11 Unbuilt Visions for Stalled Urban Architecture Projects
October 4, 2010 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Geography & Travel, Technology & Gadgets. ]
The economy has brought development to a grinding halt in cities around the world, leaving partially completed skyscrapers and other buildings as open wounds in the urban landscape. But not everyone is content to keep them that way, and architects and designers are envisioning some incredible eco-friendly ways to rehab and re-purpose the space, which includes several dormant sites in Boston, a tower in Athens, the Chicago Spire site and empty lots in Seattle.
Chicago Spire Site Turned Vertical Farm
(images via: inhabitat)
That huge, unsightly hole in the ground where the ultra-tall Chicago Spire was supposed to sprout still has plenty of potential for other designs, including this vertical farm/residential complex by a student at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The proposal features a series of towers connected by sky bridges, giving the Spire site a variety of valuable uses. Residents living in the green roofed-structure would get vegetables and herbs grown via hydroponics, literally right next door.
Vertical Algae-Powered Bioreactor, Filene’s, Boston
(images via: boston.com)
In a conspicuous corner of downtown Boston, there’s a huge dirt pit and the gaping carcass of the former Filene’s department store. Design firms Howeler + Yoon Architecture and Squared Design imagine an incredibly futuristic algae-powered bioreactor made of prefabricated ‘pods’ to take its place – a huge change from the former brick building. The vertical biofuel building would even have its own self-powered robotic arms that reconfigure the pods to enhance growing conditions for the algae.
Engineered Biotopes, Piraeus Tower, Athens
(image via: design boom)
Since nature would take over our man-made buildings rather quickly if we weren’t around, why not give abandoned or stalled buildings over to them in a controlled way? Toronto-based architects Anthi Grapsa and Konstantinos Chalaris infuses some much-needed green space into the neighborhood where the Piraeus Tower has stood empty since its completion 30 years ago. For the ‘Piraeus Tower 2010′ competition in Greece, this architectural duo imagines a vertical park with a shimmering facade of plant nurseries offering a respite for both the human and non-human species living in Athens.
Latticework Public Garden, Columbus Center, Boston
(images via: boston.com)
Occupying 7 prime acres in Boston and originally intended as a massive mixed-use development straddling the turnpike, the Columbus Center project has now been abandoned. Architect Chris Reed would like to see it transformed into an energy-producing latticework public garden complete with microturbines and walkways across the highway connecting the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods.
Bike Park, Filene’s, Boston
(image via: boston.com)
A somewhat more realistic proposal for the Filene’s site in Boston by Cynthia Bubb sees it turned into a bike park bordered by a perforated aluminum fence painted with forest scenes. The site itself would become an urban bicycle parking lot and grassy recreation area, and the side of the building would be draped with a projection screen so visitors can watch movies at night.
Holding Patterns: Adapting Stalled Sites in Seattle
(images via: seattle.gov)
In response to ‘Holding Patterns’, a competition that challenged designers to come up with alternative uses for stalled construction sites around Seattle, one proposal questioned why urban spaces should be packed with so many commercial buildings when communities have other needs. The ‘Modular Approach to Building a Sustainable City’ entry, which earned an honorary mention, suggests turning those unfortunate holes in the ground left by stalled construction projects into sunken theater spaces and using the bones of partially completed structures as massive plant hangers.
Urban Oasis: Illuminated Waterfall, Filene’s, Boston
(images via: boston.com)
Curiously, the proposal for Filene’s by Carol R. Johnson Associates doesn’t address the eyesore factor of the abandoned, unfinished building itself. It focuses, instead, on the desirability of an ‘urban oasis’ complete with a waterfall, swimming pool and sandy beach. At night, the unfinished building would be colorfully illuminated as music played.
Medicinal Garden, Longwood, Boston
(image via: boston.com)
Prospective tenants of the planned Longwood biotech lab on Brookline and Longwood avenues in Boston backed out when the economy faltered, bringing work on the project to a halt. So, given the fact that it’s currently just a dirt lot, architect Shauna Gillies-Smith thinks it would be a cinch to turn it into a temporary medicinal garden planted with echinacea, honeysuckle, nasturtium and other valuable plants.
Windscraper Tower, Piraeus Tower Redesign, Athens
(images via: inhabitat)
New York City-based HWKN Architects won the Piraeus Tower 2010 competition with a design that updates the dilapidated building for the 21st century, making it the landmark it was supposed to be. “Windscraper Tower” would generate energy by installing a layer of wind-harvesting artificial ‘leaves’ on the exterior which also act as a canopy and shade screen for the building.
Biodiversity Projection Screen, Harvard Science Complex, Boston
(image via: boston.com)
Harvard University’s financial troubles mean that construction on the state-of-the-art Allston science complex would be paused while the university reconsiders its plans for the future. Before it was annexed by the city of Boston in 1874, the Allston neighborhood was much greener and home to many livestock operations. Designer John Powell wants to remind people of Allston’s former biodiversity with a quarter-mile projection screen on the fence surrounding the vacant property showing images of the area’s past, present and future.
Eco-Friendly Skin Graft for Ugly, Unused Buildings
(images via: gizmag)
If all else fails and an abandoned or stalled building is just too ugly to leave intact, give it a skin graft. That’s what the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) proposes for virtually any outdated building in need of a quick, relatively inexpensive makeover. Their “Tower Skin”, made of a composite mesh textile, generates its own energy, collects rainwater and can be easily removed. LAVA notes that it’s a great option for the post-industrial abandoned buildings across Hong Kong, and could also be used to update ugly buildings that are still functional.
