The Lycee Jean Moulin in Revin in France, designed by  OFF Architecture in collaboration with with Duncan Lewis Scape Architecture and Jeans Giacinto is a unique architectural piece that seems to implant the new structure into the topography of the natural landscape. Slated to complete in 2012, the Jean Moulin High School makes use of the constraints of the slope and follows the protruding and receding nature to create a moving pattern on the hill. The natural surroundings will not only create a healthy study environment for the students, but also give the all important lesson of protecting the environment and leading a sustainable life. Read the rest of this entry »

The Graft Tower is a Parametric-designed eco-hotel and vertical farm conceived by Diego Taccioli, Sizhe Chen, and Tyler Wallace to be located on the New Monserrate Street at the intersection of the San Juan’s two arterial public transportation routes. It is a net plus resource building that provides water, food, and energy for the neighborhood. The program on the ground levels is an epicenter of commercial activity and services to support the light-rail hub. The tower has a eco-tourism hotel and living units for permanent residents. It is a design using a new language of an interlaced mesh -work of structural columns spiraling into the sky with connecting fingers spreading out to the new plazas below. The structure is literally grown by grafting in-osculate fibers around the basic skeletal frames of the commercial and housing units. Optimizing the frame’s capacity for natural ventilation and cooling, a twisting tower is created, with each unit’s shape stretching toward the west, as determined by wind dynamics. Water is collected at the bottom of each unit and then dispersed throughout the open framework into the vertical farming. The plants grow sporadically throughout the transforming building, as they are able to find water and sunlight. Read the rest of this entry »

This project is a multipurpose building designed by DRA&U for fairground and cultural activities that will be incorporated into a plan for upgrading the ex industrial complex “Rossi Sud” in Latina, Italy.

The shape of the building comes from the study of shells, their real geometry, neither ideal, nor platonic. The x-ray analysis of these slender bodies gave us the ability to perceive the deficiencies, deviations, a set of slight imperfections, due to environmental disturbances during development, which makes them so fascinating. Each shell contains history and a body that evolves with sublime patience, where the beauty, usefulness, functionality and aesthetics are linked to each other, because the amazing beauty lies not only in the outer (what you see usually), but also lurks in intimacy, the hidden.

The building is generated by a continuous surface that conforms a simultaneously limited space and a connectively-distribution space. It is divided in such a way that allows to manage areas separately, among which are performance activities, shows, conventions, museums, sports, theatre and gaming zones. The outdoor area consists of paths, green areas, auditorium, playgrounds for children and an arena for outdoor events. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking at The Station 5 Water Tower designed by Ariel Noyman, one can not but recall Mendelsohn’s design for Einstein Tower. Not comparable by aesthetic sensibility nor by programmatic parameters, both structures emphasize the possibility of turning small non-commercial  facilities into valuable urban landmarks. Allocated along a network spreading across the city, these now outdated and usually vandalized architectural études seek reinvention, thus eliciting valid design excitement.

As the finalist submission to the “Water Tower-new perspectives” Competition in 2010, Station 5 attempts to revitalize an important town square surrounded by municipality buildings and primary urban institutions. Being a checkpoint for an organized cultural tour, it will offer a variety of educational and cultural activities. Furthermore, it will function as a lookout and a leisure attraction assuming the role of a true city icon.

On the entry level, the lower water pool will be converted into an exhibition space displaying the history of the local site and the city. The open gap of concrete columns between the lower and the upper pool will be transformed into a vertical garden, holding observation shafts and explanations points. The upper concrete pool cylinder will host lectures and movies; a wide porch will offer panoramic views, while the rooftop of the tower will function as a cafeteria accessible at all times. Read the rest of this entry »

Combining green consciousness with sleek and sustainable ultra-modern design, the Solarflora from Nectar is a fully functional solar generator that, in addition to providing green power at public spaces, pays elegant and stylized tribute to nature’s simple beauty. Suggestive of a giant flower, with lines that are simultaneously clean and slightly curvilinear rising to petal-like forms at its apex, the Solarflora is capable of holding one, two, three, or four solar panels and supplying up to 1.2 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day of depending on leaf configurations.

