Taking a cue from eco-friendly skyscrapers and cars, religious places have started adopting sustainable technologies in the right earnest. The latest to join the green bandwagon is San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. The San Francisco landmark will install a solar photovoltaic power system to meet its energy requirements, bringing yet another green idea to boost the city’s eco credentials.
Juan Herreros Architects designed this gorgeous green complex to seamlessly integrate into the sweeping undergrowth of a forest bustling with biological activity. The verdant structure features an elongated low-profile layout to help it blend in with the treetops, situating it as “a new species that respects, protects and enhances the forest”. An excellent example of low-impact green architecture, the design recently took second place in an international competition to design a new building for the CEA Cadarache Research Center.
You don’t have to be a skater to appreciate these clever decks! Based on their passion for mid-century design, skateboard culture, and the SoCal lifestyle, designers Pierre Andre Senizergues and Gil Le Bon de LaPointe have launched a new company that makes sleek, gorgeous post modern furnishings and accessories out of recycled second hand skate board products. Skate Study House is quintessential California - skater cool, mid-century minimal, and totally green.
It used to be that Manhattan’s Central Park was reserved for leisurely Sunday strolls, ultimate Frisbee on the Great Lawn, and narrated carriage rides for out-of-towners. There was a policy to keep public art works out of the park proper leaving public spectacles to be reserved for ‘New Yorkers just being New Yorkers’ and the odd impromptu performance. Ever since Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s saffron-bedecked The Gates and now Olafur Eliasson’s Waterfalls, it seems as if the city is looking for creative ways to build up its financial reserves. We are not sure if Zaha Hadid’s latest Mobile Art pavilion (created as an homage to Chanel’s classic handbag) is the best way for the Central Park Conservancy to boost its programs and plantings, but in this new era of ‘bread and circus’ art and life on the verge of recession, who is really going to fight a posh take on an old classic?
Everything from buildings to resorts to cars to temples are donning the green mantle. The latest to join this list of sustainable structures is the Keilder Observatory in the UK. Located in Northumberland and designed by Charles Barclay Architects, this stunning structure stands an an example of self-sustainable architecture that is equally inspiring in both form and function.
According to the Planning Commission, India will need to generate at least 700,000 MW of additional power by 2030 to meet growing electricity demands. India will certainly be looking towards alternative energy sources to generate a substantial portion of this energy. Although solar energy production in India accounted for a mere 1.7% of the world total in 2007 (80 megawatt peak (MWp) power compared to a world total of 4,700 MWp), several great green strides have been taken by the country to harness the immense potential of solar energy. The latest example of this future forward thinking is Rabi Rashmi Abasan, India’s first completely green housing project.
Dwell and AIA teamed up to host the How Green Are You? Contest, meant to showcase green homes and renovations. As AIA says, the contest was meant to highlight the design innovations and sustainable strategies used to reduce carbon emissions, energy consumption and improve building functionality. Contest winners were recently announced and there are some beautiful home renovations. The winner of this competition was Ryan Walsh, of DRW Design Build, with his beautiful 1925 bungalow remodel called Recycled Aesthetic.
Canadian environmental consultants, Carbon Sense Solutions, may have just developed a carbon storage method that could reduce global CO2 emissions by as much as 1% a year. Their new method called, CO2 Accelerated Concrete Curing, accelerates the curing process and stores carbon dioxide at the same time. This method applies only to precast concrete, but has the potential to make a huge impact on the world.
Solar power and windows make an ideal pairing of complementary technologies for energy generation, and Japanese manufacturer Nihon Telecommunication Systems is maximizing the potential partnership. The company is set to release a solar windowpane with integrated photovoltaic cells that will be capable of powering a computer and charging your cell phone.
Sheathed in walls of living green and resembling a pagoda emblazoned with a curving copper rooftop, this UniCube dormitory utilizes an impressive set of sustainable features to regulate its temperature, harvest rainwater, and produce its own energy. Conceived by Andrew Southwood-Jones, the design recently took top honors for Architecture in Autodesk’s 2008 Student Design Challenge.
In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijing has festooned the Olympic grounds with lush sculptures portraying a greener version of China than we’re used to seeing. Over the last few decades China has become a country of rampant unbridled consumption (not unlike the U.S.), leading to devastating environmental consequences with little to no government regulations. Pollution is at its acme in Beijing and the wider world is pretty well aware of this problem. So what is China doing about these serious environment issues? From these eyecatching photos it appears Beijing is trying to attack (or obfuscate?) the problem with a little bit of shrubbery!
Transportation Tuesday is usually focused on getting from one place to another, but sometimes you’ve got to slow down and take a break from transit. It’s time to mark your calendars, plan your park, and get ready to claim a space (or two or three) for Park(ing) Day coming up on September 19, 2008. This annual event is a guerrilla gardening take-over of public spaces otherwise designated for cars and turning them into “park(ing)” spaces, or public parks. Growing year to year, Park(ing) Day 2008 is going to be a global experience that shows how green our cities could be if designed for people instead of cars.
