Anemone is an art installation aimed at waving together aesthetic experience and tactile engagement- a combination generally considered off limits within the world of contemporary art. All too often, art installations are considered precious, almost sacred objects; while they are meant to be appreciated for their aesthetic beauty, they offer little in terms of human interaction. In other words, they are meant to be seen, not felt. Recognizing that human engagement is one of the key factors in creating a rich experience, Anemone has been designed with the idea of interaction as one of its key design objectives. Read the rest of this entry »

We are pleased to inform you that The Wall Street Journal featured our Limited Edition Book EVOLO SKYSCRAPERS during the weekend. The full-page article highlights the role of the eVolo Skyscraper Competition in showcasing “the next generation of big buildings…the new book compiles 300 of these plans, divided into categories like technological advances, ecological urbanism and social solutions. Some of the designs tackle familiar problems, like the need for parking space, but others are more forward-looking, like buildings that incorporate robotics or are capable of flying”.

The book has a limited print run of 500 copies and the last few are exclusively available here. Read the rest of this entry »

The conceptual idea for the Cocoon Lamp design comes from drawing parallels between the PolyJet fabrication technology and the metamorphic behavior of insects. The cocoon is a shell, which larvae of various insects, particularly caterpillars, are building for their metamorphosis. The liquid secreted during this process is compared to a liquid photopolymer that is applied out of nozzles and hardened through UV-light.

The adaption of the construction and the clean design of a cocoon lead to the emergence of the inner element. Its geometry is formed by spun threads, which wind around the light source. The white and hard material “VeroWhite“ is perfectly suited for this construction, because it provides the required rigidity and disseminates, through its reflective surface, the light further into the space. A dark layer „TangoBlackPlus“, which is applied to the surfaces of the side of the lamellae, provides the desired color contrast and protects the surface. At its lower end a special fitting is formed, to which the holding element can be connected to. Read the rest of this entry »

This Beach & Howe Tower proposal was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). According to Vancity Buzz, the project  would be part of the rezoning strategy for the site, adopted by the city of Vancouver.

“The proposal is for a mixed-use development. On the Howe Street side, there will be a 49-story residential tower with a 9-storey podium which includes market rental housing, commercial uses, and a childcare facility. The building height is at 150 meters and will be the tallest building on the southern end of downtown and the 4th tallest building in the city, unless the Ritz Carlton site gets developed before this, in which case it would be the 5th tallest. Read the rest of this entry »

©Gus Rios

Santiago Calatrava unveiled his first vehicular bridge in the United States. Located in Dallas, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is a major component of the city’s urban revitalization efforts, which will improve the landscape and community surrounding the Trinity River.

When Calatrava was first commissioned to design a signature bridge for Dallas, he saw it as an opportunity to rethink the city’s riverfront. In order to celebrate the Trinity River and highlight its enormous capacity to bring new development to Dallas, the architect devised a plan to transform the area into a central gathering place; effectively pumping life back into the River. Read the rest of this entry »

A fictional narrative conceived by John Becker at the GSAPP, Columbia University exploring the potential of the dew collection though the past, present, and future.

Dating back to the 18th century the Harnham Estate, located a short distance outside Salisbury England has documented regional techniques for harvesting water providing a rich history of the practice and the subsequent effects. The methods applied through the centuries reflect regional limitations, a shift in intention and attempts to amplify efficiencies. Although many of these techniques are specific to the region and time period, they are not necessarily unique to the site; it is the extent of the documentation of these exercises and the entrepreneurial achievements intent on monetary gain that make the subsequent story so fascinating.

After acquiring the Estate in 1786 following the death of his Father, Sir Edward Harnham commissioned a series of engraved maps to be produced of the Estate. Cataloguing the boundaries of the Estate, as well as all landmarks within the terrain in a series of 4 maps and 2 scenic prints one depicting the manor, and the other the view of the Salisbury Cathedral from the manor. The 2 remaining images both display the dew ponds contained on the site. The large number and proximity of these dew ponds is rare, and is considered to be the largest concentration of dew ponds known in the South Downs. Read the rest of this entry »

The building designed by Atxu Amann, Andrés Cánovas, Nicolás Maruri is essentially a cover protecting the remains of a Roman assembly (thermal baths, forum and domus) in the archaeological site of Molinete Park in Cartagena, Spain.

This cover is certainly another piece in the urban area of Cartagena whose main architectural challenge is to reconcile very different architectures, from the roman times, passing through baroque to contemporary architectures, making them vibrate together in the neighborhood. It is a transition element, between very different city conditions, in size and structure, from the dense city centre to the slope park.

The primary goal of the project is to respect the existing remains, using a long-span structure, which requires the least amount of support for lifting the cover. The intervention unifies all the remains in a single space, allowing a continuous perception of the whole site. The cover also generates a new urban facade in the partition wall. Read the rest of this entry »

An oil silo, or LPG Vessel, is a storage container for compressed liquefied petroleum gas. Oil silos are fully pressurized, waterproof, and built to meet industrial standards. There are approximately 49,000 oil silos in over 660 oil refineries worldwide!

As the human population increases at an exponential rate, oil discovery is decreasing at an exponential rate. Natural gas is becoming scarce and oil silos are now becoming abandoned as storage containers. As Earth rapidly approaches Peak Oil, non-renewable fossil fuel resources are diminishing fast. Soon humans can no longer depend on natural gas as an energy source. At this point, humans cannot use the existing 49,000 oil silos as fuel storage containers. Oil Silos will all be emptied and abandoned.

The Oil Silo Home designed by Pinkcloud recycles existing empty oil silos by transforming them into affordable housing for families worldwide. It’s a 100% self-supporting housing solution for the post-oil world. As an adaptive-reuse design, the Oil Silo Home incurs extraordinarily low costs. It’s highly structurally stable, efficient to assemble and disassemble, and has the capacity for pre-fabrication and mass production. Waste and embodied energy are dramatically reduced by the Oil Silo Home. By recycling existing abandoned silos for housing, we can revitalize former oil refineries and industrial zones into healthy, thriving communities. As a carbon-positive design, the Oil Silo Home can actually contribute energy back into the grid. Read the rest of this entry »

This project is a 55,000 square foot research lab, designed by award-winning office Brooks + Scarpa, office and industrial testing facility serving an automotive industry client who designs and manufactures automotive and heavy truck chassis. The first phase encompasses a total of 15,500 square feet, including 5,500 square feet of office space and 11,000 square feet of research labs and warehouse space for testing and developing prototypes. The second phase consists of an additional 5,500 square feet of office space and 34,000 square feet of research labs and warehouse space.

Industrial buildings are rarely a place that anyone is happy to visit or work. They are typically a direct, and often nefarious programmatic response to the function inside with little consideration for the occupants needs. The approach to this project was to preserve the integrity of a high bay industrial facility and program, while providing a model environment for the users and visitors.

A saw-toothed roof draws from the geometry of old factories and the surrounding Monterrey Mountains. The angled elements of the roof provide abundant natural daylight to the spaces below at the building’s northernmost elevations. By modulating space and light thru a fractured roof geometry, the building is able to maintain a rational plan to meet the rigorous requirements of the program, while providing a strong connection to the landscape both visually and metaphorically. Read the rest of this entry »

In the international competition for the new Sofia Metro Line extension and Metro station, Amsterdam-based ShaGa Studio, in collaboration with Margherita Del Grosso Architects, was shortlisted out of over 130 entries. The Lantern Metro station showcases ShaGa’s inclination towards combining architecture with infrastructure, ecology with computation, maintaining the idea of sustainability as backbone of the design process. The project ultimately received an honorable mention. Read the rest of this entry »