An artistic and enjoyable addition to parks, shopping malls, museums, fairgrounds, convention centers, bus stops, and wide variety of other locales, the Solarflora includes up to three modular leaves which feature a soft light for dramatic effect and are attached to a plant-like stalk. Each Solarflora is adjusted to the local geographic latitude so that it is angled towards the sun to capture the maximum available energy. The Solarflora has been tested to withstand hurricane force winds. Read the rest of this entry »

This speculative proposal by SERVO for a 4,000 sqm bioscience innovation center with a hydrodynamic vegetated roof, located in the Albano region of Stockholm, reconsiders the extensive green roof typology to produce an occupiable roofscape characterized by immersive depth. The green roof is designed to be experienced from several vantage points: from above—walking amidst a dense landscape of indigenous vegetation intertwined with protuberant forms that emit water, air or light; from below—as a suspended ceiling system that pulls down to close proximity with the floor; or from within—in the interior of the auditorium space and specialized laboratory areas designed for the cultivation of vegetation in semi climatically-controlled microclimates. Read the rest of this entry »

Geotectura Studio unveiled a proposal for a futuristic city comprised of multiple green belts around the equator which could hold the entire human population in a democratic, social, and self-sufficient manner. A series of high-scale arches are developed as sustainable mega-structures in which the whole roof will be a gigantic solar and wind generator with photovoltaic cells and wind turbines. The inhabitants will be able to cross the world in just 5 days with green public transportation while layers of dwelling, agriculture, industries, and recreational areas will be contained inside the “cloud”.

Vincent Callebaut Architectures in association with Frederic Magnien Architect unveiled their project for a mobilization swimming pool in Royat, France.

Architects’ statement:

In the heart of the water city of Royat and its green mall in the confluence of the Tiretaine and Liaboux rivers, our extension project is a dynamic response to the ambition of Royat city to build a mobilization swimming pool represented by a very attractive and contemporary architecture researched by the patients of spas.

By increasing also the choice of cardio-arterial and rheumatologic cares, our architecture proposes the construction of a “planted wave” that covers the pool hall under its curve. The ecological wave projects thus its curve towards the avenue de Royat such as a new green setting, true urban signal dedicated to the welfare and laid out in the urban Northern façade of the spa site. By meeting the needs of the programme as precisely as possible, our project emphasizes three major themes as detailed below: the urban signal, the welfare of the patients and the high environment quality.

From the avenue de Royat our project expresses thus itself clearly as a strong architectural signal leading the slightly austere line of the mineral façade laid out in bar codes of extensions dating of the sixties to the eighties. Our “green wave” takes into account all the constraints of the site and presents a compact made-to-measure volumetric on stilts of the scratched surrounding frame. Actually, the arched architecture of the pool hall sets up against the bank of the main building, lining up along the firemen lane to the laundry and the workshops located below. Read the rest of this entry »

The Greater Noida Housing Project is a large residential  development, 30 miles southwest of New Delhi. Designed by FXFOWEL Architects the  philosophy of the configuration stresses environmental and social sustainability. The modular prefabricated stacking of units, with shifting floors and open outdoor spaces and voids add a unique textural vertical living environment that lightens the scale of the project. Daylight and air penetrate the complex to create a wealth of outdoor living spaces.

The 22 buildings feature a modulated system stacked between terracotta colored sheer walls that also act a sun blocks. The majority of the planned 1700 residential units have a north-south orientation to maximize solar exposure in the winter months. A number of floors will be left open to allow cooling summer monsoon breezes maintain comfortable living conditions within the elevated living spaces. The voids between floors also contain balconies and public spaces encouraging interactions with the residences. Larger buildings stand up to forty five stories and block winds on the north side of the 47 acre site. A cluster of smaller buildings to the south let winter light penetrate the green belt between the building, creating an overall effect of a small scale city. Units will range from studios to 5 bedrooms. Read the rest of this entry »

The Wind Tower is a spiraling mega-structure designed by British architects David Arnold and Alexa Ratzlaff as a twisted steel and concrete diagrid aerodynamically shaped to take advantage of the prevailing wind currents. At the center of the tower is the core which contains the main vertical circulation and storage areas. Spiraling around the core is a series of platforms that will accommodate a variety of programs including commercial, residential, institutional, and recreational facilities. Located above the program, turbines measuring 45 meters will generate enough power for 2,000 residences. Read the rest of this entry »