Converted Castles: 13 Preserved Palaces & Fortresses
September 2, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Geography & Travel. ]
Most of the world’s castles, dating back as far as the dark ages, have crumbled into ruin. But there are still many of these daunting stone fortresses and palaces that live on in a new way – as homes, hotels, museums, universities and even bookstores. These 13 converted castles from the 10th to 19th centuries remain functional works of architecture, whether augmented by modern construction or historically preserved.
Messner Mountain Museum, South Tyrol, Italy
(image via: dezeen)
Leaving the historic exterior largely untouched, Italian architects EM2 converted a castle in the Alps into a mountaintop museum. Messner Mountain Museum houses a permanent exhibition about people who live in mountain communities around the world. EM2 added wooden stairways to many of the rooms, opened up the basement and constructed a few new spaces out of unfinished timber.
Grey Towers Castle at Arcadia University, Pennsylvania
(images via: road_less_trvled)
Grey Towers Castle was built starting in 1893 as the estate of William Welsh Harrison, and was acquired by Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania in 1929. The castle is rumored to have secret passages behind the fireplaces as well as a series of underground tunnels built to connect the main house to stables and outbuildings. It now contains various offices, including that of the President, as well as student residences.
Hay Castle Books, Wales
(images via: wikimedia commons, bobulate)
Hay-on-Wye, Wales is often described as “the town of books” thanks to its large collection of bookstores and libraries, and none are more magnificent than Honesty Bookshop, a 24-hour open-air bookshop on the grounds of Hay Castle. The books, which are kept in bookcases against the castle wall, are paid for through a small letterbox. Elsewhere on the castle grounds, a mansion built in the 1660s is used for second-hand book sales.
Ashford Castle, Ireland
(image via: ashford.ie)
On the shore of Lough Corrib in County Galway, Ireland, a medieval castle built in 1228 now offers the royal experience to any paying guests. Ashford Castle was converted into a five-star luxury hotel in the 1940s, and its 26,000-acre grounds include a 17th-century French-style chateau.
Moritzburg Museum, Halle, Germany
(images via: dezeen)
A ruined castle in Halle, Germany has been given a new life thanks to modern extensions by Spanish studio Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos. The formerly roof-less castle is now protected by a second-floor extension of modern steel, glass and stark white plaster, contrasting beautifully with the 15th century stonework. The structure now houses a notable collection of modern art, mostly German Expressionism.
Castell d’Emporda, Spain
(images via: dezeen)
Among the many breathtaking castles that have been converted to hotels in Spain is the Castell d’Emporda, which was augmented in 2011 with rusted steel parasols that shelter a terraced outdoor restaurant. The 14th century Castell d’Emporda, located on the Costa Brava, was fully preserved when it was turned into a boutique hotel in 1999.
Wilton Castle Luxury Apartments, England
(images via: wikimedia commons, rightmove)
Want to live in an actual castle? Unless you’ve got a royally loaded bank account, Wilton Castle in Yorkshire may be among your only chances. Though it was built in the early 19th century – on the grounds of a medieval castle – it has retained a feel befitting its history. The castle has been converted into luxury residential apartments.
Carbisdale Castle Hostel, Scotland
(images via: syha.org.uk)
Few hostels can boast surroundings quite as atmospheric as those at Carbisdale Castle in the Scottish Highlands. Built in the early 1900s for Mary Caroline, Duchess of Sutherland, Carbisdale Castle is now a youth hostel boasting a large collection of art, 365 windows, a clock tower and even a secret door opened by rotating a nearby statue.
Parador-Castillo de Tortosa, Spain
(images via: parador.es)
The Moorish king Abderraman III built the majestic Parador de Tortosa as a fortress in the 10th century. Today, the castle is a hotel, nestled in the fertile Ebro valley of the Catalan region of Spain.
The Witchery, Scotland
(images via: thewitchery.com)
While there are any number of old castles converted to hotels in Great Britain, none have interiors quite as magical as those at the appropriately named ‘Witchery’ in Edinburgh. Popular with celebrities and wildly in demand, The Witchery by the Castle is as well known for its richly decorated, theatrically baroque suites as for its critically acclaimed restaurant. The hotel’s 8 guest suites feature ornate drapery, renaissance-style paintings, Victorian baths, fireplaces and even hidden rooms.
Scottish National War Memorial, Scotland
(images via: wikimedia commons)
Located on the historic grounds of Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, the Scottish War Memorial occupies a converted barrack block on the north side of Crown Square. Though technically, this building is not a former castle, the bricks used to build it in the 1920s and ’30s are from the medieval St. Mary’s Church, which was built in 1366.
CN Castle, Portugal
(images via: archdaily)
How do you honor and preserve the remains of a historic castle, without attempting to rebuild it? Comoco Architects built modern viewing and exhibition spaces around the crumbling remains of Portugal’s Castelo Novo, allowing visitors to view the archaeological findings of the site without damaging them. A ‘steel box’ inside the castle’s main tower functions as multimedia room as well as an overlook.
