UK Pavilion, Shanghai Expo 2010

Seed Cathedral, UK Pavilion, Shanghai

The Seed Cathedral is a platform to show the work of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and their Millennium Seedbank. In the circulation zone under the landscape that surrounds the Seed Cathedral a series of installations explore in more detail the particularity of nature and UK cities. The Seed Cathedral is a 20-metre high building, constructed from 60,000 transparent 7.5-metre long optical strands, each of which has embedded within its tip a seed. The interior is silent and illuminated only by the daylight that has filtered past each seed through each optical hair. The UK Pavilion has consistently been ranked by visitors as one of the most popular pavilions with 50,000 people visiting each day.
for more: http://www.heatherwick.com/uk-pavilion/
click here to watch a the movie

The building with no shadow

"Le Project Triangle will be Paris’s first high-rise approved building since 1977. This was due to the recent lifting of the 31 year old bad on high-rise buildings within the city.

The architects Herzog & de Meuron say that there building shall be “optimum solar and wind power generated”. The shape of the building can be very convincing to be a pyramid, this however is wrong. By looking at the building from one side, the eye shows a pyramid shape whilst a slim line shape, which is similar to a sharks fin from another.

By the shape and orientation of the building the architects claim that the building will cast no shadows on the surround buildings.

The ground floor of the building shall be occupied with shops and restaurants. Also open public space and Parisian rooftops with visions over the romantic city. The high rise is due to be completed in 2014."

By: ArchiD Blog

DIRTT's Breathe - The Living Wall

DIRTT at IIDEX Exhibition,Toronto

Breathe™ is the living wall system from DIRTT Environmental Solutions. It shares the same notion of modularity as the rest of the DIRTT system. Breathe supports living plant modules and an independent water delivery system. These two elements are separate units to ensure plants can be maintained and removed individually for servicing or replacement.



Living Plant Modules

Plants are known to remove harmful environmental toxins found in building interiors. Pollutants have a direct impact, resulting in illness and lower rates of productivity in the workplace. Most buildings condition air through an HVAC system to render the air fit for human use. Conditioning air requires energy, further contributing to greenhouse gas production and the cost of building operations. Plant landscapes can lighten the load of the HVAC system by removing many of these toxins, resulting in up to 10% less energy use in buildings. Studies confirm certain types of indoor plants reliably reduce total volatile organic compound loads by 75%, to below 100 ppb.
Breathe facilitates biophilic design – design that reflects a love for the natural world. Interior plantscapes can be used to create healing, pleasant spaces. The use of plants indoors, to realize biophilia objectives and improve indoor air quality, has helped secure Innovation Credit 1.2 in LEED projects. Breathe provides a benefit to indoor air quality that no HVAC system can supply, improving interior air quality and promoting occupant wellbeing.

For more: http://www.dirtt.net/public/products/_docs/DIRTT-BreatheLivingWallModularWall_v1-0.pdf

and: http://www.dirtt.net/index.php

Height Adjustable Desks

moll kids tables are high-quality, sustainable, safe and stylish. They are ergonomic desks designed to grow with your children, promoting good posture, at their own pace, according to their activities and tastes.

moll german-made growing desks, in compliance with ergonomic requirements, are the perfect anti-back-pain desks for children, with a bunch of functional features !

Easy height adjustment

All moll desks and computer tables are height adjustable and adapt to the user’s height. Pull on the yo-yo string once or twice to set the desktop, no need to get up, no stress !

Tiltable desktop

Continuous adjustment to 30° to guarantee the ergonomically correct posture. User-friendly and safe, just pull on the handle under the desktop to lower it from any position.

 

Giant drawer

The sturdy giant drawer under the desktop frees lots of room, with 2 compartments for paper and 1 compartment for books, notebooks… Grooved foam insert for pens and pencils.

Book holder

Both book hoder and timetable with a practical support on the side,  plus a drawing template with an integrated reading glass and pen holder.

For more: http://www.bluecony.com/en/products/height-adjustable-desks/kids-table-moll-runner.html

THE TWINLINE from CAML-TOMLIN

The TWINLINE is a premier 2-1 bathtub and showering unit which combines a sleek bathtub unit with an innovative walk-in shower shield, to provide you with the flexibility and function of two separate units in one beautiful and modern design.

Mechanical lock is integrated with the water inlet. In 'shower' position the lock and drain remain open, while in the 'bath' position the lock and drain are closed. Unique, slip-resistant handle design is easily accessible.

Continuous gasket provides perfect seal while bathing. Glass panels treated with Art Clean for easy cleaning. Hinges are specially bonded to glass and provide an easy to clean design.

THE ALTERNATIVE

The TWINLINE is the progressive alternative to conventional bathtub or shower solutions. Due to its tub form with integrated shower door, it takes up as much space as a normal bathtub. As a result, it is a perfect choice for smaller bathrooms, and can easily replace an existing bathtub.
For more:
http://www.camltomlin.com/feature/twinline

WaterShed wins Architecture Contest of Solar Decathlon

The University of Maryland’s WaterShed won the Architecture Contest of the 2011 US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. The project’s elegant use of materials, thoughtful  integration with the natural environment  and well documented and well presented design process make it easy to see why.