In 1988, Simon Berry, Chief Executive of ruralnet|uk was working as a development worker in remote north east of Zambia, conscious that while he could buy a bottle of Coke anywhere, 1 in every 5 children under the age of five die in these areas through simple causes such as dehydration through diarrhea. Twenty years later, through the power of social media technology, Berry has launched a simple campaign asking Coca Cola to use a small part of its incredible distribution capacity to get medicines, such as rehydration salts, to dying children.
This is a concept vehicle which few of us will ever drive. The Furai is Mazda’s next hope in the future of car racing. While going green on the race track is not exactly an eco-minded endeavor, we’re still intrigued that this vehicle can be fully powered by ethanol. The very cool looking performance sports car shows that if ethanol has a place in the auto industry, that place is in the car racing arena.
We seem to repeat ourselves everyweek in bemoaning the need to switch to renewable energy, but truly, with oil prices this high, every car manufacturer is looking to develop alternatives based on their existing fleet. Obviously, the smaller and more fuel efficient the vehicle, the easier it is to convert to electric — which is why we were not surprised to hear that BMW is releasing its fabulous MINI Cooper in an all electric version in summer 2009!
Already a forerunner in ultra-efficient vehicles, Smart will soon be joining the all-electric charge with its up-and-coming Smart ED. We’re huge fans of the Smart Car for its creative clout and are thrilled by its recent stateside availability, so we can’t wait for an electric version of the diminutive vehicle that proves that smaller is better. Smart’s 100% electric plug-in is more than just a passing prototype, with trials currently taking place in preparation for a 2010 release!
Design can change the world for the better, but our wide reaching imprint on Mother Nature doesn’t always yield the best results. Case in point: the decline of bees. More specifically that commercially raised bumblebees are affecting the wild bee population. For years, researchers have been linking a decline in bees to everything from pesticides to genetically modified crops, and now the news is pointing to the bees themselves - the ones that humans “create” in greenhouses.
Welcome Los Angeles to the growing list of countries and municipalities that are taking a stand against plastic bags. Following in the footsteps of Australia, China, Israel, Melbourne, San Francisco and others, the City of Los Angeles has jumped on the plastic bag ban bandwagon to stop the persistent environmental hazards from entering the LA waste stream by 2010.
A large part of the green building focus is on healthy indoor air quality – eliminating toxins, emissions and pollutants that can cause indoor air to be more polluted than outdoors. One common and potentially dangerous health risk inside buildings has recently been found in high levels in granite finishes. This highly popular countertop choice has become suspect as an emitter of radiation and an entry point for high levels of radon gas inside the home.
Go back to school in sustainable style with Noon Solar sexy new solar handbags! We first wrote about Noon Solar in 2007, when the Chicago-based design company blew us away with their unusually stylish take on the typically boxy / techy solar powered bag. We love the idea of photovoltaic solar power bags in general, but most of the available options are so uninspired in terms of aesthetics, that when Noon Solar’s impeccably tailored designs hit the scene, they came as a breath of fresh air for those of us who want to look good while also trying to do good.
Wrapped in a beautiful facade of hexagonal mesh, this Mobile Performance Venue cuts a striking profile while making strident efforts to size down its carbon footprint. Conceived by Norway’s Various Architects, the superstructure features an inflatable facade that is 100% recyclable and a collapsible design that renders it completely mobile, fitting into roughly 30 shipping containers. That’s an impressive feat for the largest mobile venue in the world, measuring 90 by 60 meters and accommodating up to 3,500 people!
For devoted groupies of Inhabitat’s sustainable style column, it is probably no real surprise to discover that we are big fans of John Patrick ORGANIC and his gorgeously tailored, inspired eco collections. We have been following ORGANIC since Fall 2007 when Jill Danyelle and Jill Fehrenbacher first highlighted the significant headway that this groundbreaking designer was making on both fashion and eco-design frontiers. With this in mind, we are totally thrilled to announce that John Patrick ORGANIC was recently selected as one of the finalists for the 2008 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award! We could think of no one more deserving of the accolades and high honors, and are encouraged by this next bold step for sustainable style and future-forward design.
You may have heard of ‘outside art’ before - but how about letting a tree sketch the next picture to adorn your living room wall? British artist Tim Knowles has created an amazing project to create Tree Drawings — images created by pens attached to tree branch tips!
