Sustainability: The Latest Architecture and News

AMO is a design and research studio inside OMA, a think tank operating on the boundaries of architecture: media, politics, sociology, sustainability, technology, fashion, curating, publishing and graphic design. Some of their works include the barcode flag for the EU and a study for Wired magazine.

And while OMA covers sustainable strategies on a building or master plan scale, AMO is approaching it on en European scale as one of the five consultants conducting technical, economic and policy analyses for Roadmap 2050, an initiative by the European Climate Foundation which looks to chart a policy roadmap for the next 5-10 years based on the European leaders’ commitment to an 80-95% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050. You can download a brief of Roadmap 2050 in PDF.

The goal is to achieve a 2% energy efficiency saving per year in order to meet this goal, with power and vehicle transportation being the most important areas.

Through the complete integration and synchronization of the EU’s energy infrastructure, Europe can take maximum advantage of its geographical diversity. The report’s findings show that by 2050, the simultaneous presence of various renewable energy sources within the EU can create a complementary system of energy provision ensuring energy security for future generations.

AMO’s work focuses on the production of a graphic narrative which conceptualizes and visualizes the geographic, political, and cultural implications of the integrated, decarbonized European power sector.

On their study you can find an interesting approach to a diverse european energy grid, including energy trade and the use of new non-traditional sources.

The image of “Eneropa” appears as a new continent based on its energy production: Biomassburg, Geothermalia, Solaria, the Tidal States… are part of this new territory. Other branding concepts are introduced on the study, creating a tangible image of this ambitious plan, which reminds the powerful (yet simple) idea behind the barcode flag.

You can download the full study in PDF format at the Roadmap 2050 website.

More after the break:

Based in Germany, Studio Aisslinger‘s new housing prototype is modular, sustainable and transportable. The low energy house, named ‘Fincube’, is comprised of thin horizontal “ledges” of locally grown wood that wrap the slightly bulging form. This second facade layer provides privacy for the inhabitants and fuses the man-made structure with its natural surroundings. The home provides 47 sqm of living space with a minimal CO2 footprint, and can also be easily dismantled and rebuilt on a different site. The supporting structure is made of local larch and the interior is a combination of larch and stone-pine. Organized in a helical structure, the entrance area blends into a generous open kitchen with an adjacent living space, and around the corner rests the bedroom.

More images after the break.

Organized by MoMA and PS 1 Contemporary Art Center, the Rising Currents exhibit cannot be missed by architects, ecologists, or green enthusiasts…let alone any New Yorker. The exhibit is a cohesive showcase of five projects which tackle the lingering truth that within a few years, the waterfront of the New York harbor will drastically change. Dealing with large scale issues of climate change, the architects delve into a specific scale that we can recognize and relate to. The projects are not meant to be viewed as a master plan, but rather each individual zone serves as a test site for the team to experiment. The projects demonstrate the architects’ abilities to look passed the idea of climate change as a problem, and move on to see the opportunities it presents. Barry Bergdoll, the Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA, explained, “Your mission is to come up with images that are so compelling they can’t be forgotten and so realistic that they can’t be dismissed.”

More about each zone after the break.

Interesting study by MVRDV, The Why Factory and Stroom Den Haag.

San Francisco’s newest transit hub will centralize all the transportation in the city by accomodating nine systems under one roof. Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects have designed a new terminal, a 1.3 mile extension of the Caltrain rail line, and the redevelopment of the surrounding area which will add 2,600 new homes, a 5.4 acre park roof and a retail street. And a loan of over $170 million given by the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act has given the project an extra push foward. Once completed in 2014, the terminal will include wind turbines, geothermal heating methods and a graywater recycling system. The hub will be a strong message that green technology can successfully be combined with modern transportation. “We are thrilled to be one of the first modern rail stations in the United States to achieve this historic milestone and look forward to continuing to make progress on the Transbay Project,” explained Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan, Executive Director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA).

More images and a video of the project after the break.

Working with the idea of “creating a society that is based on quality not quantity, on cooperation and not competition,” CTRLZ architectures have rethought a new model for, not just a building, but rather for society. Due to the on-going “cultural revolution” we are experiencing, the way we approach solving the problems of the world have changed, and architecture along with it. Now, the architect must not merely respond to designing spaces, but to other factors, such as society, energy, the internet, and politics, as well. “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.”

More about the model and more images after the break.

