The 2009 World Architecture Festival took place this week in Barcelona, drawing great minds to discuss, learn, share and award excellent architectural designs and completed projects. This year’s theme dealt with how to achieve Less With More and the relationship between cities and architecture, with climate change and sustainability playing key roles. The winners of the festival have been announced and we want to highlight four of the completed buildings that stand out for their environmentally sensitive and sustainable designs. Read on to see all of these noteworthy buildings.

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Situated in an defunct arms manufacturing facility in Saint-Etienne, the recently unveiled Cité du Design is a stunning international center for design. Designed by LIN, the project completely renovated the historic complex and integrated a new facility made out of triangular scaffolding. Powered by solar energy and supplemented by an efficient heating system, the energy efficient Cité du Design is a world class design center that lives up to its name.

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Taipei 101, famous for being one of the world’s tallest buildings, is set to get some major eco-upgrades in an effort to save money, reduce its impact, and gain the much coveted title of “World’s Tallest Green Building.” In 2007, the Burj Dubai surpassed Taipei 101 in terms of height, but the Taiwanese building won’t give up the fight, throwing down $1.8 million in energy efficiency upgrades, which are expected to yield $20 million annually in savings and make it the Earth’s greenest building that’s also closest to the heavens!

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COBE Architects blasted away its competitors with a sexy and bike-friendly new design in the recent competition to redesign Copenhagen’s Norreport train station. Almost retro in its lines, the architects’ vision of the new station is composed of a series of rounded, floating roofs set upon striking glass pavilions. Since bicycles are a preferred means of transportation in Copenhagen, ample bike parking was a main feature of the new structure, and other green features will include energy-efficient lighting and natural ventilation.

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Herzog & de Meuron recently unveiled their finished design for the new Miami Art Museum, which will be a stunning building surrounded by hanging gardens with tropical plants. Fit for a world renowned art museum, the new MAM will be three times as large as the existing building and will be aiming for LEED Silver certification. A fluid and adaptable interior layout combined with outdoor gardens and sculpture exhibition space will allow the MAM to expand for future growth.

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A giant step has been made in what will be the world’s largest renewable energy project. While previously just a grand vision for the production of clean energy in the Saharan desert, the project now has a core group of backers and a signed agreement between 12 companies wanting to move forward with the $555 billion renewable energy belt. The 12 collaborators signed articles of association last week for the DESERTEC Industrial Initiative (DII), which will work to bring more companies and groups on board as well as focus on regulations and conditions to get the project successfully completed and generating pure power from the sun.

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Iosa Ghini Associati has designed the Energy Belt, a sleek solar-powered monorail system for Bologna, Italy that will connect the airport to the city center. The system’s smoothly sculpted lines run above the countryside, providing great views for travelers. The monorail will also provide infrastructure for other uses, namely a pedestrian walkway alongside the tracks and a solar system that runs along the rail’s southern face.

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Daniel Libeskind recently unveiled his remarkable design for the Kö-Bogen, a new mixed-use development in Germany. Set in downtown Düsseldorf, the retail and office complex is crowned with a grassy green roof and is designed to fit in with the surrounding historic architecture of Köenigsallee Boulevard. This lofted space connects two city blocks and creates a whole new zone for pedestrians, shoppers and employees to walk, run and enjoy open space in the heart of the city.

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New York has the High Line and San Francisco is going to get the Bay Line – both abandoned rail lines turned into public parks. Now Chicago is looking to do the same with the Bloomingdale Rail Line, a 3 mile section of elevated train track running east and west into the heart of downtown. Overseen by Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail, one of the design proposals out suggests turning the line into a 3 mile greenhouse and hydrogen generation facility, providing organic and local food for the community and creating a fuel source for Chicago schools.

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Good design has the potential to provide better education, access to safe water and improved health care. Take for instance our very own Emily Pilloton of Project H Design, whose design projects are bringing vast improvements to their surrounding communities. Along the same line, a new non-profit initiative called Containers 2 Clinics is creating modular health care clinics for developing countries. To do so, they are rescuing shipping containers and then outfitting them with all the necessary equipment to treat women and children. Not only is this company delving into the fascinating world of shipping container architecture, but they are developing a much needed service for humanitarian aid.

