Atlantic Sea Hawk by Sauter Carbon Offset Design & Atlantic Motor Yacht
Sauter Carbon Offset Design and Atlantic Motor Yachts present the Atlantic Sea Hawk, a Hi-performance Zero Carbon 18 meter Cabin Cruiser with a top speed of 50 knots.
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Tianjin Eco-City by Surbana Urban Planning Group
Designed by Surbana Urban Planning Group, Tianjin Eco-City is 30 square kilometer development designed to showcase the hottest new green technologies and to serve as a model for future developing Chinese cities.
A conscious effort was made not to create a generic city devoid of humanizing features or cognitive characteristics, one that is replicated ad infinitum in cities of rapidly developing economies. Read More…
“Ma Bulle, Ma Plante & Moi,” Exhibition by Amaury Gallon
Designer Amaury Gallon was sponsored by the Dutch Flower Council to create unique bubble gardens that offer passersby a bit of respite from their concrete environments. The designer created four bubble sanctuaries, each with a different environmental inspiration. One of the gardens hosts a jungle, while the other features hundreds of orchids woven into metal structure that wraps around the igloo-shaped structures. Serving as walk-in greenhouses, the structures were part of an exhibition called the “Ma Bulle, Ma Plante, & Moi.”
Eco-Friendly Swimming-Pool in the Thermal Center of Royat by X Vincent Callebaut
Vincent Callebaut Architectures have come up with a sustainable swimming pool design for the thermal center of Royat city in France as a dynamic response to the ambition of Royat city to build a mobilization swimming pool represented by attractive and contemporary architecture researched by the patients of spas.
The architecture proposes the construction of a “planted wave” that covers the pool hall under its curve. By meeting the needs of the program as precisely as possible, the project emphasizes three major themes that include the urban signal, the welfare of the patients and high environmental quality.
The “green wave” designed by the architects takes into account all the constraints of the site and presents a compact made-to-measure volumetry on stilts of the scratched surrounding frame.The Green Wave project sets a case of nature on the site and the planted roof ensure a great acoustic and thermal comfort inside the hall. The bio-climate cushion will also help in reducing the energetic expenditure by accumulating the heat in winter and by ventilating the hall naturally during summers.
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Andreas Verheijen, Flower Engineer
After having lived in Great Britain for 16 years where he worked as floral sales executive for Harrods’ floral department in London, as well as having had his own flower shop, he returned to The Netherlands. Nowadays he works as a freelance floral designer but still also works regularly in Great Britain on various events and exhibitions.”
All the event-projects are customized and created for particular occasions or clients. The ideas usually evolve over a time and are set to a specific theme or happening. Creating parties like these is mostly a team effort in which all participating associates have their own speciality. In general all events are executed in association with Sue Artus – Robert Young Cheltenham, Matthew Brown – Wesley House Winchcombe, and TDA London.
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Winners of the Western Red Cedar Architectural Design Awards
Six winners of the Western Red Cedar Architectural Design Awards demonstrated creativity, range and a rich palette of innovative design that expressed building structures and surfaces across new construction and renovation projects.
Architects entered commercial, residential and other building projects that included community centers, medical facilities, university buildings, churches and private residences. Projects were judged by a three-member architect jury for their use of Western Red Cedar to reinforce consistent interior and exterior themes in boosting the overall design.
“The award winners offer a range of creative approaches using Western Red Cedar,” said Katherine Chia, a jury member and partner at Desai/Chia Architecture. “They also demonstrated the opportunities to use cedar for different program requirements and budgets. Cedar wasn’t just used as conventional cladding – it also provided a structural purpose, a refined level of interior finish, or a compelling material detail that enhanced the overall design.” Winners of the second edition of the Architectural Design Awards were:
“Combs Point Residence, Ovid, N.Y.” – A center of activity and quiet retreat for a family that treasures life on the lake, Combs Point is a series of Western Red Cedar wood clad buildings that stretches through a forested glen leading to the head of a waterfall. Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson.
“Bernal Park Restroom Building, Pleasanton, Calif” – Designed to fit seamlessly into a picturesque park setting, the building appears elegant and residential in scale while at the same time is durable and enduring. The building is wrapped in horizontal cedar siding boards covered with a semi-transparent stain and graffiti coating. Architect: Mark Cavagnero Associates.
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Trees with Glowing Nanoparticles Could Replace Streetlights
Taiwanese researchers have come up with the elegant idea of replacing streetlights with trees, by implanting their leaves with gold nanoparticles. Dr Yen-Hsun Su from Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University discovered that when you add gold nanoparticles to the leaves of Bacopa caroliniana, it induces a red emission in the chlorophyll. Bacopa caroliniana is a plant widely found in the Southern US, but the same reaction might be possible in other plants and trees. Dr Ye-Hsun points out that this is potentially a win-win-win situation, with the glowing plants reducing power usage, and lowering light pollution, while absorbing CO2.
This ingenious triple threat of an idea could simultaneously reduce carbon emissions, cut electricity costs and reduce light pollution, without sacrificing the safety that streetlights bring.
Solar Umbrella Project by Constantin Boincean, Ralph Bertram, Aleksandra Danielak
The Southern California Institute of Architecture, announced the winners of the Los Angeles Cleantech Corridor and Green District Competition. An open ideas competition sponsored by SCI‐Arc and The Architect’s Newspaper, entrants were challenged to use the competition as a forum for provocative, even revolutionary, reconceptualizations of L.A.’s urban fabric.