The Architecture Contest of Solar Decathlon is one of six juried (out of ten total) contests. Judging for the contest (and the University of Maryland’s design approach) was based on the following criteria:
1. Architectural elements (scale, proportion, indoor/outdoor connections, composition, and consistency)

 

At 900 square feet, WaterShed is reasonably sized as a live-work space for a couple. The house is a simple composition of three volumes with an inverted shed roof. Vertical gardens and two decks with integrated greenspaces provide connections to the outdoors as well as visually extending the spine of the house that collects and distributes water.

2. Holistic design

WaterShed is a house that interacts with its environment, the Chesapeake Bay watershed, by managing storm water on site, treating and reusing greywater and minimizing overall water use.
3. Lighting
The house’s open floor plan and large areas of access to outdoor spaces, and translucent wall panels  allow natural light to filter in throughout the home. The artificial lighting in the home is provided by energy efficient LED fixtures.
4. Inspiration
Using the Chesapeake Bay as their inspiration, the University of Maryland team’s design intent was to emphasize the relationship of the house to its environment. The project’s simple roof form expresses the path of water on and into the building. The gardens used for stormwater management are meant to encourage people to consider their own environmental impact.
5. Documentation (visual and written products that reflect and record the project and the design process)
Over 200 University of Maryland students and professors  from multiple disciples collaborated on the design and building of the project. The entire process is clearly presented on the team’s website which includes easily understood diagrams of the many systems integrated into the WaterShed.
As of Thursday September 29, the University of Maryland is leading the 2011 Solar Decathlon. The overall winner will be announced Saturday October 1, 2011.

Images: Jim Tetro/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
For More: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/design-architecture/watershed-wins-architecture-contest-of-solar-decathlon/851

Shipping Containers in Temporary Housing and Disaster Relief Project in Japan

Shigeru Ban Architects have launched Phase Two of their ongoing Disaster Relief Projects for victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan this spring. Using existing shipping containers of 20 foot lengths, the design is meant to resolve the difficulty of building suitable housing on the damaged terrain.
The architects recognized that a larger number of shelters, as well as larger spaces, were needed to allow communities to recover. To maximize the buildable area, the shipping containers will be stacked up to three stories high. Each shipping container comprises a living unit, and each unit alternates with an open space to provide private outdoor area as well as an attractive checkerboard elevation. A prototype was built and opened in July.

The architects chose to use shipping containers for the following reasons:
1. To shorten the construction period by using a material already available
2. To use a unit that allows a three story high structure, in narrow sites or sloped sites
3. To provide open spaces between living units for privacy and enjoyable living
4. To take advantage of inherent seismic performance
5. To build structures that are strong and flexible enough to be used as a permanent apartment

Interest in shipping container architecture has grown in tandem to the modular building movement. Besides the strength of the steel, the containers are widely available and relatively low in cost.  The pre-manufactured containers are also inherently modular, standardized, and prefabricated. There are many examples of beautiful container buildings beyond the original container office built by Stewart Brand.
Shigeru Ban is an architect known for his innovative and ecological applications of materials in architecture.  His Phase One of the Disaster Relief Projects incorporated cardboard tubing and paper or mosquito netting panels to create very simple, easily constructed partitions.  The system was an elegant and sensitive response to protecting the mental health and dignity of the victims by providing privacy. Ban’s later phases are meant to rebuild the community as a whole by providing spaces for everyday life to return and grow.
Images: Shigeru Ban Architects
By Sun Joo Kim

Volkswagen bik.e

Volkswagen has rolled out its first ever two-wheeler at the Chinese auto show. A very cool looking piece of mobility art that looks a little like a small bicycle without the pedals, the battery-powered device has definitely been designed with both form and function in mind: the whole thing folds quickly down into a flat disc that fits quite nicely into the spare tire compartment found in the bottom of most trunks.
With a range of 20 kilometers (12.5 miles), it's not meant for long distance treks but rather as a supplement to your car. Its official top speed is 20 km/h (12.5 miles per hour) to allow Germans to ride it helmetless, though word on the street says the version at the show could go much faster.

For More: http://green.autoblog.com/2010/04/28/volkswagen-bik-e-replaces-spare-tire-with-electric-mobility-devi/

SLEEPBOX

Desperately in need of some sleep while waiting in a public area? But you don’t want to look like a homeless guy napping on a bench? The designers of Arch Group totally understand the need for an affordable and comfortable place to sleep and came up with the Sleepbox, a modern and safe sleeping pod that provides necessary rest from fifteen minutes to several hours. The best thing is that it can be placed just about everywhere: at airports, train stations, shopping malls, expo centers, and even on streets!

Inside the Box

Inside, the intensity of light can be modified as desired

Click here to watch a video of SLEEPBOX.
More: http://popupcity.net/2011/10/take-a-nap-in-the-sleepbox/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+popupcity+%28The+Pop-Up+City%29