The new regional head office of the United Nations is designed with clear references to the UN’s identity and values; it is a building that physically reaches out to all parts the world, while the sculptural staircase in its core reflects the UN’s work to create global dialogue.

Bringing together the various agencies and functions of the United Nations regional offices in Copenhagen, the new UN City is located at Marmormolen (The Marble Pier) north of Copenhagen’s city center. 3XN’s design is a response to the UN’s wishes for an iconic building expressing the organization’s values and authority. It reflects the independent, efficient and professional nature of each UN unit. Located on an artificial island the building is naturally separated from its immediate surroundings, while still being highly visible from both the city and the water. Read the rest of this entry »

Zaha Hadid Architects participated in an international competition in Astana, Kazakhstan, to design the facilities for the international exhibition, scheduled for 2017. The theme of the expo aims to raise awareness of energy resources, energy efficiency and environmental protection as well as to seek innovative engineering and architectural solutions to critical global issues. The symbol of EXPO-2017 will be the monument which will outlive the exhibition and will be immediate landmark of Astana.

Zaha Hadid Architect’s proposal for EXPO-2017 Astana placed energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies and sustainability at the forefront of the design. The result of the process, which consisted of thoughtful analysis of cultural and physical landscape of Kazakhstan, traditional patterns and ornaments, is informal fluid interface of urban pattern, landform and architecture inspired by combination of local culture and renewable technologies.

The proposed urban grid came logically and the urban morphology evolved forming a multiplicity of geometries and orientations that connect to adjacent areas. Building mass is fluid and the contour addresses the neighboring urban conditions, height regulations and importance of adjoining streets. Read the rest of this entry »

Urban Roots is a project designed by Francisco Nunez and Kyle Duvernay to facilitate water access and management by means of biomimetic solutions congruent with architectural design and technology. By carefully analyzing a region in which water is not a local resource, we took on the challenge of designing a new water management headquarters for Downtown San Diego which will implement bio-inspired technologies such as dew harvesting facades, water transfer by capillary action methods and clean water filtration and storage innovations. Read the rest of this entry »

The 3d printed nylon polymer lamp designed by Dr. Margot Krasojević is suspended by a spindle whereby it’s weight and form contribute to the angular momentum vector as it spins along its axis of rotation; it is affected by minor environmental changes such as temperature and air currents which rotate the light along its path of velocity. The light has a motion sensor diode clamped between both suspended 3d printed sections which powers the battery lighting the LED when in motion. As a result of it’s form, the light speeds up tremendously due to it’s conservation of angular momentum, the form of the light reduces it’s rotational inertia affecting it’s rotational speed which must increase to maintain constant angular momentum resulting in a brighter light. The light has been influenced by the physics behind ice skater spinning/a spinning top. Read the rest of this entry »

The Icon Square houses a Peace Center, Community Center, and Eco Hotel designed by Kyle Duvernay and Mike Knowlton in located in Bunker Hill, Los Angeles. A 150,000 sq/ft lot invites the public in by creating a corridor across the site, and by uplifting the ground floors for minimal building footprint. A systematic power generator consisting of over 200 vertical wind turbines was created for the public to view and interact with. The expression of the Eco Hotel is complimented by the purity of the Peace Center by allowing them to share a common goal of sustainability in the community. Read the rest of this entry »

For the green innovative house, architects Achawin Laohavichairat, Montakan Manosong, and Peerapon karunwiwat designed a building that provided infrastructure, urban facilities, green area, and living space. They designed the house for congested urban areas in this case they choose “Metropolitan Bangkok”. Ecological living uses of clean, non-pollution energies, gathering of organic and inorganic waste, creation of green spaces. The green innovative house is designed with self-sufficient considerations planed to take care of the management of energy. Read the rest of this entry »

Sitting in the countryside of Bedfordshire, UK is an old barn. Or at  least that is what it used to be. The innovative minds at Nicolas Tye Architects reinvented the old farm landscape by converting the barn to an elegant studio. Home to Nicolas design team, the Long Barn Studio is representational of their design philosophy. This 2,200 square foot studio space, erected on the ruins of an old barn, lies harmoniously with the landscape and adjacent to an existing barn.

The studio boasts a modern yet subtle appeal, utilizing materials that enhance the surrounding context and vice versa. The studio is composed of a glazed elevation with ends enclosed in larch timber cladding that resembles “book ends”. The overall aesthetics is elevated through the use of Cor-ten detailing that furthers the sense of place, reflect the old machinery and steelwork of the barn. Read the rest of this entry »

eVolo Magazine is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Skyscraper Competition. Established in 2006, the annual Skyscraper Competition recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations, along with studies on globalization, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution. This is also an investigation on the public and private space and the role of the individual and the collective in the creation of a dynamic and adaptive vertical community. The award seeks to discover young talent, whose ideas will change the way we understand architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments.

The Jury of the 2012 edition was formed by leaders of the architecture and design fields including: Maria Aiolova [principal Terreform One], Chris Bosse [principal LAVA – Laboratory for Visionary Architecture], Gaël Brulé [principal Atelier CMJN, winner 2011 Skyscraper Competition], Julien Combes [principal Atelier CMJN, winner 2011 Skyscraper Competition], Marc Fornes [principal THEVERYMANY], Florian Idenburg [principal SO-IL  Solid Objectives – Indenburg Liu], Minnie Jan [principal MisoSoupDesign], Mitchell Joachim [principal Terreform One, professor at New York University], Jing Liu [principal SO-IL  Solid Objectives – Indenburg Liu], Daisuke Nagatomo [principal MisoSoupDesign], Alexander Rieck [principal LAVA – Laboratory for Visionary Architecture], Michel Rojkind [principal Rojkind Arquitectos], Michael Szivos [principal Softlab, professor at Pratt Institute], Tobias Wallisser [principal LAVA – Laboratory for Visionary Architecture], and Ma Yansong [principal MAD Architects] . The Jury selected 3 winners and 22 honorable mentions. eVolo Magazine received 714 projects from all five continents and 95 different countries.

The first place was awarded to Zhi Zheng, Hongchuan Zhao and Dongbai Song from China for their project “Himalaya Water Tower”. The proposal is a skyscraper located high in the Himalayan mountain range that stores water and helps regulate its dispersal to the land below as the mountains’ natural supplies dry up. The skyscraper, which can be replicated en masse, will collect water in the rainy season, purify it, freeze it into ice and store it for future use.

The second place was awarded to Yiting Shen, Nanjue Wang, Ji Xia, and Zihan Wang from China for their project “Mountain Band-Aid”, a design that seeks to simultaneously return the displaced Hmong mountain people to their homes and work as it restores the ecology of the Yunnan mountain range.

The recipient of the third place is Lin Yu-Ta from the Taiwan for a “Vertical Landfill” to be located in the largest cities around the globe, both as a reminder of the outrageous amount of garbage that we produce and as a power plant that harvests energy from waste decomposition.

Among the honorable mentions there are underwater projects for ocean research, mobile skyscrapers, floating cities, and temporal buildings that attach to existing structures. These proposals offer us an exciting view of the world to come.

eVolo Magazine would like to acknowledge all the competitors for their effort, vision, and passion for architectural innovation and the members of the Jury for their knowledge, time, and enthusiasm during the long review process.

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 »