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12 New Extra-Large Sustainable Building Designs
April 19, 2010 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Uncategorized. ]
As the need for cooperative sustainability becomes ever clearer, can we learn from the mistakes of our past and fundamentally change the way we live? Adapting to the new needs of our world requires much more than a sprinkling of eco homes and businesses. These 12 gigantic green building products take on the challenge in a much bigger way – with concepts for new cities, new societies and buildings that solve the world’s most pressing problems, like access to fresh water.
Spain’s Bubble-Shaped Freshwater Factory
(images via: inhabitat)
They look like nothing so much as a cluster of biospheres stacked on top of each other – or perhaps just soapy bubbles. But the glass domes of this strange tower serve a vital purpose: filtering seawater into freshwater through mangrove trees, which draw in saltwater and perspire freshwater. Once the mangroves release this precious substance, it evaporates and condenses into dew which collects in freshwater tanks.
One & Ortakoy, Istanbul
(images via: gad architecture)
Just like the beautiful hills they’re set in, the buildings that will make up the “One & Ortakoy” mixed-use complex in Istanbul have curving, organic forms and rolling roofs covered in greenery and flowers. Under construction in the neighborhood of Ortakoy, the project will consist of two buildings with natural stone facades – one a residential complex, the other commercial.
Green-Roofed High School, France
(images via: world architecture news)
Situated next to a public park, the Marcel Sembat high school in Sotteville-les-Rouen, France will almost disappear into the trees and grass of its surroundings. Additions to the existing structure – which will include a restaurant, student housing, staff housing and workshops – will be topped with a wavy green roof that will offer natural insulation.
Watertower Skyscraper Brings Freshwater to Sudan
(images via: h3ar)
In the vast desert landscape of Sudan, freshwater can be incredibly difficult to come by – yet deep under the surface is the largest underground lake in the world, which would change residents’ lives dramatically if it were tapped. Polish architecture firm H3AR imagines a solution: buildings inspired by both water towers and the native baobab tree, which would access the water through underground pumps. These towers would contain a water treatment plant, a hospital, a school and a food storage center.
Massive Rain-Catching Skyscraper
(images via: h3ar)
How could a building capture as much rain as possible? Through a web of gutters covering the entire exterior, which would then direct the water to a processing plant for use in toilets, washing machines, cleaning and plant watering. H3AR combines this ‘skin’ with a huge, bowl-shaped rainwater collector on the roof for maximum rainwater catchment capabilities.
Mixed-Use EcoDistrict in Dijon
(images via: exp architects)
Imagine living in a diverse neighborhood packed with green features galore, from vertical gardens and green roofs to bicycle paths and eco-friendly playgrounds – all adjacent to the city center. Such ‘ecodistricts’ are in planning around the world, including this concept for Dijon, France by EXP Architects in cooperation with Studiomustard Architecture, Sempervirens Landscape Designers and Even Conseil. The design will serve as a model for similar future developments in the same city.
De-Centralized Sustainable Society
(images via: ctrlz architectures)
It’s not just a building, or even just a city – but rather, a re-imagining of an entire society. That’s what CTRLZ architectures are doing with their new concept, stating ““We believe that architecture is not anymore about form and/or/…function, but that it is about relations. The development of network systems shows us that the power resides in links and connections.” Commerce, food production, ornamental gardens, housing, social public spaces and energy collection come together in a way that emphasizes cooperation between inhabitants.
Subterranean Greenbelt Hotel
(images via: reardon smith)
The subterranean design of Hersham Golf Club in Surrey by ReardonSmith Architects contains five-star lodging as well as a spa and golf facilities, while still meeting urban growth restrictions – the site is contained within London’s green belt, a ring of countryside that aims to prevent urban sprawl. The design also addresses lowering the impact of traffic flow and positions above-ground buildings in existing woodland so that nearby local residents maintain an unobstructed view of untouched landscape.
Beijing’s ‘Creative Zone’ Greenbelt
(images via: arch daily)
If there’s any city in the world that desperately needs a greenbelt to provide residents with natural space and prevents further sprawl, it’s likely Beijing. This rapidly growing city – plagued by air pollution problems – could get a greenbelt of its own that would allow interaction with nature while maintaining proximity to local conveniences like shops, restaurants and public transportation. UNStudio won a competition to create this “creative zone”, which would become a showcase of experimental architecture.
Masdar Sustainable City
(images via: lava)
Could Masdar City be a vision of the future, a modern metropolis where sustainability is built into every sidewalk, store and streetlamp? Designed by LAVA and located in Abu Dhabi, Masdar City is a planned community built to be zero-waste and zero-carbon. With housing, commerce and recreation all situated around a vast plaza, this concept aims to be a model of sustainability for the rest of the world.
Dubai’s Solar-Powered Vertical Village
(images via: graft lab)
What does Dubai have in abundance, aside from sand and mind-boggling creativity? Sun, of course -–and Graft Lab’s Vertical Village takes advantage of that plentiful resource with a surface that is angled specifically with solar energy collection in mind. The cluster of mixed-use buildings includes solar collectors on the south end that automatically pivot for maximum exposure.
Giant Energy-Generating Waterfall for Rio Olympics
(images via: inhabitat)
It looks unreal: an enormous, towering waterfall seemingly originating from the sky. But the Solar City Tower, designed by RAFAA Architecture & Design for the 2016 Rio Olympics, is actually a building that uses solar energy to generate power during the day, and a pumped water storage system to create power after the sun goes down. The tower could provide plenty of electricity for the Olympic Games and for the city, with the waterfall – “a symbol for the forces of nature” - appearing only for special occasions.
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