University College, England
(images via: wikimedia commons)
Built in the 11th century, Durham Castle was a bishop’s palace for centuries before it was donated to the newly-formed University of Durham in 1837. Today, the castle houses over 100 students, and meals are eaten in the castle’s great hall. The castle, along with the adjacent Durham Cathedral, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Eco-Friendly Eats: 13 of the World’s Greenest Restaurants
July 8, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Food & Health. ]
How green can a restaurant be? Many eateries around the world have tried to answer this question with hyper-local, seasonal, and vegetarian menus and enough sustainable design details to make your head spin. These 13 restaurants include pop-up shipping container cafes, reclaimed airplanes and treehouses as well as more conventional dining establishments outfitted with solar panels, recycled materials, on-site vegetable gardens and other green features, serving up ethical food with an ultra-light carbon footprint.
The Grey Plume, Omaha, Nebraska
(images via: thegreyplume.com)
America’s greenest restaurant isn’t in New York or California as you might expect, but in the seemingly unlikely location of Omaha, Nebraska. The Grey Plume received the top honor from the Green Restaurant Association as it became the nation’s first three-star ‘Sustainabuild Certified Green Restaurant’ (it has since earned a fourth star). Not only does the restaurant feature a menu full of seasonal, locally-grown produce and farm-to-table meats and dairy products; it has also incorporated highly efficient appliances, solar-powered hand sinks, LED lighting, recycling and composting programs, non-toxic cleaning materials and eco friendly to-go products. All wood used to build The Grey Plume is FSC-Certified, and many of the other materials were recycled or sustainably sourced.
Singapore Take-Out Pop-Up Shipping Container Restaurant
(images via: inhabitat)
A custom mobile shipping container restaurant has launched a world tour, leaving its home of Singapore to take the country’s cuisine to places like London, Paris, Moscow, New York, Dubai and Sydney. The 20-foot used shipping container opens to display a mouth-watering assortment of Singaporean foods, and will also be used as a demonstration kitchen to show off Singapore’s culinary talent and food brands.
Acorn House, London, England
(images via: inhabitat)
Billed as London’s first truly sustainable restaurant, Acorn House serves seasonal food in the Shoreditch area of the city. The restaurant composts and recycles all of its waste, buys only organic and fair trade products as well as seasonal local foods, uses boxes that can be sent back to suppliers and picks up produce in its biodiesel car. Acorn House also boasts a training program that prepares local youths to become sustainability-minded chefs.
Slowpoke Espresso Cafe, Fitzroy, Australia
(images via: dezeen)
The walls of the Slowpoke Espresso Cafe in Fitzroy, Australia were turned into a rich tapestry of weathered wood by designer Anne-Sophie Poirier of Sasufi, who was working on a tight budget. In fact, Poirier used only recycled and reclaimed materials in the design, the wood scraps coming from local furniture makers. The warmth of the wood contrasts with bright white walls. Everything from the desks and lamp shades to tiles, vases and the street sign were sourced second-hand at flea markets.
Runway 34, Recycled Airplane Restaurant
(images via: inhabitat)
Airplanes aren’t typically sought-after destinations when it comes to dining. Then again, Runway 34 isn’t your typical airplane. A Soviet-era plane has been reclaimed as a restaurant in Zurich, Switzerland, allowing diners to sit beneath the plane and gaze up at its underbelly; inside the the cabin is a cigar lounge with a vintage vibe that recollects first-class cabins. Appropriately aviation-themed, the restaurant features ‘in-flight magazine racks’ and servers dressed as flight attendants.
Plant Cafe Organic, San Francisco, California
(images via: theplantcafe.com)
Designed by CCS Architecture, San Francisco’s Plant Cafe Organic has been named the city’s top vegetarian restaurant as well as its greenest eatery. With two locations renovated from historic warehouses and fronting the San Francisco Bay, Plant Cafe Organic stands out with a menu full of tasty dishes that are almost entirely organic and locally sourced.
Tang Palace Bamboo Restaurant, China
(images via: freshome)
Sustainable, fast-growing bamboo was used to create the stunning interiors of the Tang Palace Bamboo Restaurant in Hangzhou, China. Atelier FCJZ wove bamboo into a shell-like interior structure that flows throughout the space, enhancing privacy and fostering a sense of intimacy.
Say the designers, “The waved ceiling creates a dramatic visual expression within the hall. The hollowed-out bamboo net maintains the original story height and thereby creates an interactive relation between the levels. We also wrapped the core column with light-transmitting bamboo boards to form a light-box, which transforms the previously heavy concrete block into a light and lively focus object.”
Bloodwood Restaurant, Sydney, Australia
(images via: designdodo)
Reclaimed, recycled and recyclable materials were used to create the warm contemporary interiors of Bloodwood Restaurant & Bar in Sydney, Australia. The owners of Bloodwood commissioned designer Matt Woods to create a space that reflects their dedication to sustainability, which is also reflected in the restaurant’s largely seasonal menu. Salvaged doors, reclaimed timber and railway sleepers give the space a sense of age and history. The restaurant is lit with LED lights, the wine bottles are re-blown, and the kitchen makes use of scraps in order to reduce waste as much as possible.
Bamboo Sushi, Portland, Oregon
(images via: bamboosushipdx.com)
The world’s first certified sustainable sushi restaurant is in Portland, Oregon. Bamboo Sushi uses only the freshest ethically sourced fish, meats and produce available. Bamboo Sushi also purchases 100% of its power from renewable energy sources, offers reusable chopsticks and fully biodegradable take-out containers, and strives to compost or recycle all waste. “We maintain transparency and accountability for our customers through our multiple, nationally recognized certifications and rigorous, independent, third-party audits,” states the restaurant’s website.
