Category Archives: Architecture
Homes in the future are sure to be a lot different from the blocks of concrete and wood we live in today. These pieces of architecture will be green, sustainable and self-sufficient, generating enough energy to satisfy needs of the people residing. Take this home for example, the Future Living house by a team of designers who’ve worked pretty hard on chiseling out the design for this green home. Twenty-six designers put their knowledge and skills together for this one. Technological developments today were carefully analyzed to make sure everything this home boasts will come true in the future, 2050 that is. Using wind energy and solar energy to power up with some awesome future-tech, the house also recycles everything it can and flaunts a living bio wall too!
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Ever wondered what happens to all those empty crates of beer that you’ve downed the night before at that beer fest? Some of these are recycled and used in architecture! Take the temporary pavilion of Bonheur Provisoire by SHSH (Shizuka Hariu, Shin Bogdan Hagiwara) for example. This one’s made out of recycled beer crates in front of the original Atomium exhibition building. Reusing these plastic crates to build this pavilion sure seems like a fabulous idea! Columns, domes, arches, all made from beer crates have found their places in this pavilion. Using around 33,000 plastic beer crates, the pavilion was built, and seems like a giant-sized Lego construction.
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An office pod works just great when you need to get away from your home atmosphere and work. These can be places outside your home, usually little makeshift rooms wherein everything you need to work is hooked on. Thomas Biggs came up with an eco-friendly office pod that somewhat looked like an old radio and an oversized bug to us. Anyways, this organically shaped office pod includes lift-open cabinets and a Murphy bench too. It’s powered up with a rooftop solar, R30 insulation and uses some pretty eco-friendly materials.
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A while ago, we heard of Yahoo’s plans to open up a few energy-efficient and green data centers. Well things sure have seemed to have gone as planned for the yodelers this time, as the company finally adding the finishing touches to its energy-efficient data center in upstate New York,. To be located at Lockport in New York, somewhere near Buffalo, the data center will cool using air from outside. This sure saves a whole lot of energy. Also, the new place can hold as many as 50,000 servers and will boast a power usage effectiveness rating of 1.08 as compared to the usual 1.92. Partially funded by a $9.9 million Department of Energy Green IT grant, this data center will use about 40% less energy than its peers. Also, Yahoo are putting away those chillers, which will help save enough water to quench the thirst of 200,000 people every year.
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Disaster hit places face a load of problems, including temporary space to live. That’s where the Life Cube comes into play. This inflatable home works best in disaster relief, a small but great place to live temporarily. Measuring 4×4 feet, the Life Cube includes food and water too, essentials required for human survival. Throw in a few dollars more, and the Life Cube boasts electricity too! Equipped with a solar-powered system, low level, but enough to generate electricity to satisfy needs, the Life Cube also has its own lighting and an electric pump too.
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Abu Dhabi will soon have its head soaring with pride, when it plays home to the beautifully designed towers for the Abu Dhabi Investment Council Headquarters. The twin towers were designed by Aedas and Arup jointly. To be located near Al Qurum Beach in the eastern district of Abu Dhabi, the towers will also have enough space for a lake and a palm reserve between them. That’s not all. They’re powered by green energy too! The 25-story skyscrapers will boast photovoltaic systems and an exterior is covered in a crystalline honeycomb facade that will help temper solar heat gain. The photovoltaic panels will be located on the roof of the towers, generating around 5% of their total power needs.
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There’s no end with countries and cities competing with each other to reach the highest place in the clouds above. And by that we mean those extremely tall sky-scrapers that have their roofs in the clouds, scraping at heavens feet. The Nakheel Tower, by Woods Bagot, was designed for Dubai, and could just be the worlds tallest sky-scraper, pushing through the race to reach up in the sky. Standing high and proud at 1,400 meters (4,593 ft), this tower will be part of a large marina development for Dubai. And if ever built, it will sure as hell keep up with LEED standards too! Using an Islamic building strategy that divides it into four cores, the building also has slots in the middle at the top that lets in natural breeze. The building will also boast black water treatment, storm water harvesting, reuse of fire test water, solar panels, wind turbines, and high-voltage power distribution, turning it into what will be the world’s tallest skyscraper with a extremely green heart.
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Why live in that urban brawl when you could reside in a place as beautiful as this, free from pollution, carbon, all that noise and the mess. This home, on the coastal hillside in Costa Rica is surrounded by all the fresh air and greenery you could imagine. This home over looks the Pacific Ocean, and was designed by SPG Architects. Known as the Casa Torcida, this home is as green as a home can get, with the largest domestic solar array in Costa Rica generating enough energy to power up the lighting, appliances and other equipment. The solar panels are located on the ceramic-based roof coating that helps source clean water for the swimming pool too. Air conditioning isn’t required here, owing to the lovely natural breeze. Materials used in this home was sourced locally too, to decrease the carbon footprint, with cabinets and furniture made from trees harvested in the foundation area.
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They come in all shapes and sizes, some huge, some tiny, and play home to just about everything. We’re talking about buildings. Not all of them stay green though, most turn to the bad ways of carbon emissions. From the ones that do stay clean, a few receive some pretty cool LEED certifications, like the Palace 66 building which expects a certification of the like. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF, this retail project covers 1.2m sq ft and resides in Shenyang’s commercial center in the Shenhe District of Zhongjie Lu. So why would this modern and well designed building with all its glazed roofs and beautiful exterior deserve an LEED? Well, for one, its powered by the sun, using a photovoltaic system to soak in the energy and generate power. Also, the building’s hooked on to some pretty high-performance heat pumps with low emissions. The building also packs a grey water recycling system and will use 20% less electricity and 40% less water by the end of the year.
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If you have been on a diet, you would know how difficult it is to shed off all the weight you have acquired with ease. Multiply that manifolds, and that is what Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture have set their sights on as they bring the Chicago Central Area DeCarbonisation Plan underway. As per the goals of the plan, much over the past year a 25-member project team was busy developing a database depicting energy use, size, age, use, and estimated carbon footprint for over 550 buildings in the Loop. Once done, the team created a 3-D model based on the accumulated data to further the research and development process for the DeCarbonisation Plan.
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