A common problem for large cities worldwide is that its infrastructure cannot keep pace with the number of new inhabitants. Fueled by dreams of a better quality of life, the world’s rural population is migrating to cities at an alarming rate. Fifty percent of the world’s population lives in cities while just a century ago only ten percent were urban dwellers. The majority of these people cannot afford well equipped housing and are forced to live in precarious conditions in the outskirts of big cities. These areas commonly known as slums don’t have basic infrastructure and proper housing, cultural, and recreational areas are just a dream.

Vertical Massive Invasion is a proposal by Ecuadorian architects Alejandra Frutos and David Tixi who imagined a large-scale primary structure developed by cities where new inhabitants could establish and build their home over time in an organized and sustainable way. Read the rest of this entry »

During the last couple of years there has been an increased awareness on global warming and its tragic consequences. It is possible that many coastal cities will be underwater after the melting of the polar ice-caps. In an effort to save these cities many visionary architects have started to draw different ideas. Turkish architects Sinan Gunay and Mustafa Bulgur propose City(e)scape as a series of structures attached to skyscrapers to create a second ground plane. Instead of preventing the flooding, the idea is to use the infrastructure for a secondary city at 70 meters above sea-level.  Although this idea might seem a bit radical and “desperate” it starts to imagine the possibility of making the most out of existing cities. Read the rest of this entry »

The Space-Scraper designed by Mohamed Abdel-Aziz is a mixed-use development proposed for the Maadi neighborhood located in the southern part of Cairo, Egypt.  The project has three twisting towers interconnected by a geo-sphere on the top floors. A commercial area is located in a seven floors podium with restaurants, cinemas, and retail areas. The first tower is used for offices; the second one is a five star hotel while the third one has high-end residences. The geo-sphere is a health center with a Spa, swimming pools and other fitness areas.

One of the most interesting aspects of the proposal is its structure and form derived from wind studies and maximizing views to the adjacent Pyramids, Cairo, and the Nile. The Space-Scraper is a sustainable building equipped with water recollection systems, solar panels, and wind turbines. Read the rest of this entry »

Erick van Egeraat has been awarded the first prize in the closed international design competition for VTB Arena Park in Moscow on the initiative of the VTB Bank. The 300,000-m² VTB Arena Park is one of the largest projects that will be developed in the Russian Federation in the coming years. VTB Bank will provide an investment of approx. €500 million for the development of this large-scale project.

VTB Arena Park comprises the redevelopment of the Dynamo Moscow stadium and its surrounding park. Erick van Egeraat proposed a contemporary multifunctional urban regenerator, that will play a key role in transforming its wider surroundings. Erick van Egeraat’s 300,000-m² multifunctional culture, health and sports centre will be developed on a 116,000-m² site and will comprise a 45,000-seat Stadium Arena for Dynamo Moscow, a 10,000-seat Arena Hall, a Retail and Entertainment complex, restaurants, parking and other facilities.

Erick van Egeraat and his Russian partner Mikhail Posokhin (Mosproekt-2) selected a team of Russian and internationally acclaimed consultants for this competition, including Bollinger + Grohmann structural engineers, Amsterdam ArenA Advisory, Artec Acoustic consultants and Illuminator lighting consultants. Erick van Egeraat’s design was chosen out of five international competitors, including NPS Tchoban Voss with gmp von Gerkan Marg und Partner, STD development with Interstudio, ABD with Perkins Eastman International, and Mosproekt 4 with Populous. Read the rest of this entry »

Harpa, Reykjavík’s new Concert Hall and Conference Centre will open on May 4, 2011. Designed by Henning Larsen Architects with acoustics by Artec Consultants Inc and a façade by Olafur Eliasson in collaboration with the architects, Harpa is to become home to the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Opera, and thus a major addition to the Icelandic and European cultural scene. It is the most ambitious cultural project in Iceland as well as an endeavor of great importance for the community.

Image: © 2007 Portus ehf., Olafur Eliasson, and Henning Larsen Architects

Designed by Julian Liang

Asia has become an immense theme park where Asians have become tourists in their own country. It is one of the great tragedies and one of the most interesting spectacles of the consequences of rapid urbanization.

