These hurricane-proof floating homes are packed with green features https://inhabitat.com/these-hurricane-proof-floating-homes-are-packed-with-green-features/
Category Archives: Architecture & Design
Latest Renderings for Kearny Point, New Jersey’s Former Shipyard Being Transformed into a Small Business Hub | Untapped Cities
A very interesting project to track. Conversion of an industrial waterfront into a modern office park with exceptional architects/planners and a developer with a vision.
Aerial view of the Kearny Point site. Image via STUDIOS Architecture (Architecture) in collaboration with WXY architecture + urban design (Master Planning).
Kearny Point, which is located cross the Hudson River in Kearny between Newark and Jersey City, is being positioned as a sustainable business campus. The developer, Hugo Neu, is renovating and redesigning spaces that were once dedicated to one of the most well-known and most active shipbuilding sites, which opened in 1917 in the months leading up to the entrance of the United States in the first World War…..The developers have since renovated a first building, Building 78, that serves as Kearny Point’s proof of concept. It currently houses 150 small businesses, of which over 70% of which are minority or women-owned, a co-working space called Kearny Works, a cafe and a blue roof. The site also houses various companies, including a vertical farm, a bridal design company, a vitamin company, and much more.
A master plan has been developed by WXY, the architecture and urban design firm behind projects like the Spring Street Salt Shed and DSNY Manhattan District Garage, the Sea Glass Carousel in Battery Park, the redesign of Astor Place, and the reconstruction of the Rockaway Beach Boardwalk. At Kearny Point, WXY has envisioned a comprehensive plan that will densify the site, add public open space, offer new waterfront access, restore native habitat, and protect the site from flooding.
$1 billion is planned to be invested over the next decade, contributing to 7000 new permanent jobs and new tax revenue for the state and local jurisdiction. There will be three million square feet of converted or new office space. In addition, 15 acres of restored shoreline will accompany a new 4,100 foot waterfront promenade and 10 acres of publicly accessible civic and open space, including a 20,000 square foot amphitheater. It is anticipated that the waterfront area around the south basin and Building 197 will be completed this year, with another large portion of the historic yard anticipated to be completed between 2017 and 2018. A second waterfront phase is projected to be completed by 2023.
The Boomtown That Shouldn’t Exist – POLITICO Magazine
| Erika Larsen for Politico Magazine
Cape Coral may be the best place to gauge the future of the dream—and to see whether Florida has any hope of overcoming its zany developmental, political and environmental history—because Cape Coral is the ultimate microcosm of Florida. It’s literally a peninsula jutting off the peninsula, the least natural, worst-planned, craziest-growing piece of an unnatural, badly planned, crazy-growing state. Man has sculpted it into an almost comically artificial landscape, with a Seven Islands section featuring seven perfectly rectangular islands and an Eight Lakes neighborhood featuring eight perfectly square lakes. And while much of Florida now yo-yos between routine droughts and routine floods, Cape Coral’s fluctuations are particularly wild. This spring, the city faced a water shortage so dire that its fire department feared it couldn’t rely on its hydrants, yet this summer, the city endured a record-breaking flood. And that “50-year rain event” came two weeks before Irma, which was also supposedly a 50-year event.
Source: The Boomtown That Shouldn’t Exist – POLITICO Magazine
GCR – News – More disasters predicted as analysis exposes “widening construction knowledge gap”
An unprecedented study of 6 million pieces of data claims to shows that the knowledge framework underpinning UK construction is not fit for purpose.As the industry reels from the deadly Grenfell Tower fire, the study’s authors warn that practitioners do not have ready access to critical knowledge and that more mistakes are “inevitable”.Designing Buildings Wiki, an open knowledge base, says it has undertaken the first comprehensive mapping of construction industry knowledge.
Source: GCR – News – More disasters predicted as analysis exposes “widening construction knowledge gap”
Canadian report recommends nationwide retrofit strategy to cut emissions from large buildings | Proud Green Building
A new report by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) delivers a detailed roadmap for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from large buildings like office towers, recreation centers, hospitals, arenas and schools across the country. CaGBC’s A Roadmap for Retrofits in Canadademonstrates the critical role existing buildings play in realizing Canada’s low carbon future, according to a release.
The report provides recommendations to retrofit large buildings that will contribute to achieving a reduction in GHG emissions of at least 30 percent (or 12.5 million tons) by 2030, with the potential to reach 51 percent or 21.2 million tons. The roadmap provides government and industry with a targeted plan to yield the greatest carbon savings from buildings and grow Canada’s clean economy.
Penda Designs Modular Timber Tower Inspired by Habitat 67 for Toronto | ArchDaily
Penda, collaborating with wood consultants from CLT-brand Tmber, has unveiled the design of ‘Tree Tower Toronto,’ an 18-story timber-framed mixed-use residential skyscraper for Canada’s largest city. Drawing inspiration from the distinctly Canadian traditional modular construction, including Moshe Safdie’s iconic Habitat 67, the tower is envisioned as a new model of sustainable high-rise architecture that can establish a reconnect urban areas to nature and natural materials.
Source: Penda Designs Modular Timber Tower Inspired by Habitat 67 for Toronto | ArchDaily
Who Are The True Builders?