Greenhouse Shipping Container Restaurant
(images via: greenhousebyjoost.com)
Joost Bakker’s Greenhouse Restaurant has a long list of eco-credentials that lodges it firmly within the world’s top eco-friendly eateries. The traveling Greenhouse Restaurant, which began in Sydney, Australia in 2010, is a follow-up to two similar projects by Joost including a pop-up version and a permanent version in Perth, also called Greenhouse Restaurant. Designed to be easily dismantled and recycled, The Greenhouse is made of used shipping containers; greenery covers the exterior walls and produce is grown on the roof. All incoming ingredients and supplies are delivered in reusable, returnable containers to eliminate waste, and many are locally produced. Food scraps make the soil in the rooftop garden richer, and oil from the deep fryer is turned into biodiesel to provide the restaurant’s electricity. The Greenhouse has traveled to Milan, Berlin, Brussels and London.
Wind & Solar Powered Burger King in Germany
(images via: inhabitat)
On a list of sustainable restaurants, a fast-food joint like Burger King definitely does not belong. Or does it? One location in Germany is powered entirely by on-site wind and solar energy, with waste heat providing the energy to heat water, energy-efficient LEDs to provide lighting and a broiler that reduces gas consumption. It also boasts a solar-powered electric vehicle charging station and rainwater collection to keep the landscaping green. However, it’s still Burger King, serving unsustainable and unhealthy food. If only these green efforts carried over into the company’s regular operations.
Treehouse Restaurant, New Zealand
(images via: yellowtreehouse.co.nz)
A pair of wooden cocoons dangle yards above the ground at the edge of a redwood forest. The Treehouse Restaurant in New Zealand is accessed by an elevated walkway and can seat 30 to 50 diners at a time. Made of sustainably grown poplar and pine, the restaurant has won multiple awards for its stunning design. While it’s now closed to the public, this unusual concept will undoubtedly inspire additional treehouse restaurants.
Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio, Napa Valley, California
(images via: fokal.com)
A vegetarian restaurant with an attached yoga studio in California’s lush and laid-back Napa Valley, Ubuntu serves a creative seasonal menu and sources its wine from biodynamic and sustainable vineyards, which are presumably plentiful in wine country. The fresh produce that makes the restaurant’s dishes so healthy and colorful is harvested from a local biodynamic garden and orchard. Designed by Apparatus Architecture, Ubuntu stuns with contemporary décor set against a 19th century stone wall.
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Low Tech to High Concept: 3 Ideas for Water in Africa
April 1, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Geography & Travel & Science & Research & Technology & Gadgets. ]
Most of us don’t think much about taking a bath, washing the car or setting up a sprinkler to water the lawn. But in many parts of Africa, there’s so little safe, fresh water to drink, millions of people die from water-related disease every year. Drought, pollution, mismanagement and regional conflicts have compounded scarce availability, but ingenuity – often using renewable energy and eco-friendly materials – could make a big impact on many lives.
These three water projects, from the most basic sand filter to vapor-harvesting towers, make existing water sources cleaner and provide additional water in surprising new ways.
Using Dirt to Purify Water in Cameroon
(images via: inhabitat)
Low-tech, effective and easy to replicate, bio sand filters are already saving lives thanks to the Life and Water Development Group Cameroon (LWDGC), with the help of Engineers Without Borders USA. The team constructed and installed these filters in LWDGC founder Peter Njodzeka’s home village of Nkuv.
Based on the seemingly dubious concept that “everything that will filter the water is already in the water”, the bio sand filters consist of several layers of sand and gravel within an iron mold on a concrete base. Water is poured through these materials, and within three weeks a biolayer forms, which removes 99 percent of the bacteria from the water. When contaminated water passes through this layer of ‘good bacteria’ and then through the sand and gravel, at a rate of about one liter per minute, it is free of disease and safe to drink.
Solarball Purifies Water with the Sun
(images via: physorg)
It looks like a hamster ball or a kid’s toy, but the ‘Solarball’ by Jonathon Liow can produce three liters of clean water per day with nothing but dirty, contaminated water and sunlight. Named as a finalist in the 2011 Australian Design Awards, the Solarball uses direct sunlight to cause the dirty water to evaporate and condense, pulling the purified water into a separate compartment and leaving the dirt and contaminants behind. There spherical design captures light and heat from all 360 degrees.
While at this stage the concept only produces three liters of water, which is well below the minimum of ten liters required per day for each person, it could be the beginning of an even bigger idea with far-reaching benefits.
The Water Vapor Project: Large Scale Dew Collectors
(images via: yanko design)
More ambitious and highly conceptual than the previous two ideas, the Water Vapor Project aims to make Africa’s deserts more viable for agriculture. While 57% of the continent’s inhabitants are involved in some form of agriculture, only 10% of the land is truly suitable for such a purpose. Using the basic principles of water vapor, these towers pull in cooler air close to the surface of the earth and sends it through a ‘vortex tube’ where it is met by air that has been heated by the sun and then pumped back outside, increasing humidity levels.
While perhaps not viable for the most arid desert regions where humidity in the air is hard to come by, such an idea could extend the range of the few naturally water-rich areas that already exist.