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Like an non evil, sustainable version of the Deathstar, the Technosphere by James Law Cybertecture replicates the Earth as a structural concept. Inside the eco-sphere is an entire world which serves as a vehicle to explore the issues of self-sustaining life on a smaller level. Although not nearly as self-sufficient as the Biosphere 2, the Technosphere is meant to reflect the state of our planet in current and future times. Proposed as an iconic building for the Technopark of Dubai, the eco-sphere would be a carbon neutral tourist attraction as well as a place in which to live and work.

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When God told Horace Burgess to build a treehouse, he promised that Burgess would never run out of materials. So far he hasn’t. Using tons of reclaimed wood, Burgess has built a 10 story treehouse in Crossville, Tennessee. Burgess claims it is the world’s largest treehouse and since no one has disputed him yet, his fantastic 100 foot tall structure continues its reign. Known as the Minister’s Treehouse, it should not be confused with the world’s tallest wooden building soon to be built, because its foundation is an 80-foot-tall white oak tree.

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Multi-functional centers are great – same complex, different uses, minimal infrastructure. The House of Music in Aalborg, Denmark is just such a place, combining public and performance space with cultural and education functionality. Designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au this multifunctional center is a marvel of Solar passive design and features a south-facing facade covered with thin-film photovoltaics that help to reduce its energy use. With a concert hall, auditoriums, public courtyards and sustainable design features, Denmark has a wonderful addition to its cultural scene.

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Fluid, one of the most eye-catching designs for the much-anticipated 2012 World Expo in Yeosu, South Korea, is a whale-like pavilion designed by Melbourne-based Peddle Thorpe Architects (PTA). Their organic floating exhibition space is designed around the concept of adaptability, making the structure useful for many scenarios, even long after the World Expo has concluded. With it’s environmentally aware design, Fluid has a minimal impact on the surrounding coastal ecosystem and has another extremely cool feature – after it’s duties in Yeosu are complete, the whole building can unlatch from its site and be sailed to other cities as a giant, amphibious floating exhibition!

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Last year, we wrote about the groundbreaking of the Green Lighthouse, an exciting carbon-neutral building located at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Designed by Christensen & Co, the spectacular sundial-shaped structure was recently completed, making it the first public carbon neutral building in Denmark! The student services center will be showcased during the UN Climate Conference (COP15) this December, where it will serve as proof that carbon neutral buildings are possible with good design and planning. In fact, 75% of the energy reductions achieved were a direct consequence of architectural design, not fancy technology.

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Nabito Architects has proposed a fascinating new pop-art inspired design for the Taipei Pop Music Center that integrates a photovoltaic facade and a wall clad in LED panels. Depending on the activities of the Pop Music Center that day, the LED media wall can broadcast news, weather, advertisements and trailers for new events. Powered completely by the sun, the LED facade isn’t a drain on the grid when it lights up at night. Although just a proposal for the Taipei Pop Music Center Competition, this music events hall would showcase not only pop musical talents, but an innovative use of renewable energy.

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Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) was recently awarded the contract to create a stunning new Central Business District in Beijing. The project will integrate into the existing downtown urban district and will improve transportation infrastructure while introducing energy-efficient buildings green public space. The plan also provides a framework for new sustainable growth that would result in eliminating 215,000 tons of CO2 per year, which is the equivalent of planting 14 million adult trees.

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This prefab concept house, Mini40, comes out of Austria and has a slant towards the increasingly popular Passiv-Haus design method, which promotes a very tight and low-energy design. Hailing from Innsbruck, architect Mario Handle designed this passive home so that it doesn’t require any conventional heating. In fact, in good solar locations, it could be completely off-grid, powered by photovoltaics. The Mini40 was also designed to be constructed with modular parts, and reminds us a little bit of Werner Sobek’s modular homes, although the Mini40 has a slightly warmer aesthetic. And with just as many variations as Sobek’s homes, including the Mini60, Mini80 and Mini120, the concept can be expanded to become a larger-sized home or even multi-family housing.