You look in your history-books to see who built Westminster Abbey, who built St Sophia at Constantinople, and they tell you Henry Ill, Justinian the Emperor. Did they? Or, rather, men like you and me, handicraftsmen, who have left no names behind them, nothing but their work?
William Morris, “The Lesser Arts” (1878) quoted in “VISTA – the culture and politics of gardens”
How One of the World’s Densest Cities Has Gone Green
Symbol of Singapore, these “Supertrees” belong to a display at the 250-acre Gardens by the Bay. The high-tech structures range from 80 to 160 feet and collect solar energy to power a nightly light show. They have a softer side too: their trunks are vertical gardens, laced with more than 150,000 living plants.
Source: How One of the World’s Densest Cities Has Gone Green
Siemens Shortlisted as World’s Most Sustainable Building | glassonweb.com
The new headquarters was inaugurated in June, 2016. It consumes 90 percent less electricity and uses 75 percent less water than its predecessor.
Source: Siemens Shortlisted as World’s Most Sustainable Building | glassonweb.com
Designing History: 7 Modern Museums in Portugal – Architizer
Although many Portuguese towns and cities are characterized by well-preserved, historic architecture, some contemporary architects are using modern ideas to advance this traditional language of design. At the same time, Portuguese designers are careful to maintain and honor the legacy of artists and architects who came before them. Museums in particular play a key role in these preservation efforts by containing and exhibiting this history, but just as importantly, by embodying it, and becoming a modern interpretation of the very traditions it investigates. It is not enough for a building to display important cultural histories and artifacts if the museum’s design is not sensitive to this program. This is especially important when a nation’s architecture and urban planning are themselves of great historical significance.
Source: Designing History: 7 Modern Museums in Portugal – Architizer
Amsterdam Central Station’s Bold, Watery Revamp – CityLab
Canals, boats, bikes, trains – what more could you ask for? What is now tarmac and piles of chained up parked bikes will become a great public space.
Widened canals—and underground bike parking—will bring the city’s Central Station a little closer to nature and history.
Source: Amsterdam Central Station’s Bold, Watery Revamp – CityLab
WAN:: Timber tower by Team V Architecture
With construction due to start in the second half of 2017 HAUT is on track to become the world’s tallest timber tower The municipality of Amsterdam in the Netherlands has selected Team V Architecture with Lingotto, Nicole Maarsen, ARUP and brand partner NLE to develop a building that is a serious contender to become the tallest timber tower in the world.HAUT, will be a 21-storey wooden residential building by the Dutch River Amstel with construction work expected to start in the second half of 2017. HAUT promises to be a prototype of building in an innovative, sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner.
The 19 most beautiful libraries in the U.S. – Curbed
In honor of their beauty and to underscore their continued relevance in an increasingly digital world, we’ve rounded up 19 architecturally significant museums throughout the United States.
Source: The 19 most beautiful libraries in the U.S. – Curbed
Got wood? Meet Australia’s tallest (proposed) timber building | News | Archinect
Combine cross laminated timber, glue laminated timber, and the desire to connect with nature while providing ample creative working space, and you have the 5 King Tower, a 52-meter timber structure with the strength of concrete and steel (but a much smaller carbon footprint).
Source: Got wood? Meet Australia’s tallest (proposed) timber building | News | Archinect
Pakistan’s Moenjodaro is crumbling away | Pakistan | Al Jazeera
“If our estimates are proven correct, Moenjodaro was probably a cosmopolitan city of its times. I have said it time and again that, 5,000 years ago, when people in Europe and other places lived in caves and jungles, people in Moenjodaro lived in brick houses in a civilised and planned city,” Qasim says.
http://https://youtu.be/RLqUuCB6qu8
Source: Pakistan’s Moenjodaro is crumbling away | Pakistan | Al Jazeera
Toronto’s skyline is about to join the big-leagues: What the city could look like in 2020 | Toronto Star
Toronto’s skyline is entering the stratosphere… at least by North American standards. A look at what 10 new projects will mean to the city, its residents and its image.
Paris allows anyone to plant an urban garden | Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building
Paris just passed a new law that allows anyone to plant an urban garden within the city’s limits. Upon receiving a permit, gardeners can grow plants on walls, in boxes, on rooftops, under trees, or on fences. They can cultivate greenery in front of their homes or offices. They can grow flowers, vegetables, and fruit. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo’s goal is to create 100 hectares of living walls and green roofs by the year 2020, with one third of that greenery dedicated to agriculture.
Finland’s longest bridge will be a beautiful pedestrian and cyclist superhighway | Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building
The architects collaborated with engineering firm WSP Finland to design this tram, cyclist and pedestrian bridge, the name of which translates to Crown Bridges in Finnish. The €259 million…
NEXT Architects design a swooping “Mobius strip” bridge for Changsha, China | News | Archinect
The Dutch-Chinese firm NEXT Architects has a well-deserved reputation for designing eye-catching bridges. Their latest project, a bright red, Mobius strip-like pedestrian bridge for the Chinese city of Changsha, is set to become another jewel in their portfolio.
185 metres long and 24 metres tall, the “Lucky Knot” bridge will span the Dragon King Harbour River in Changsha’s ‘New Lake District’ development. The bridge will offer views of the nearby Meixi Lake and the mountain range that surrounds the city.
Source: NEXT Architects design a swooping “Mobius strip” bridge for Changsha, China | News | Archinect