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Living Off Land: 12 Amazing Houseboats & Floating Homes
March 11, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Home & Garden. ]
They come in all shapes and sizes, from traditional-looking homes that just happen to be floating on water to ultramodern houseboat concepts that look like they might be able to fly, too. Some are high-end, while others are cobbled together from reclaimed planes, trains and automobiles, proving that you don’t have to have a large budget to take your home to the high seas – or the lake, bay, river or canal.
Streamlined Wooden House Boat
(images via: contemporist)
Technically a house barge, since it can’t propel itself from one location to another, this home on the Eilbekkanal in Hamburg, Germany is warm, homey and modern with its curved wood exterior. Inside, the space is divided by a single spiraling wall that wraps around each successive space with public living areas on the exterior and private areas like the bedroom and bathroom on the interior.
‘Train Wreck’ Houseboat Made from Train Car
(image via: sfgate)
A repurposed train car forms the center of ‘Train Wreck’, an otherwise very house-like floating home at South Forty Dock in Sausalito, California. In a former life, it was a 50-foot-long, 120-year-old Pullman sleeper car. Owners Renee and Henry Baer cut it in half, split it into a ‘V’ shape and attached it to a 20-by-40-foot concrete hull.
Pink Shantyboat Made with a Bus
(image via: glassoffashion)
This is technically a ‘shantyboat’, but it looks more like a parade float that veered off into a marina. And hey, there’s a lot of trash in the world – why not put it to good use? Spotted on the River Adur in England, this houseboat clearly has an owner with a creative eye for recyclable materials. A bus and a washing machine are just two obvious elements included in the design.
Dubai Houseboat by X-Architects
(image via: archdaily)
Made from two catamaran beams, stainless steel and glass, this collaboration between X-ARchitects and designer Leen Vandaele is a crisp and modern home base in the Dubai marina. A terrace with a glass roof, reached by a spiral staircase, also acts as a sun deck.
Geometric Houseboat in Copenhagen
(image via: arnþór snær )
Spotted in Copenhagen in 2008, this highly unusual houseboat sports a geometric metal facade and what appears to be a secondary glassed-in structure for sunbathing.
Cosmic Muffin Boeing Houseboat
(image via: re-nest)
It started as a 1930s Boeing Stratoliner, owned by Howard Hughes. The tail and wings were cut off to transform it into the houseboat it is today, dubbed Cosmic Muffin and based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Floating House Inspired by Nature
(image via: environmental graffiti)
The curve of ocean waves just as they’re about to break inspired this elegant houseboat on the Willamette River in Oregon. Architect Robert Harvey Oshatz employed wood and plenty of glass for an organic feel. “I believe that every house has a sense of poetry to it, so what I wanted to do was design a house which would reflect the poetry of the movement of the river,” he said.
Solar-Powered Houseboat Concept
(image via: ecofriend)
If the Waterworld version of apocalyptic predictions ever comes to pass, this solar houseboat concept could be a relatively comfortable way to survive the chaos. Inspired by a fishing bobber, the house has a flotation belt and is half-submerged for stability even in the face of large waves. An upper-level garden grabs all those harsh rays of sunlight, which are also harvested for power.
Low-Budget Floating House
(images via: oldstersview, nau.edu)
You don’t have to have a lot of money to own your very own floating house. As these two images prove, low-budget houseboats are certainly possible, especially if you don’t care too much about aesthetics.
Three-Story Sausalito Houseboat
(image via: sfgate)
Houseboat living isn’t necessarily tiny living. This three-story, 4,000-square foot monster of a floating house in Sausalito definitely proves that even people who like to live large (literally) can have a home right on the water.
Modern Floating Home on Lake Union
(image via: archdaily)
With a limited allowable footprint and a request from the homeowners that the design be fitting both for living and entertaining, Vandeventer + Carlander Architects designed this floating home in Seattle to be versatile and elegant. At 2,824 square feet, it’s larger than many homes on land, and even has an 887-square-foot deck. Aluminum cladding, strategically placed windows and decks allowed the designers to achieve a look that is “visually interesting and coherent.”
Covey Island Boatworks Arctic Home
(images via: inhabitat)
Faced with harsh winter conditions, the Inuit have long taken shelter in upside-down boats. Inspired by this practice, Covey Island Boatworks has designed an extreme arctic home that puts a different spin on the word ‘houseboat’. Using the same construction methods and materials that make a boat lightweight, flexible and strong, the boat builders created this prefabricated off-grid structure specifically for use on dry land.
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Great Crates: 3 Cool Cases of Shipping Container Reuse
March 4, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Home & Garden. ]
Ultra-portable and long-lasting, shipping containers are ideal building blocks for prefabricated eco-friendly architecture. From emergency shelters in disaster areas to massive urban projects, these steel crates represent endless possibilities and are present in huge quantities in port cities all over the world. The following three recent examples of shipping container reuse show just how versatile they are, including a traveling pop-up restaurant and a boy scout camp.
Greenhouse by Joost is a traveling eco-exhibit and restaurant conceived by artist Joost Bakker, and it aims to be as environmentally friendly as possible, made from shipping containers and straw bales and even growing some of its own food on the rooftop. There’s no trash – everything is recycled or composted – and used cooking oil powers the generator. Currently in Sydney, the restaurant will be heading to Milan this month for the International Furniture Fair before moving on to other cities.