China is at a point where it must deal with the consequences of unregulated economic growth. With over 80% of the Shenzhen population classified as temporary residents (floating population), the possibility of economic and social disaster is closer than ever. These transients, unable to find housing in the new developed city, seek refuge in “urban villages”—which is nothing but euphemism for slum. These villages lack basic services and modern conveniences that have long become the norm for the rest of the country— and yet they developed a close-knit social network of culture, community and business, they have become urban enclave within the city fabric. Some local governments view the population of these villages—as well as their makeshift architecture—as an “eye sour” that detracts from the image of the economic boom and prosperity that these governments are trying to promote. Instead of hiding—or demolishing–these urban villages, this structure gives them a defining presence felt throughout the city fabric – making the invisible, visible. The structure becomes the triumphal arch for Shenzhen, a welcoming image and reminder to people of the current crisis. Through the level of density vs. transparency of the proposed structure, it will serve as a barometer indicating the social health of the city. Read the rest of this entry »

Capital Gate is a new building forming the entrance to Capital Centre, a major development project in Abu Dhabi and is designed by RMJM Architects.  It is an advanced parametrically designed tower sitting at 160 meters featuring a leaning façade of 18 degrees off horizontal. This technically has given it the title of the most substantial lean to a building in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

The building contains a substantial concrete core slightly off center that carries the cantilevered floors. 490 pilings were cored to a depth of 30 meters to counteract the cantilever. A diagrid exterior structure made of triangular tubular steel units creates a ridged mesh to add support and act as a frame for the custom glazing units. The exterior was also developed to reduce the supports mass, thus weight. The triangular glass is a double glazing unit and is custom cut to fit the constantly changing form of the building’s skin. The individual units were installed in a prebuilt panel that was then secured to the diagrid structure. The building’s exhaust air cycled between the panes of glass to lower the radiant temperature. Read the rest of this entry »

The ‘City Respiration Skyscraper’ designed by Czech architects Pavlína Doležalová and Jan Smékal is a helicoidal  240 meter-high structure designed to clean the air of the most polluted cities worldwide. Its primary structure is a concrete ribbon covered by air-cleaning algae. The outer cellular structure is a three-dimensional cluster of individual concrete three-spike units inspired by sea sponges.  

This helicoidal structure acts as a chimney where warm and polluted air is captured at the bottom and  filtered and oxygenated by the algae and a specialized water-sprayed system. A network of these skyscrapers strategically placed in the most polluted areas could clean a city in a couple of weeks. Read the rest of this entry »

Designed by Tang Chun Kit

Hutongs are clusters of traditional courtyard residences (siheyuan) characterized by narrow streets and alleys most commonly found in Beijing, China.  Hutongs remained the most important residential typology until recent years. Its spatial organization promotes interaction between the residents and creates strong communal bonds. Hutongs are very environmentally friendly and energy efficient; its narrow streets provide shelter and natural ventilation during the hot summers and preserve heat during harsh winters.  Water recollection systems are also carefully integrated into the architectural language.

Unfortunately, the majority of Beijing’s Hutongs have been demolished and replaced by hundreds of poorly designed skyscrapers totally detached from the existing urban fabric and without consideration to the environment.  The main concept of the ‘Quadrangle Skyscraper’ is to create a vertical Hutong with housing units in multiple sizes and outdoor recreational areas. The uses of natural materials, thick walls, and cross ventilation are some of the passive energy systems incorporated in the design. Read the rest of this entry »

Every year during the monsoon season the Chopraya River in Bangkok, Thailand, floods a large portion of the city, specially the low-income residential areas along the river. The Thai Government has built a dam in the northern part of the country but the improvement has been minimal and new solutions are already in development.

One of the most creative ideas designed by Boonserm Premthada, Ittidej Lirapirom, and Natee Kungwannakornchai is a “Cloud City” above the river. The new structure would be supported by habitable pillars and a three-dimensional steel lattice. The Cloud City is divided in three main areas; the top part consists of an airport, public park, and solar-powered electrical plant. The middle part is reserved for commerce while the bottom areas would be available for residences and offices. It is estimated that 200,000 inhabitants could live, work, and play in this new development. Read the rest of this entry »