ARTinACTION is an artist-in-residence program for post-Katrina Louisiana that effectively uses art as a creative, rehabilitative tool. Invited artists are encouraged work on-site and with local communities that are still struggling to recover from the ravages of the hurricane’s devastation. Says Director Elizabeth Underwood, “The ARTinACTION context creates a very real ‘aesthetic eco-system’ in partnership with the land and community of each site.” Today (July 26) is the unveiling of ARTinACTION’s most recent installation, Field Guide, by artist Jacqueline Bishop. We wanted to give you a closer look at just one example of how this part of Louisiana is imaginatively rebuilding itself.
Cabins are meant as relaxing getaways in inspiring location, like the mountains, woods, or the shore. Architect Andrea Salvini revisits the American cabin, with this updated version of the beach house meant for Fire Island, NY. Of his trilogy of projects on Fire Island, the most interesting is his Crab House, an “anthropomorphic” house inspired by a crab. The stilts raise the vertical cabin off the ground, in order to preserve land as much as possible. The front of the house, which faces the ocean, is almost completely glass with a large open air solarium on the top floor.
This week’s prefab breaks out of the hard-lined modern box with a beautiful soft-shelled structure that finds elegance in its simplicity. That’s right - it’s a Nomad Yurt! SoCal based Ecoshack has updated the ancient shelter with a modern construction that is light, flexible, and composed entirely of eco-friendly materials. The airy shelter is perfect for a summer’s eve spent stargazing, an impromptu backyard gathering, or anyplace that a peaceful private space is desired.
What if we told you you could own your very own Ewok-meets-Aarnio hanging treehouse? Canada-based Tom Chudleigh creates these bubblicious Free Spirit Eco Spheres that sway amidst the coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest. Available for purchase or for rent, they offer a whimsical new way to experience the outdoors.
Luca Casarotto of Cosca Design in Northern Italy sent us over some images of their new Penta lamp. Made of recycled polyethylene, the lamp folds and contorts to create the optimum lighting for your mood. While open, the lamp’s light diffuses to fill a room and when folded shut, it can be concentrated for tasks and spotlighting. And the lamp comes flat-packed for fuel economy to boot!
The Drake Landing Solar Community is the first solar powered community of North America. Located in the town of Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, the project sets a wonderful example of how every household can lead a sustainable lifestyle. There are 800 solar panels located throughout the community on garage roofs, and they produce 1.5 mega-watts of thermal power during a summer day and supply heat to the district heating system. The whole system meets 90% of the annual heating and hot water needs of the homes.
It’s been a banner week for environmental policy as the California Building Standards Commission recently broke news of the nation’s first statewide green building code. The measure mandates significant improvements in energy efficiency and water consumption in all new construction throughout the state. The announcement was fore-grounded by April’s ambitious
Ah, green design at its finest. Here at Inhabitat we pride ourselves in bringing you the freshest eco-friendly innovations, so how could we pass on the merits of this bright pink burp-trapping bovine backpack? It’s more than just a catchy concept - believe it or not there’s real SCIENCE at work here! The methane collecting tanks were utilized by Argentina’s National Institute for Agricultural Technology as part of a a study to determine the atmospheric impact of methane released by cows. The findings were startling, as researcher Guillermo Berro estimated that “30% of Argentina’s total greenhouse gases could be generated by cattle.” Time to seriously consider that poo power plant!
In the 1960’s US foreign aid to Haiti trickled in in the form of used clothing and the flow hasn’t stopped since. Secondhand Pepe, a documentary film by Hanna Rose Shell and Vanessa Bertozzi, follows the long journey of discarded garments from the ragyards in Miami, to the archives in London and onto the Pepe markets in Port-au-Prince where they are re-tailored and re-sold to fit the styles and peoples of Haiti.
Zurich-based Postfossil Design Collective has been capturing our imagination this year with a host of eco-minded ideas that challenge convention. Postfossil designer Annina Gaehwiler’s Torre plant pot is one such example, and demonstrates a beautiful hands-on approach to plant-rearing. Individual earth filled units are attached to the base of the pot allowing seedlings to grow and flourish with freedom to stretch their roots.
Mathieu Lehanneur is known for his modernist designs that have a ecological purpose. We previously wrote about living air filter that uses plants to naturally purify the air in a neat little capsule. And now, this French designer has another amazing installation that brings the benefits of nature indoors into a self contained living local river ecosystem. This aquarium is not only an interesting home décor piece, but also a fish hatchery and vegetable garden.
Have you ever pedaled on a stationary bike at the gym and thought to yourself: ‘What if this energy I am exerting could be used for something better than just making me sweat?” Well now a new proposal from architect Mitchell Joachim promises to take all that energy expended at the gym to the next level, by capturing all that exertion and using it to transport people around the rivers of New York City. The River Gym concept is a human-powered floating gym that will provide the user with the one experience that no other gym can provide: floating your workout around Manhattan. Designed by architect Mitchell Joachim and personal trainer Douglas Joachim, this project could bring inspiration to both the morning commute and workout.
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