Airy, modern and colorful, this San Antonio shipping container house by Poteet Architects was constructed for use as a summer house, entertainment and guest quarters in an artist community. The owner selected this container specifically for its stunning blue color. Mounted on recycled telephone poles and lined with bamboo, the tiny guest house also features a cantilevered porch platform and a green roof full of flowers.
Heavily critiqued by Treehugger, this forward-thinking new concept for Boy Scout cabins is nonetheless an interesting shift from the old wooden-platform-and-tent of yore. Architect Richard Hammond from Gensler in Los Angeles constructed the prototype for the sustainable renovation of a camp on Catalina Island from a reclaimed shipping container with a fabric top for insulation and that all-important connection to the outdoors. The camp’s director wanted to go in a new green direction for eco-educational purposes, connecting ecologically sound accommodations that protect the wilderness to the scouts’ “leave no trace” philosophy.
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The Future is Green: 12 Visionary Architecture Concepts
February 25, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design. ]
With looks straight out of a sci-fi movie, these 12 tall towers and super-complexes hint at the architecture of a greener future where solar-powered skyscrapers hold urban theme parks and self-sufficient mini-cities running on algae soar among the clouds. While some of these will forever remain curious concepts, others are actually slated for construction – and you’ll never guess which is which based on the incredible illustrations.
Tianjin Eco City
(images via: inhabitat)
This one definitely looks like science fiction, but surprisingly, the Tianjin Eco City is slated for construction in the next few years with a projected completion date of 2020. 350,000 residents will occupy this showcase for new green technologies, which will serve as a model for other new cities in China. Divided into seven districts, the city will include apartment buildings, an administrative and civic center, renewable energy production and stacked structures connected by sky-bridges at multiple levels.
Vertical Theme Park of the Future
(images via: evolo.us)
What if all of the attractions currently featured in the sprawling footprint of Disney World were compacted into sky-high towers? That’s essentially the idea of Ju-Hyun Kim’s eco-friendly urban theme park, which would not only pack rides, roller coasters and exhibits into skyscrapers, but equip the structures with technology to harvest rainwater, collect solar energy and recycle waste.
Weave Housing
(images via: evolo.us)
While some futuristic-looking eco architecture concepts are totally out-there, others are more attainable – like this apartment complex designed for Denver, Colorado. ‘Weave Housing’ is a stack of prefabricated modular dwellings made from lightweight concrete. Though all the apartments are narrow and long, some are made up of multiple units allowing for more interesting floor plans and additional space.
Twisting Acupuncture Tower for Taiwan
(images via: evolo.us)
With a biofuel-producing facade and an unusual spiraling design, the ‘Acupuncture Tower’ designed by grad students at the I.A. Lab of Taiwan University is definitely unlike most modern buildings. Created for Taiwan’s Khaosiung port city, the tower would desalinate ocean water, harvest wind and solar energy, and recycle waste. The greenery on the facade is not vertical trees or vines but algae membranes.
Vertical City for Venezuela Slums
(images via: design boom)
Where there currently stands a run-down building in the slums in Caracas, Venezuela is envisioned a three-tiered tower where each of the three ‘cups’ defines distinct user groups and activities. British architecture design collective Desitecture imagines ‘Vertical City’ containing retail, hotel, apartments and offices. Wind turbines embedded within the hollow structure would collect energy.
Solar Tower for Taipei
(images via: inhabitat)
The winner of the Taiwan Tower Competition is a structure so futuristic, we have to wonder whether building it is even possible. Inspired by the shape of a money tree, this solar observation tower has eight zeppelin-like floating elevators made from lightweight materials and filled with helium. Inside the core of the tower is office space and a museum, while built around it is an urban park. In the upper portion of the tower, solar panels harvest energy for power and a stack chimney effect provides natural cooling. Believe it or not, it’s slated to begin construction in 2012.
Structural Geodesics: Evolving Skyscraper for Armenia
(images via: evolo.us)
An ‘assemblage of structural geodesics’ make up the highly unusual exterior of the ‘Evolving Skyscraper’ proposal by Vahan Misakyan, designed for the city of Yerevan in Armenia. The structure consists of three towers joined by habitable bridges at the top and bottom and would include offices, residences and a hotel. The ‘intelligent’ skin of the building includes mechanical openings that let in varying amounts of light, heat and fresh air as well as solar panels, wind turbines and rainwater collection systems.
Synthetic Hyper Structure Proposal
(images via: evolo.us)
How can we use architecture to create a new kind of urbanism? Architect Graham Thompson addresses this question with synthetic hyper-structures that create urban farming zones, towers, solar recharging zones and recreation areas. The result, with its oddly curvilinear buildings, certainly looks unlike any city currently existing on Earth.
Multi-Floor Bridge in Seoul
(images via: inhabitat)
Why should a bridge just be a bridge when it can also serve as a park, meeting space, mall, museum and energy generator? This concept for the Paik Nam June Media Bridge in Seoul, South Korea would connect a newly redeveloped public cultural space with the National Assembly Building, and with its vertical gardens, solar panels and interesting attractions it practically serves as a city within itself.