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Biofuel is a sexy topic right now, and we’ve seen everything from crop waste to algae to even tuberculosis as possible energy sources. But how about whole buildings that can generate biofuel? While the idea is still largely hypothetical, architects like UPI 2M in Croatia are jumping on the bandwagon and coming up with fascinating designs for biofuel production stations. Their project, dubbed ‘Biooctanic‘, is a series of cactus-shaped biofuel crop production towers located in an urban setting at the site of petrol (gas) stations. The idea is that by placing these sci-fi-esque fuel producing centers at the refill locations, the towers can act as filters to help improve urban air quality as well as lower transportation costs.

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A new super skyscraper has just been announced for South Korea and will tower over all other buildings in Asia when it is complete in 2014. From a global perspective, Lotte Super Tower 123, designed by Kohn Pederson Fox, falls just short of taking the title, and will be not the tallest but the  second tallest skyscraper in the world. The structure will serve as the new corporate headquarters for the Lotte Group, whose subsidairy, Lotte Construction, will build it. Zoning has been approved and excavation is nearly complete. With aims towards LEED silver certification, the tower will have a strong environmental component and will offer Seoulians mixed-use areas such as shops, apartments, offices and a hotel.

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Back in 2008, a devastating fire tore through the Bouwkunde building where the Faculty of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology resided, resulting in a loss of more than just a structure, but also a home base for many students and faculty. To put the tragedy in the past, the university set out to start anew with a design competition to rebuild the Bouwkunde that would focus on community, sustainability, and adaptability. One of the designs is from Adam Wojtalik for his masters project, and resembles the biggest skateboard ramp you’ve ever seen. His clever solar panel-clad design for The New Bouwkunde features well thought out work areas for both students and faculty and lots of public space for relaxing and meeting.

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Weilburg, a medieval city not too far from Frankfurt, has announced plans to demolish a parking structure on the edge of its dense core and replace it with a mixed-use development with retail, residential and park space. Recently they revealed this beautiful proposal from ACME, which won the all-important public vote and second place from the professional jury. Inspired by the nearby Baroque terraced-landscape design of the Weilburg Castle Gardens, the Rathaus Terraces will feature green roofs, as well as natural ventilation and daylighting.

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With the World Cup scheduled to take place in Brazil in 2014 and the Summer Olympic games following in 2016, officials in Rio thought it was high time to revitalize the abandoned Paineiras hotel and turn it into a model for sustainable tourism. Their recently unveiled plan is a stunning green-roofed eco-hotel that makes the surrounding environment its highest priority.

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This morning the University of Illinois took second place in the Solar Decathlon with its gorgeous solar powered Gable House. The unique farmhouse-inspired home made an excellent showing at this year’s competition and was surpassed only at the last moment by Team Germany. Weighing in at 897 points out of a total 1,000, the home took top honors in many of the individual categories and features a solar roof capable of generating four times the amount of energy it consumes.

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The final results just rolled in from this year’s Solar Decathlon, and team Germany’s sleek surPLUShome finished first in an incredible upset victory! The German team took top honors in the Net Metering and Engineering categories this morning, steamrolling the competition to secure their second Decathlon win. This year’s home features a sleek, dark facade that is almost completely covered in photovoltaic panels and can provide more than twice the amount of energy it needs. Check out our cool video from America.gov about the house after the jump!

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Later this month, Médiacité, a new shopping and entertainment center with some exciting green features will open up in the center of Liège, Belgium. Located nearby the new train station, Gare des Guillemins by Santiago Calatrava, Médiacité will help rehabilitate the central city economically and culturally. With sweeping lines, advanced materials and environmentally aware design and construction, the new shopping center is an exciting new urban infill project and will surely be a big hit.

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A historic zoo in Vincennes, France, originally built in 1934 is looking to complete a major renovation, boosting itself to sustainable park status. Backed by the French government, the Prime Minister pledged to help engage a public/private partnership to complete the project. With a focus on conservation, education and awareness, the renovated zoo will feature six exciting “biozones” to replicate endangered areas of the world. Run partially on solar power, the zoo will showcase several green buildings and sustainable landscape design.

