This proposal for the German pavilion at the 2015 EXPO designed by Eva Hagen and Hajdin Dragusha at the University of Applied Sciences in Germany demosntrates visually how much energy each individual could produce. Mankind interacts with natural systems, but we cannot and should not change certain things like the need for breathing and gravitational forces.

The proposed system “functions” with people, air, and gravity. Everybody walks an average of 5km a day, this energy is added to the system. The body mass creates pressure step by step and could be transformed into air pressure that can be used to inflate a cushion-like structure – the steps of a person generate space, air pressure, and energy. The produced energy could be stored during day time and used as lighting at night. Read the rest of this entry »

Commissioned by the Times Newspaper in association with Kew Gardens for the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show, the project is undertaken by NEX Architecture in collaboration with Landscape Designer Marcus Barnett. It is a temporary exhibition space with the primary task of demonstrating humanities symbiotic relationship with natural ecosystems and offering an intimate space for visitors.

As if seen through a magnifier glass, the cellular structure of plants is experienced at a larger scale. The timber and plastic pavilion mimics the growing patterns of leafs to form a modular structural grid. Using computational genetic algorithms the plan of the pavilion is grown by capillary branching and subsequent cellular division. The load-bearing branches are made from wooden spruce panels. Plastic strips are coiled into round forms and inserted into the cassettes, transmitting diffuse natural light to the interior. The roof is covered in glass and collects rainwater directing it to downwards and into the soil of the garden. Read the rest of this entry »

Exhibition Road is changing. AL_A’s project will unlock the potential to bring new audiences into the V&A, breaking down the separation between street and museum, and taking the V&A onto Exhibition Road and Exhibition Road into the V&A.

Visitors will be drawn in from Exhibition Road by a large, light-filled public courtyard – South Kensington’s Drawing Room – where their experience of the V&A will begin. This will be a place for major installations, events and appropriation by the public. In the area of sun, there will be a fabulous café. AL_A’s design places visitors at the centre of this experience and from here they will be able to see through to the heart of the Museum, to the Hintze galleries and the Madejski Gardens.

On entering the museum visitors will be struck by the dramatic interplay between new and old. This entrance is not just for the new gallery, it is for the entire V&A collection. The route to the gallery below is woven into the fabric of the museum and the visitor is drawn down by a pool of natural light. Read the rest of this entry »

The aim of the project, named Habit Makes Us Blind, is to draw attention to the problem of unused spaces in urban environments. The conceptual Lego structures designed by Espai MGR are imaginative spatial exercises reminiscent of the childlike ease and playfulness of the act of creation. The surrealistic installations fill vacant plots in Valencia and act as an incentive for keeping the issue of underdeveloped neighborhoods in the public eye.

“Day by day we pass by vacant lots downtown. Just like an invisible metastasis generated in the heart of the city and extending to all its arteries. Neighborhoods that, although having a huge potential, have more and more unused spaces, a fact that does not at all promote a correct sustainable development. Years have made us immune to this problem. It’s a landscape we already recognize as typical of the central neighborhoods in Valencia.

Sometimes, the tourists are the ones who open our eyes by mentioning or questioning whether this situation is normal. On other occasions, we pay attention to it for a moment only because the secondary problems that those spaces imply affect us directly. But in most of the cases, they are only a part of our way. Like a gruyere cheese where the rats block any possibilities of reconstruction, while staring at us, far away from its holes. Read the rest of this entry »

Slovenian-based firm OFIS Arhitekti designed the proposal for Mercedes Benz Hotel Competition in Yerevan, Armenia. The concept is based on two terraced cylindrical towers connected in the ground level. The towering structures are enveloped with a green tent-shaped layer acting as a full-structural element, directing the building’s overall appearance. The position of the volumes creates remarkable views of the surroundings. The entire structure assumes the role of a landmark, with optimal views from the Teryan Street.

The higher of the towers would accommodate a restaurant, pool, spa, fitness center and bar. It would also house a hotel and apartments along with a business center, shops and a garage. The lower structure which extends outwards from the main tower would serve as housing and exhibition space as well as garage.

The structural system of the building is devised according to high seismic activity in the region. While two cores on the inner perimeter of the taller tower are required to ensure structural stability, one is sufficient in case of the lower one. At the base the outer walls of the cores are 160cm thick. Three concentric sets of composite columns are foreseen. Structural facade skin is predicted to support the gravity load of the slabs. Read the rest of this entry »

The topic of the upcoming EXPO 2015 in Milan is “Feeding the planet – Energy for life.” So how could a pavilion deal with that topic? It’s name is Biolosophy, a design by architecture student Patrick Vogel at Wismar University, Germany The basic idea was to design a building, that seems “alive” and maybe eatable. Food is getting scarce on the planet, and meanwhile the world population is increasing. One almost infinite resource that we have is algae. The building is created with special columns and beams, made of steel, concrete and acrylic glass with algae growing in it. So the visitor of the pavilion feels like they are moving in a huge cell structure and can watch the algae grow and also eat it. Read the rest of this entry »

Internationally-recognized architectural firm JDS Architects has won first place at the Hangzhou Gateway Competition for the high-rise design in Gongshu District of China. The district is a part of an industrial area needing to be reintegrated into the urban fabric. The aim of the project is to create a new urban landmark as well as to offer  housing capacities. The fifteen story high tower is designed to be an icon for the urban transformation of the city. Read the rest of this entry »

Vinyl albums have somewhat of a retro/cult status within contemporary culture that is generated from the unique sound it produces as well as the cover art that defines the packaging. Groove Box is a display case designed by Amorphis to frame a collection of vinyl as well as heighten its status as a cultural artifact within the domestic setting.

A generic plywood box is wrapped with an articulated, thickened surface, characterized by a sequence of draped effects ranging from pleats in the middle to a quilt-like condition at its ends. The pleats within the top middle portion are intended to perform as display grooves for individual records. The wrapped surface is CNC milled Baltic Birch plywood and finished with “Lexus Starfire White” automotive paint. Read the rest of this entry »

With a view to create a quality environment in which to serve passengers and clients, the Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications of Taiwan R.O.C. has formulated a plan for the “Port of Kaohsiung Passenger Transportation District” and the construction of the “Port and Cruise Service Center”. The aim of the competition is to improve the passenger service facilities and the surrounding environment, providing the visitors with more convenient and comfortable facilities.  Furthermore, the plan will help promote international exchange and boost international as well as domestic tourism.

Designed by Maxthreads Architectural Design, the project’s task is to create a international gateway not only for the port and cruise service center as the entry and exit point, but also for local public leisure activities. The intimate interconnected relationship created between port and cruise service center and general public by revisiting port operational event is the key element of urban integration. Read the rest of this entry »

The Living Roof by NAU is a living environment boiled down to its most essential elements: Arefuge to recover, plan excursions into the city, or simply stare into the stars. Offering you the essence of the city, it condenses all the functions of daily life into a compact and self- sustaining capsule, intended for urban rooftops, but ready to be airlifted into the savanna at short notice. The minimal interior allows for concentrated thought and recuperation, while the highly efficient enclosure helps resolve one of the paradoxes of modern life: the contemporary citizen seeks mobility, but also wants to tread softly on the environment. For just this sort of traveler, NAU has designed the Living Roof, the first short-term housing unit to produce more energy than it consumes. Read the rest of this entry »