Spiral Tower: Suburban Living in Berlin
(images via: evolo.us)
Bringing the benefits of the suburbs to the city is a common theme in sustainable urban architecture concepts – because after all, wouldn’t it be great to enjoy the benefits of urban living and have a backyard, too? The Spiral Tower would give Berlin residents stacked dwellings with private terraces that provide a view and an open outdoor space for recreation and relaxation. Additionally, the building is equipped with solar panels, wind turbines and water collection and purification systems.
Sustainable Space Skyscraper in Egypt
(images via: evolo.us)
Looking like a fantasy writer’s idea of a skyscraper in an alien metropolis, the Space-Scraper by Mohamed Abdel-Aziz is made for modern-day Egypt with three twisting towers connected by a geo-sphere containing a health center with a spa and swimming pool. The unusual form is based on studies of the area’s wind patterns, and created to maximize views of nearby sites like the pyramids, the Nile and the city of Cairo. The green features are the requisite solar panels, wind turbines and water collection systems.
Self-Sufficient Algae Airships
(images via: inhabitat)
It’s an airship! It’s a hydrogen plant! It’s a flying farm! It’s… totally bizarre, but amazing. The Hydrogenase algae-producing airborne cities are the latest pie-in-the-sky sustainable concept to come from architect Vincent Callebaut, designed for the South China Sea near Shanghai. The self-sufficient airships contain special varieties of micro-seaweed that convert sunlight and CO2 into hydrogen biofuels. The exterior of each ship is also covered in solar panels and wind turbines. It’s certainly among the less likely ideas to ever see the light of day, but you can’t say it’s not fun to look at.
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Spiraling STAIRscraper Solves Suburban Sprawl
February 4, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Home & Garden. ]
For residents of towering urban apartment buildings, it’s not always possible to have a beautiful view and an outdoor terrace – or is it? Barcelona-based Nabito Architects have produced a design that would do just that for each and every occupant of the building. ‘A Desert Green’ looks like a spiral staircase to heaven, and its unique layout gives urbanites all the perks of suburban living in the heart of the city.
Winner of the Total Housing Competition in Abu Dhabi, A Desert Green places an apartment on each ‘step’ in the spiral, with communal facilities and public spaces every few floors, giving residents an intimate sense of community while maintaining their own private backyards. Each terrace, which rests upon the roof of the apartment on the next floor down, is rimmed with a transparent wall for unobstructed views.
The architects describe them as ‘high density cottages’ that focus on ‘individual needs in a collective whole’. Suburban sprawl is a big environmental problem, pressing ever further into wildlife habitats and throwing entire ecosystems out of balance. But not everyone wants to live in a constricted urban dwelling with limited access to private outdoor areas.
“The STAIRscraper is a superposition of individual singular garden houses with the same characteristic of the horizontal sprawl but liberating the land and concentrating the uses and the energy,” say the architects.
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Suburb in the City: Unique Skyscraper Provides Urban Green
City living often means apartment living, and apartment living inevitably means a shortage of personal outdoor space. This conceptual building from Barcelona firm Nabito Architects would solve that p…
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Incredibly Leaf-Like: 12 Bio-Inspired Plant-Based Designs
January 28, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Nature & Ecosystems, Science & Research. ]
Sometimes, nature can influence design in the most unexpected ways. Would you ever think of looking to a calla lily for an ultra-efficient impeller design, or a mangrove tree ecosystem for a futuristic set of skyscrapers? These 12 biomimetic designs and concepts apply biological aspects of flowers, lily pads, leaves and trees to solar panels, tents, towers and entire cities to make them energy-smart and sustainable.
Calla Lily-Based Impeller
(image via: ecoinnovate)
Jay Harmon, founder of PAX Scientific, looks around him and sees in the natural world the perfect models for modern technology. And some connections are more obvious than others. PAX based a fan on the shape of a hurricane, but also created an incredibly efficient impeller in the same spiraling design as a calla lily.
Lilypad Floating City
(images via: inhabitat)
When the seas rise to flood coastal cities, where will all those citizens go? To man-made lilypad cities that float on the surface of the water, or so imagines architect Vincent Callebaut. The Lilypad is entirely self-sufficient, designed to hold 50,000 people within three ridges of housing around a central man-made lagoon which helps stabilize the city. Callebaut says that the design is directly based upon the “highly ribbed” leaf of the Victoria Regia lilypad, increased to 250 times its natural size (the leaf can reach spans of six feet!).
Water-Based ‘Artificial Leaf’ Produces Electricity
(image via: science daily)
Solar cells that mimic nature could be less expensive and more environmentally friendly than current solar technology. In 2010, researchers at North Carolina State University developed water-gel-based solar devices that are essentially ‘artificial leaves’ that couple plant chlorophyll with carbon materials, mimicking the way nature harvests solar energy. They’re flexible, which is a huge improvement over today’s problematically brittle cells.
Solar Cell Self-Repairs Like a Plant
(image via: drcornelius, oregondot)
When leaves are damaged by intense ultraviolet light, they’re able to repair themselves, constantly producing new cells to replace the damaged ones. If only solar cells could do the same thing, they’d last a lifetime. Luckily, scientists have found a way to replicate that natural process using proteins, bacteria and water. These solar cells can’t compete with silicon cells just yet – it will take decades of research to improve them – but it’s an impressive start that could improve ‘artificial leaf’-type solar cells even further.
