theatre is a cultural venue of the highest standards. It will include a 2,050-seat theatre, a smaller 520-seat theatre, creative studios and a fully-equipped outdoor amphitheatre with a capacity of up to 7,000 people. Read the rest of this entry »