Friday, May 30, 2008
image from MASS STUDIES
Westraven office complex wins Daylight award
Friday, May 23, 2008
Cepezed's Westraven wins Daylight Award: “a metamorphosis of a sick building to a clear, transparent, state of the art building that performs an exemplary in every field.”
The Westraven office complex is an intricate and large-scale combination of new and existing construction for various sections of the Dutch Department of Public Works.
Westraven is a large-scale project with numerous sustainable solutions, of which the abundant penetration of daylight is just one illustration.
Much attention has been devoted to realizing perfect equilibrium between low energy consumption and an optimum working climate. Therefore, for example thermically active floors have been used.
The conservatories also work as climate buffers and the artificial lighting adjusts itself automatically to the colour and intensity of the incidence of daylight. A revolutionary feature is the innovative second-skin façade of open-weave, teflon-coated glass fibre.
from : cepeez
Contemporary Jewish Museum by Daniel Libeskind
The Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) will open its new Daniel Libeskind-designed building on Sunday, June 8, 2008. The new facility—located on Mission Street in downtown San Francisco’s Yerba Buena cultural district—is an adaptive reuse of the landmark 1907 Jessie Street Power Substation with an extension clad in vibrant blue steel panels.
Under the creative direction of architect Daniel Libeskind, the CJM’s new home revives the long-abandoned Jessie Street Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Power Substation building and reflects the Museum’s programmatic vision.
The most distinctive feature of the new addition to the Jessie Street Power Substation is its “skin” of over 4,5003,000 luminous blue steel panels. The blue colour of the steel is achieved through a procedure called interference-coating. Since there are not any dyes or pigments to decay, the colour will never fade or chalk.
The building will be the first to feature a unique cross-hatching surface finish, which helps to diffuse and soften the reflection of light off the blue stainless steel. These panels will, however, appear to change colour depending on the time of day, the weather, and the viewer’s position, creating a dynamic, “living” surface.
The building will be the first to feature a unique cross-hatching surface finish, which helps to diffuse and soften the reflection of light off the blue stainless steel. These panels will, however, appear to change colour depending on the time of day, the weather, and the viewer’s position, creating a dynamic, “living” surface.
It is an interesting the building especially the way it is connected to the substation.
Solar Lily Pads by ZM Architecture
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
In cities all over the world there are disused water ways, canals and rivers.Often they become the focus for regeneration and for most people offer an improved quality of life and environment. Our project proposes to stimulate river activity and change by proposing that the surface is used to harness the power of Solar energy on a large scale.
The energy created can be easily transformed and exported to the grid and will reduce the carbon footprint of the city. The idea references large lilypads that are optimised for efficient photosynthesis, so the design is inspired by nature.
They can be moved and dismantled and are simply tethered to the river bed, integrated motors can rotate the discs so their orientation to the sun is maximised throughout the day.
from Inhabitat
Iluma Mall at Bugis, Singapore
Friday, May 16, 2008
Iluma is designed aiming to change the face of Bugis center and it is an art-inspired retail-entertainment mall.
With a play on the theme of light and illumination, the mall looks set to become an icon for the Bugis area. It aims to be different with its unconventional architecture of a curved frontage against a rectilinear block.
Iluma has a net-lettable area of 191,580 sq ft, with space for more than 150 shops and 325 car park lots. Its proximity to arts venues and tertiary institutions has inspired the mall's concept — which is an arts and cultural meeting place targeting "yuppies" and "sophisticates", said Jack Investment's project director Lim Swee Teck.
Iluma has a net-lettable area of 191,580 sq ft, with space for more than 150 shops and 325 car park lots. Its proximity to arts venues and tertiary institutions has inspired the mall's concept — which is an arts and cultural meeting place targeting "yuppies" and "sophisticates", said Jack Investment's project director Lim Swee Teck.
from Gerardimo
Brockholes Wetlands Centre
Zero-Carbon And Prefab For “A Floating World” 
The zero-carbon new world was designed by Adam Khan Architects and it’s based on prefab materials like thatch, willow and timber that in combination with on-site energy generation will result in a reduction of the negative impacts over the environment.
The site comprises 67 hectares of redundant gravel pit and 60 hectares of ancient mixed woodland.
from Adam Khan Architects & MAD architect
Precinct 4 at PUTRAJAYA by Studio Nicoletti Associati & Hijas Kasturi
The Precinct 4 was designed by Studio Nicoletti Associati and Malaysian-based Hijjas Kasturi Associates, also responsible for the Putrajaya waterfront. Their idea was to design sustainable residential buildings destined to fit in well with the landscape and their inspiration came from a fleet of ships. 
The buildings will be powered using alternative energy and they will emit about 50 percent less CO2 than any other projects like this residential.
from: MAD architect
Quote of the day
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
HUMAN BEINGS ARE SUCH SMALL CREATURES, AREN'T THEY?
