Sydney’s ugliest building may soon be getting a new lease on life through to a plan to ‘reskin’ the entire tower with a high-performance photovoltaic skin. Architecture firm Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) has proposed the retrofit, and if their plan is enacted it would turn the 1960’s brutalist building into a brilliant super-efficient eco-tower.
It may seem ironic, but even petroleum research centers can be LEED certified if they meet the critieria. Case in point: the King Abudullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC for short), designed by Zaha Hadid, is aiming for LEED Platinum. To be built in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the state of the art campus will house research and development facilities on energy and environmental exploration and analysis. We take that to read studies on better ways of finding more petroleum (which is hardly a practice we consider to be green) but at least the building itself is striving to be earth-friendly.
Can you imagine living in a high-rise apartment building where the 360 degree views are of fishes and saltwater? Although just a concept now, this upside-down, underwater eco-skyscraper could be the future of building, especially if sea levels rise as predicted and we end up living in a water world. Designed by Victoria BC-based firm Zigloo, the Gyre is a floating eco-development meant to be both a research station as well as an off-shore resort with shops, restaurants, gardens and recreation. Powered completely by the sun, wind and ocean, the Gyre would offer a zero emissions stay for both tourists and researchers hoping to gain a better understanding of the ocean’s ecosystem.
NewActon Nishi is a new apartment complex in the middle of Canberra that is aiming to be Australia’s greenest residential development. But don’t go thinking that this will be a boring ‘green building’. NewActon Nishi will feature a sexy minimalist aesthetic in addition to some exciting eco-conscious features.
When most of us think of convention centers, we think of big empty spaces that are certainly not very environmentally friendly. That’s not the case for the next generation of centers — case in point, the very cool looking Qatar National Convention Center. The striking 177,000 square meter structure is seeking a LEED Gold Rating, a first for a building of its type in the region. When it’s completed next year the center will boast 3,700 square meters of solar panels in addition to a host of other resource-saving features.
We love prefab designs, but we love seeing them come to life even more! Last July, we brought you renderings for the House Arc, a bicycle rack-inspired modular home designed by Joseph Bellomo, and now we’re thrilled to give you a peek of the prototype version which was just unveiled. Prefabricated and flat-packed into a 4-by-10-by-3 foot box, the House Arc can easily be shipped and assembled at its final destination.
From its modular modern design to its shipping container components, Olgga’s student housing complex struck us as a pitch perfect project for prefab friday. The French architecture firm designed the complex to be constructed from 100 repurposed shipping containers. Talk about putting your students in a box!
Madonna is giving back to the country that gave her David, her son, in a big way by building an eco-friendly academy for girls in Malawi’s capital city, Lilongwe. Through her non-profit organization, Raising Malawi, the pop star has collected funds and donated some of her own in order to build the solar powered, eco-friendly academy, which will accommodate 450 girls when it’s completed in 2012. StudioMDA, out of New York, designed the school and hopes it can become the standard for education and new sustainable construction in the region.
One of our favorite publications, GOOD magazine, has just joined forces with PRE and Studio X to launch a design competition to rebuild Haiti. The contest comes at a time when Haiti needs it the most, and offers a great opportunity for you to contribute your skills to do some good. They’re asking designers, architects and visionaries to examine the …
Ask most people about Flushing, Queens and they’re likely to either stare blankly or venture “Where the Nanny is from?!” That all might change with the development of a 1.8 million sq. foot, $850 million megacomplex for the area. Dubbed Flushing Commons, the spacious, airy design (which is quite a change from the cramped, cluttered landscape that is the current neighborhood) will feature a landscaped plaza, shops, restaurants and residences and strive for LEED Silver certification. However the area is already a bit of a traffic nightmare (Flushing is home to the 3rd busiest intersection in New York City after Herald Square and Times Square), so the project faces some tough opposition from residents who are afraid of even more congestion.
What is a house, anyways? For the designers of the Veasyble wearable shelter, isolation and intimacy are important. They reflect on “the change in our relationship with the domestic environment, due to the effects of our increasing mobility, and how this has affected our concept of intimacy, creating new demands.” Read on for more innovative concepts that blend the boundaries between clothing and architecture.
A design for the new Los Angeles NFL stadium is in the works and it is set to be the first NFL stadium ever to become LEED certified. Designed by Aedas, a global architecture firm, the Los Angeles Stadium might be finished as early as the 2011 football season, although what NFL team will make its home there is still unknown. Aedas has designed the eco stadium to be a multi-purpose venue and has also included a significant commercial and entertainment sector. With smart design, reduced CO2 emissions and major recycling initiatives, the LA Stadium will be a great boon to the city.
South Korea’s Jeju Island is known for its outstanding aesthetic beauty — it’s an area that bears testament to the compelling natural history of our planet. Listed as a UNESCO site, the island will soon be host to a new World Natural Heritage Center. The center is anticipated to become a meeting place set to educate and promote the importance of preserving the island and its heritage for future generations to come.
Teaching city kids about sustainable farming can be tricky. After all, in a bustling metropolis like New York, it’s easy to see why some youngsters think apples originate in bins at their local bodega. Famed foodie Alice Waters and her Chez Panisse Foundation aim to remedy that lack of knowledge with the Edible Schoolyard initiative, a program that builds gardens right on school properties. The latest Edible Schoolyard will be built at PS. 216, an elementary school located in Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighborhood.
We’re all about prefab homes for humans, but cats need shelter too! Luckily, there’s Caboodle – a corrugated cardboard modular condo that your feline friends will be delighted to move their little cat possessions into immediately. Aside from having architectural details that are the cat’s meow, Caboodle’s are also made in the good old United States from 40% post-consumer recycled cardboard.
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New York City, much like any big city, disposes of a lot of trash — but what if that trash could be used in a constructive manner? NYC-based architects Terreform have proposed a new form of construction for the City that uses industrial sized robots to create buildings and islands from waste instead of sending it to landfills like Fresh Kills. They’re calling the project Rapid Re(f)use, and the first design is a reverse of the Statue of Liberty that would be built out in the harbor.
We were excited to learn last year that the new Transbay Transit Center in downtown San Francisco would be built with green features in mind. We’re even more excited now that the $4 billion terminal has just received a $171 million loan from the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) to go ahead with phase 1 of the project, which will replace the current Transbay Terminal.
The tragic earthquake in Haiti has provoked a number of architects to think about how they can help with disaster relief. One recent example we looked at was the SEED project, which uses shipping containers as temporary housing. Now architect Andres Duany has designed a fireproof, waterproof, and moldproof flat-pack temporary house that could easily be shipped to the ailing country.
The European Solar Decathlon takes place this summer, and the competition is already heating up with some stunning designs for zero energy homes! One of the first we’ve seen is the FabLab House from the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia. Completely unlike any of the designs we saw in the US competition, the solar panel-coated passive house is rounded and built off the ground.
Thailand-based modular home designer Site-Specific has announced that they are expanding their line and have even formed a new company specifically devoted to prefab homes for the Thai Market. The first home in their new line is the MDL 5.5×6, a home inspired by the shipping container but modified to make it more practical and livable. Made from recycled materials, the one bedroom prefab home is modern, simple, and totally affordable.
LOTS MORE GREAT GREEN DESIGN STORIES HERE... KEEP READING!
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