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We’ve been bringing you breaking coverage of this week’s Solar Decathlon in Washington DC throughout the week and one of the most interesting homes to emerge from the competition is the North House, a super sleek, high-tech solar powered home designed to generate more energy than it consumes – an especially impressive feat granted that the home was designed for the extreme climate of Northern Canada. Currently in 4th place at the Decathlon, Team Ontario/BC is exhibiting an incredibly impressive showing. With two days left of the competition, they still have a good chance to eek out some more points in the categories of Engineering, Lighting and the biggie, Net Metering, which could still put them in the lead.

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By 2050, the world’s population will have increased by 3 billion people, requiring an additional chunk of arable land the size of Brazil in order to grow enough food. Add to that the potential loss of coastal property from rising sea levels, crop loss from drastic weather related incidents, and the need to reforest large swaths of land to sequester CO2. What we’re left with is a global mess that could be helped by a new agricultural technique – vertical farming. Located in an urban setting, the vertical farm is a win-win idea that automates the production of food in a more sustainable manner, by reducing waste, pollution and carbon emissions.

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We’re excited to report that as of today Team California is in 1st place at the Solar Decathlon competition going on right now in Washington DC with their stunning Refract House! Just moments ago, they emerged victorious from the Communications portion of the scoring and as of yesterday they received an almost perfect score of 98 out of a 100 for Architecture and a 92 out of a 100 for Market Viability – combined with their other scores, this puts them in 1st place as of now. Close on their tails are Team Germany and Team Ontario/BC, and all the teams are anticipating the remaining scores which will be rolling in throughtout the rest of the week culminating in the score for Net Metering, which garners the hugest chunk of points. Stay with us on Inhabitat for news and updates on the winning teams. We can’t wait to see who the winner is on Friday!

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A recent competition earlier in 2009 held by the city of Chungju in South Korea made a call for a memorial space in the city’s United Nations Peace Park. Coming in at 3rd place was London-based firm ACME with their dramatic hive-like design. Drawing from the very core of what the United Nations is, this building is comprised of individual cells combined together to form a cube structure, mirroring how the UN is made up of individual countries who come together to form one entity. ACME’s proposal also includes an idyllic green roof and plenty of natural daylight.

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With a focus on connecting workers and visitors to nature and providing a green ambiance, this proposal for an office building in Hamburg talks the talk and walks the walk. Designed by Düsseldorf-based firm Greeen! Architects for the Building and Environment Authority (BSU) of Hamburg, the Eco Towers provide a very low use energy structure with gardens and green roofs scattered all over for use by workers and the public. Considerate of the surrounding environs, the design for the Eco Towers aims to provide a quiet, tranquil and environmentally friendly working place.

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Farms are close to nature – places to harvest the fruit of the land and care for animals and livestock. As such they should be built and operated with respect for life through sustainable construction and operation. The Mason Lane Farm Operations Facility in North Carolina is just such an example. Designed by De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop out of Louisville, KY, the beautiful eco farm facility supports 2,000 acres of agriculture, recreation, wildlife habitat and conservation land as part of the University of North Carolina. Two barns were designed and constructed on a well planned site using sustainable materials like locally-sourced bamboo and prefab panels and trusses.

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Brad Pitt has been making waves in the green building world lately, so it’s only appropriate that the newest house completed for his Make It Right Foundation project be a floating one. Being revealed today in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, the Float House by Morphosis Architects, goes beyond sustainable design and construction and is built within the context of its environment – it can float. In case of flooding, the home can literally break away from it’s moorings and rise up up to 12 feet on two guideposts. It won’t float away, but it will act as a raft and provide the family with enough battery power to allow them to survive for up to three days until help arrives.

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On Sunday, the world’s largest solar powered footbridge was opened to the public in Brisbane’s Central Business District. About 36,500 people are expected to use the new Kurilpa Bridge each week to walk or bike across the Brisbane River between the CBD and the arts precinct at South Bank. The bridge, which has been described as looking like knitting needles, is not only one of the longest footbridges, but also features a sophisticated LED lighting scheme that is powered by the sun and can produce a number of different lighting effects.

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