SO DON'T BE TOO WORRIED ABOUT EVERYTHING, TREASURE EVERY MOMENT,
DO WHAT YOU WISH TO DO..... BROADEN YOUR VIEW, BROADEN YOUR MIND,
DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE BOTHERING YOU,
DO TREASURE YOUR LOVED ONES,
LIVE SAFELY AND PEACEFULLY,
ALWAYS BE HAPPY TO WELCOME THE COMING OF THE NEW DAY.......
ENJOY THE SUNSHINE ... ALWAYS LOOK AT THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF THINGS.....
MADA spam: The Great Pyramid
A very different take on the whole concept of the pyramid is provided by MADA s.p.a.m. They suggest to invert the pyramidal form to create a floating bucket that gradually could be filled with the deceased. One’s full, after decennia of waiting, the inverted pyramid would leave its secluded place somewhere in Elbe river, to start a journey that will take it all around the world. Floating forever.
from: eikongraphia
Olympic Sculpture Park by Weissmanfredi Architects
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Olympic Sculpture Park is the winning design of an international competition. Envisioned as a new model for an urban sculpture park, the project is located on a industrial site at the water’s edge. The design creates a continuous constructed landscape for art, forms an uninterrupted Z-shaped “green” platform, and descends 40 feet from the city to the water, capitalizing on views of the skyline and Elliot Bay and rising over the existing infrastructure to reconnect the urban core to the revitalized waterfront.
An exhibition pavilion provides space for art, performances and educational programming. From this pavilion, the pedestrian route descends to the water, linking three new archetypal landscapes of the northwest: a dense temperate evergreen forest, a deciduous forest and a shoreline garden. The design not only brings sculpture outside of the museum walls but brings the park itself into the landscape of the city.
read more:
Downland GridShell by Edward Cullinan Architects
Monday, May 12, 2008
PROJECT: Downland Gridshell
LOCATION: Weald & Downland Museum, Sussex, England
DATE: 1996 - 2002
ECA collaborated with the engineers Buro Happold and Green Oak Carpentry Company to develop this innovative, low energy structure.
The lower level, the Archive, serves as the Museum's storage, administration centre and exhibition hall. Sunken into the ground, it protects its contents from weather changes, using minimal energy.
The upper level, the Workshop, is the space for the Museum's carpenters to restore and build the timber frames that will go into the Museum's many collected buildings.
source and more details about this building
LOCATION: Weald & Downland Museum, Sussex, England
DATE: 1996 - 2002
ECA collaborated with the engineers Buro Happold and Green Oak Carpentry Company to develop this innovative, low energy structure.
The lower level, the Archive, serves as the Museum's storage, administration centre and exhibition hall. Sunken into the ground, it protects its contents from weather changes, using minimal energy.
The upper level, the Workshop, is the space for the Museum's carpenters to restore and build the timber frames that will go into the Museum's many collected buildings.
source and more details about this building
NEW ATLANTIC YARDS DESIGN BY FRANK GEHRY
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The $4 billion Atlantic Yards project is one of the most important public/private development initiatives in New York City today. This groundbreaking 22-acre, mixed-use project is the vision of Forest City Ratner Companies and world-renowned architect Frank Gehry. It will create a vibrant, sustainable 24/7 destination featuring a new home for the Nets, office space, a hotel, housing, open space and substantial community benefits. Situated in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn, at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, the project’s 17 buildings will span more than seven city blocks.
The Barclays Center, a state-of the-art, multi-purpose, 18,000-seat sports and entertainment venue designed by Gehry will bring the Nets and major professional sports back to Brooklyn. Building One—an innovative 650,000-square-foot office building also designed by Frank Gehry for today’s forward-looking businesses—will sit at the prow of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. And, to help meet the City’s need for housing, Atlantic Yards will create more than 6,400 mixed-income residential units; 2,250 of the rental units will be designated for low- and middle-income families. The plan also includes 247,000 square feet of retail and 8 acres of public open space.
Gehry’s colorful, undulating, asymmetrical mix of glass and steel will dramatically redefine the look and feel of the downtown Brooklyn landscape forever.
After a productive collaboration, our work for Atlantic Yards has come together in a way that makes me very pleased,” said Frank Gehry, winner of the 1989 Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award in architecture. “The design for Miss Brooklyn, which we now call Building One, or B1, has become a very special work for me. It has evolved and has become slimmer, more elegant and more festive and is ideally suited for an office building. It fits in even better with the evolution of the arena design. As part of the master plan, we envisioned that the residential buildings would be more understated, more in keeping with the neighborhood and how the buildings will be used.”
info and images provided by Julie Hendricks & Ken Shane
info and images provided by Julie Hendricks & Ken Shane
go to this website Atlantic Yards
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