The United States Department of State recently announced  that KieranTimberlake has won the design competition for the new, United States London Embassy. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Louis B. Susman, and Acting Director of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, Adam Namm, remarked, “KieranTimberlake’s design meets the goal of creating a modern, welcoming, timeless, safe and energy efficient embassy for the 21st century. Their concept most fully satisfied the requirements outlined in the design competition’s mission statement. The concept holds the greatest potential for developing a truly iconic embassy and is on the leading edge of sustainable design.”

The core design challenge was to bring form to the core beliefs of American democracy – transparency, openness, and equality – and do so in a way that is secure, welcoming, and sustainable.

Located on the Nine Elms site in London, the site is to be transformed into an urban park and garden, designed as a spiraling form and providing strong pedestrian connections to mass transit and the proposed Battersea developments to the west.  The park doubles as a security measure and is a welcome alternative to the walls, fences, and jersey barriers that have come to dominate American government buildings. Read the rest of this entry »

Project submitted to the 2010 Skyscraper Competition
Designed by: Santiago Marenco

Ecopolis is a global city for the future based on the idea of designing a set of highly differentiated sustainable and habitable cells. These primary units are organized into clusters according to program, habitants, and its relationship with the natural world.

Ecopolis façade is equipped with sustainable systems such as solar panels, wind turbines, and rainwater collectors. It is a modular design that grows according to different requirements in a given period of time. Read the rest of this entry »

Doonam Back, Yann Caclin
Korea / France

Project submitted to the 2010 Skyscraper Competition

While the majority of skyscrapers focus on height, the concept behind this proposal is its fragmentation in a series of buildings around a central courtyard for recreational activities. The different fragments are configured according to program and orientation. The result is a cluster of crystals linked by promenades, gardens, and plazas. Read the rest of this entry »

Architect Vincent Callebaut designed a sustainable tower in Paris to filter air particles and harvest wind and solar power. The project would be located in the 19th Parisian district which characterizes for being an extremely polluted area surrounded by old factories.

The project is divided in two; a “Solar Drop” located on top of abandoned railway tracks and a “Wind tower”. The Solar Drop is designed to transform polluted into clean air through a system of filters covered with titanium dioxide which break the pollutant particles. Along with the green technologies, the building is equipped with recreational areas for the city such as gardens, pools, galleries, and commerce. The Wind Tower equipped with turbines in its entire façade produces enough energy for the neighborhood and houses a museum and learning center on renewable energies. Read the rest of this entry »

CHROMAesthesiae: An installation of modular color

SOFTlab’s latest installation, CHROMAesthesiae, arrives at Devotion just in time for spring. CHROMAesthesiae is a flourishing landscape of color, blooming across the ceiling in high contrast-gradated clusters. This installation is an investigation on the spatial and chromatic perception of space. SOFTlab uses modularity as a core modality in order to generate complexity from repetitive form, allowing for rapid expansion or contraction of every piece created. With the motto, “everything changes,” the ability to adapt and grow conceptually underpins their entire body of work. This customizable installation is made of discrete, laser cut paper structures held together with binder clips: everyday objects are repurposed and precisely recombined. Forms evolve and shift color throughout the exhibition. Read the rest of this entry »

Artist Jim Kazanjian from Portland, Oregon created a hallucinated and surreal world with rich black and white photographs that tell the story of the relationship between man, architecture, and nature. 

Project submitted to the 2007 Skyscraper Competition

The main concept of this project is to create a green open core for four towers with different architectural programs. The four skyscrapers integrate with the landscape as legs peeling from the ground that offer a variety of cultural and recreational spaces. The green core is equipped with water recollection systems, terraces, and gardens. Read the rest of this entry »

Project submitted to the 2007 Skyscraper Competition

The Skyarch is a new type of skyscraper in which two arches intersect at 90 degrees. Skyarchs can be built to link cities and different neighborhoods within a city. Read the rest of this entry »

Project submitted to the 2006 Skyscraper Competition
Designed by: Alex C. Remigio

Skyscraper of the 21^st Century is a human habitat in the sky made possible by an architectural structure. Our proposal is a living place for retreat and utilities. It is an integrated space for work that motivates career advancement and productivity. It is a mix use of bank, hotel, convention center, library and a museum. It is a hub for recreation like cinemas, fitness, sports, aquatics, and nature park leisure. This structure will sum up the whole package complex. Read the rest of this entry »

Project submitted to the 2006 Skyscraper Competition
Designed by: Yaroslav Usov

This multifunctional complex is located on the coast of Himkinskoe in Moscow, Russia. The main design element is the displacement of the floor plates which are arranged as a spiral staircase. The main idea is to create pockets or public areas to be used for different types activities. Many of these spaces will be used as private gardens and public parks. The building is also equipped with the latest technologies for water recollection and harvesting of solar and wind power. Read the rest of this entry »