Work AC, in collaboration with Edible Schoolyard NY and the Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Foundation, is designing a new schoolyard for PS216 that will offer the young New Yorkers a different learning experience. The Edible Schoolyard is designed as a series of interlinked sustainable systems where the building will produce energy and heat, collect rainwater, process compost and sort waste with an off-grid infrastructure.

More images and more about the school after the break.

When asked to design a luxury hotel and spa at Hersham Golf Club in Surrey (which is within London’s Green Belt) ReardonSmith Architects responded with plans for a subterranean building. Matthew Guy, ReardonSmith’s project designer, explained “Our concept integrates hotel, spa, and golf facilities into a single architecturally exciting and organic composition below and above ground. The design fulfills the requirements of the brief for a bespoke five star hotel while returning hard standing to the Green Belt and improving the physical layout and visual attraction of the entire site. It represents a commercially viable solution to developing in the Green Belt and is, we believe, a world-first.”

More about the hotel after the break.

Sustainability Round Up to end the week. Some really interesting projects may be done using green roof. Here we show you our second part (see the first one here), of previously featured projects with green roof.

Taipei 101, famous for being one of the world’s tallest buildings, is set to get some major eco-upgrades in an effort to save money, reduce its impact, and gain the much coveted title of “World’s Tallest Green Building.” In 2007, the Burj Dubai surpassed Taipei 101 in terms of height, but the Taiwanese building won’t give up the fight, throwing down $1.8 million in energy efficiency upgrades, which are expected to yield $20 million annually in savings and make it the Earth’s greenest and tallest building.

Over the next 18 months, the skyscraper will undergo significant energy efficiency upgrades and will also seek LEED Gold certification for existing buildings. The certification will largely depend on the building performance after the upgrades and renovations take place. The owners of Taipei 101 are teaming up with SL+A International Asia Inc., Siemens and EcoTech International Inc. to complete the eco-upgrades. Seen at Inhabitat. More images after the break.

After 9 days and 10 contests, Team Germany from the Technische Universität Darmstadt won the 2009 Solar Decathlon with their surPLUShome project.

I just saw that the house designed by Team California, a multidisciplinary team from CCA + SCU, that we featured a few months won the Architecture Contest (1 out of 10 contests) at the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2009.

Greeen! Architects have been awarded an honorable mention for their Eco Towers, an office building in Hamburg, Germany for the Building and Environment Authorities. The office will accommodate 1400 people and will include several public areas as well as green gardens to “give room to nature and a create a green ambiance to all workers and visitors.”

More about the Eco Towers after the break.

At the beginning of the summer we visited SYNTHe, a urban rooftop garden designed and built by professor Alexis Rocha (I/O Platform founder) with SCI-Arc students.

The SYNTHe project is a 3,000sqf structure located on the top of The Flat, a mid rise residential building in downtown Los Angeles, and its the first green garden approved by city official. The idea of this “green blanket” over at the top of the building is to reduce the building heat gain, reduce storm water waste (80% is captured and used for irrigation) and to establish a sustainable plant ecosystem that collaborated with air pollutants filtering. It also reclaims the rooftop area from HVAC, ventilation and fire control systems, giving a new terrace for the users of the building.

Inside this blanket, 1,500sqf are dedicated to the production of edible plant species, and we had the chance to taste them at the restaurant during lunch, very good. The species planted include:

The future well being of cities around the globe depends on mankind’s ability to develop and integrate sustainable technology.

LAVA designed the Masdar City as the city of the future; positioned at the forefront of integrating sustainable technology into modern architectural design. Rome, Athens, Florence; most great historical cities have had the plaza, forum, or square at their epicentre – where the life, values, ideals, and vision of the population evolved. Equally, the centre of Masdar must be an iconic beacon that attracts global attention to sustainable technology.

The Frontier Project, located in Cucamonga, Southern California, is a 14,000 square foot demonstration building that will educate all in the community about the latest information, technologies and approaches regarding environmental friendliness. The project will make resident consumers, commercial builders, and sustainable advocates aware and informed of the alternative building methods to encourage sustainability. HMC Architects’ building will not just be something for visitors to look at and admire; rather, the building will become more of a learning experience as visitors are welcomed into its spaces and sustainable strategies are pointed out with their importance explained. “Everything from material and plant selection, the layout of space, and the maintenance regime will have a purpose, demonstrating the principle of green design for home owners, consumers, contractors, design professionals, sustainability advocates and the general public,” explained the Frontier Project founders.

More about the demonstration building, including a video and images, after the break.