Tent Design Mimics a Leaf
(image via: design boom)
The vein structure of a leaf inspired the shape of this tent by designer Ondrej Vaclavik, theoretically strengthening the design through the strategic placement of the tent poles. It certainly makes for an interesting tent, which is almost more reminiscent of a ‘leaf bug’ than a leaf itself.
Habitat 2020′s Breathing Leaf-Like Skin
(images via: inhabitat)
Just like the surface of a leaf, the ‘skin’ of the Habitat 2020 building reacts to external stimuli, opening, closing and breathing throughout the day through a system of ‘cellular’ openings that allow light, air and water into the apartments contained within. Designed for China, Habitat 2020 improves indoor air quality and provides natural air conditioning – the skin can even absorb moisture from the air and collect rainwater before purifying and filtering it so it can be used by the building’s inhabitants.
Swaying Shelters Act Like Pine Trees
(image via: archdaily)
A beachside park in La Pineda, Spain has a stunning new shade structure that mimics the way real nearby pine trees sway in the wind off the sea. Made from salt-resistant fiberglass, the structure was even built at an angle so that it leans the same way that surrounding trees have bent in the direction of the prevailing wind.
William McDonough’s Tower of Tomorrow
(images via: fortune magazine)
“Imagine a building that makes oxygen, distills water, produces energy, changes with the seasons―and is beautiful. In effect, that building is like a tree, standing in a city that is like a forest.” That is how famed sustainable architect William McDonough describes his ‘Tower of Tomorrow’, a building of the future that takes its inspiration from trees. The self-contained tower has a curved shape that reduces the amount of materials required for construction and increases structural stability. It features a green roof, a series of three-story atrium gardens, water recycling systems and the ability to create its own power with solar energy.
Spiraling Skyscrapers Inspired by Mangrove Trees
(images via: inhabitat)
Can you imagine this spiraling, super-futuristic tower rising among the skyscrapers of New York? The Mangal City concept by design team Chimera is modeled after the complex ecosystem created by the mangrove tree. “The mangrove plant and its collective the mangal, provide examples of social associative principles as well as structural capacities and hybrid responses to environmental and contextual conditions,” say the designers.
Durian Fruit-Like Skin for the Esplanade Theater
(images via: wenzday01, yimhafiz)
It resembles an enormous metallic durian fruit, but the Esplanade Theater’s spiky exterior is not just made for protection or menacing looks. The scales actually make up an elaborate louvered shading system that adjusts throughout the day to let in natural light but protect the interior from overheating.
Two-Mile High Tower Works Like a Tree
(images via: tdrinc.com)
It may not look much like a tree, but the Ultima Tower by architect Eugene Tsui takes cues from trees and other natural systems to be as energy-efficient and sustainable as possible. The design, which resembles a termite’s nest and is surrounded on all sides by a lake, is envisioned as its own little living and breathing ecosystem, and incorporates technology that draws water from the ‘roots’ to the pinnacle in the same manner as a tree.
Qatar Cactus Office Building
(images via: inhabitat)
Entirely fitting for the hot desert climate of Qatar, the new office for the Minister of Municipal Affairs & Agriculture resembles a giant cactus sprouting from the sand. But the inspiration goes far beyond mere looks. Design team Aesthetics Architects has covered the building in sun shades that can open to let in air and light and close to keep out the heat, mimicking the natural water-retaining biological system of cacti.
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Easy DIY Home Energy: 4 Ways to Plant a Solar Tree
(Image via: Zedomax)
In our search for the best way to array our new-fangled solar paneling, we’re going back to the oldest design of all. A few years ago the solar tree was little mo…
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Le Monolithe: Collaborative Mixed-Use Eco Complex by MVRDV
December 10, 2010 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design. ]
Welcome to the future of the urban ‘superblock’: massive mixed-use projects designed sustainably with community in mind. Le Monolithe, recently completed in Lyon, France where the Rhône and Saône rivers meet, features energy-saving aluminum shutters that make a social statement about the European Constitution when closed.
Renowned design firm MVRDV won the opportunity to design the project in 2004 and brought on four additional French and Dutch architects – Pierre Gautier, Manuelle Gautrand, ECDM and Erik van Egeraat. Each architect designed a section of the building according to MVRDV’s master plan. Part of a large-scale urban regeneration project, Le Monolithe features social housing, rental property, a residence for disabled people, offices and retail.
The design pays tribute to local architecture and traditions in two ways: through its layout, which calls to mind the French classical Grand Gallerie with its large interior courtyard, marina, park and raised public area overlooking the city, and also through the use of aluminum shutters to keep out the sun on the building’s south face. But in this case, the shutters include a little something extra.
MVRDV wanted to integrate a “reminder of the values, ideals and needs of the European Union” after France and the Netherlands voted against the European Constitution in 2005, so the firm printed the first article of the constitution on the facade which reads, “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.”
Meeting High Environmental Quality (HQE) criteria, Le Monolithe gets 80% of its power from renewable sources. All rooms in the building benefit from daylighting and natural ventilation. Reinforced insulation, heat storage, low-e double glazed glass and a compact design add to the building’s sustainable qualities.
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Man-Made Mountains: 12 Terrain-Inspired Buildings
It juts out of the landscape and into the clouds, covered in grass, butterflies flitting about – but it’s no naturally-occurring mountain. It’s a high-density housing development, or a …
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Explosive Architecture: 10 Volcano-Inspired Structures
December 3, 2010 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Geography & Travel. ]
They’re beautiful and sinister, jutting up out of the landscape with a deceptive peace when inactive, but hiding the threat of death and destruction just beneath the surface. Perhaps it’s that element of danger that makes architects and artists hot for volcano-inspired architecture, giving that distinct sloping form to stadiums, power plants, resorts and enormous self-contained cities all over the world.
Blue Volcano Concept, Zagreb, Croatia
(images via: arch daily)
It’s easy to see why the njiric + arhiteki’s design for this civic arena, housed in an artificial hill made from rubber and paint sprayed onto sheets of corrugated aluminum, has been nicknamed ‘blue volcano’. Conceived for the city of Zagreb in Croatia, the design even features a solar-power-harvesting ‘cloud’ that floats above it, displaying game scores and other information. The cloud also protects the stadium from rain and snow, eliminating the need for a dome.
Taichung Convention Center
(images via: arch daily)
These are unlike any volcanoes you’ve ever seen – or any buildings, for that matter. MAD Architects wanted to give the Taiwanese city of Taichung a world-class architectural landmark that honors the natural landscape of the region, and the crater-like Taichung Convention Center delivers in an eccentric and unexpected way. The interconnected system of buildings is covered in a high-tech pleated ‘skin’ that provides air flow and reduces energy consumption.
Ultra Modern Volcano House, California
(images via: freshome)
With a design as severe as the desert landscape that surrounds it, this house almost looks like a spaceship perched atop a volcano. Built in 1968 in Newberry Springs, California, two hours east of Los Angeles, the Volcano House has been called a ‘modernist masterpiece’ and was, according to the Los Angeles Times, “envisioned to resemble the information center at the construction site of the nuclear generating plant in San Onofre.” The 60-acre estate is currently on the market for $750,000.
Estadio Chivas – Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico
(images via: design boom)
From a distance, it seems as if a dangerous eruption is underway: a gargantuan white cloud hovers over the mouth of a volcano. But get closer and it becomes clear that this is no ordinary volcano. Estadio Chivas in Guadalajara, Mexico features green walls made of sloped parkland, and can hold 45,000 spectators. It will take another two years for greenery to grow in so that the effect is complete.
Earthquake-Proof Solar-Powered Volcano Towers
(images via: inhabitat)
OFIS Architecture’s All-Seasons Tent Tower concept features two cylindrical structures covered in a shaded net-like mesh that supports greenery in the summertime. But unusual as it is, the mesh isn’t what makes these towers special: a system of concrete cores and composite columns within the towers make them earthquake-resistant, an important consideration in quake-prone Armenia.
Italy’s Volcano Buono Shopping Center
(images via: the coolist)
Unlike all those ‘bad volcanoes’ that erupt violently and cause plenty of problems – like Mt. Vesuvius, just a few miles away – this ‘good volcano’ has nothing but positive things to bring to the community. That is, if you like the design. Vulcano Buono blends in with the Italian landscape, and unlike many similar designs, it’s not just for sports and special events. Designed by Renzo Piano, Vulcano Buono houses a shopping mall, outdoor theater, restaurants, and a hotel. The green ‘roof’ that forms the walls of the volcanic structure supports more than 2,500 plants.
Crystal Island, Moscow
(images via: inhabitat)
Crystal Island, a massive tent-like structure conceived as a city within itself, will be the world’s largest building – if it’s ever built, that is. Foster + Partners envisions Crystal Island as a solar- and wind-powered community packed with 900 apartments, 3000 hotel rooms, an international school for 500 students, theaters, a sports complex and more all in a 1500-foot-tall structure with a footprint five times larger than that of the Pentagon building in the U.S. Construction has been delayed due to the state of the economy.
BEI-Teesside Power Plant, UK
(images via: dezeen)
Built on a reclaimed brownfield along the Tees River, the BEI-Teessidee biomass power plant by Thomas Heatherwick will rise from the industrial landscape like a modern man-made volcano. The power station, which will produce fuel from palm kernel shells, will be covered in vertical greenery to give this barren area an organic-looking focal point.
Jameos del Agua, Resort in a Volcanic Crater
(image via: web de lanzarote)
Behind a wall made of volcanic rock on the fourth-largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, there’s a startlingly beautiful secret: a hidden lagoon full of blind albino crabs that can’t be found anywhere else in the world . Jameos del Agua was formed when the ceiling of a volcanic tunnel, formed by eruptions of the Corona volcano three to four thousand years ago, collapsed into itself. Now a tourist attraction, Jameos del Agua features a swimming pool, an auditorium, gardens, restaurants and night clubs.
Roden Crater, Arizona Art Installation
(images via: grid city)
Since the 1970s, James Turrell has been crafting a highly unusual work of art: a system of chambers and tunnels inside the Roden Crater, an extinct volcano northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona. It’s not scheduled to open to the public until 2011, but speculation about the work has reached a fever pitch among art critics and collectors. The work is shrouded in secret, but the few who have visited say that it highlights aspects of the crater and its natural environment, like the stars in the sky and the subtle sounds of the desert.
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