Project Umbrella, revolves around large mushroom-like structures called solar evaporators that would not only serve as memorable symbols for the area, but, via a system of black-water treatment and clean-water dispersal, would transform large parts of the city grid into greener and more attractive public spaces. The second prize went to Los Angeles-based office Labtop’s scheme called Greenoplasty, which removes cars from the area through a local rail line and creates a system of lightweight housing on top of the area’s existing warehouses. Third prize went to a team including Buro Happold and Mia Lehrer & Associates that conceived integrated systems for energy creation (including solar arrays and hydroelectric power), waste management, transportation, and water runoff.
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Aquaponics, Fish Tank of Eternal Life by Rob Maslin
Aquaponics created by Rob Maslin is the embodiment of a sustainable system. At its core it is the creation of a symbiotic relationship between fish and plants. Fish waste in the form of ammonia is turned into nitrite then nitrates by bacteria in the water. When filtered through a plant bed, the plants clean the water for the fish to live in, creating a closed-loop system with two food crops.
A system with a 225-litre volume fish tank will grow approximately ten 15cm plants per week – enough for a decent bunch of basil or salad leaves – on a four-week cycle. To produce decent-sized, edible fish stock (such as 18cm carp) the tank would need to be twice the size of the prototype displayed here. The use of smaller fish is not normal practice in aquaponics, so my research into the ideal stock for a food source system is ongoing. The system needs to be kept in balance, not harvesting too many plants or fish at one time, as this would affect the health of the other produce.
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MARS Turbine; Magenn Air Rotor System
These extremely mobile energy generators named MARS, will float high in the air at altitudes ranging from 600 to 1,000 feet (183 to 305 meters). The MARS acronym — not to be confused with the red planet — stands for Magenn Air Rotor System, and its concept is actually pretty down to Earth. Magenn originally designed the turbine for locations where setting up a traditional wind farm isn’t realistic: places with a harsh climate like an Antarctic research station or disaster areas that need quick access to power for emergency and medical equipment.
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“Nothing,” No Screw No Glue Office by Joost van Bleiswijk Studio
Nothing commercial creative agency have asked Studio Joost van Bleiswijk to create their new office. Nothing could have been a better name to come up with a modification of waste and low cost materials into a durable, timeless office design. Designer Joost van Bleiswijk discussed with art director Alrik Koudenburg the use of cardboard to do the complete interior, but with a grandeur that suits this award winning company.
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Flow Kitchen by Studio Gorm
Netherlands-based Studio Gorm has created a complete kitchen in which energy is conserved and cooking waste is recycled and used to grow plants.The kitchen utilizes natural phenomenon, like gravity, evaporation, decomposition, and plant growth. The water drips off the dishes, and onto the herbs.
Food scarps are thrown into a garbage disposal/worm composter, that turn it into soil to grow new herbs. Drying dishes hanging from a vertical storage rack drip onto herbs and edible plants, which are grown in carefully positioned containers below.
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Halley Lamp by Vibia
From lighting systems reminiscent of comets, to parasols that provide shade and solar illumination, here an elegant eco-lighting options from Spain called Halley Lamp by Vibia. The Lamp by Vibia is a simple, easy to assemble, portable and lightweight outdoor lighting system that utilizes LED strips to transform any outdoor space into a well lit entertaining environment.
Vibia
Iseami House, Costa Rica by Robles Arquitectos
Created by Robles Arquitectos, the house is isolated from civilization that it has no access to public power cables, sanitation, or water. For the latter, the house uses water from the forest, which also serves as a power source thanks to two low-impact hydroelectric turbines that crank 800kWh. In addition to the generators, the roof can provide up to 10,800kWh of electricity thanks to its panels. Additional panels heat up the water.
The house uses water from the forest, which is also used as a power source by the two low-impact hydroelectric turbines that generate 800KWh of electricity. Additionally, 10,800KWh of electricity is provided by a rooftop solar array, which has been designed in order to have the orientation and position to maximize electricity generation.
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R-House by Della Valle Bernheimer & Architecture Research Office
R-House was created in full collaboration by Della Valle Bernheimer and Architecture Research Office.The prototype residence that our two design firms envisioned for Syracuse, New York, was a winner of Syracuse University’s “From the Ground Up” competition, held in conjunction with the Syracuse Center of Excellence and Home Headquarters as part of their initiative to revitalize the Near Westside neighborhood of Syracuse.
R-House presents an affordable, innovative paradigm for minimal to net-zero energy consumption embodied in architecture that is meant to nurture the spirit and engage the community as much as it is meant to perform in terms of cost and sustainability. Wrapped within its iconic exterior are expansive and luminous spaces that require only the equivalent energy of a hair dryer for heating.
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Boeing Team’s Innovative SUGAR Volt Concept
Boeing’s team came up with several Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) concepts, including this one, the SUGAR Volt. The most noticeable element of the design is that the wings are long and skinny–longer from tip to tip, and shorter from leading edge to trailing edge–and as a result, truss-braced.
The innovative SUGAR Volt concept is driven by an electric battery gas turbine hybrid propulsion system that can reduce overall fuel usage by 70%.
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Passive House in Bessancourt, France by Karawitz Architecture
The French firm Karawitz Architecture have developed a passive house in Bessancourt, France.
The house is closed to the north to limit heat loss and opened to the south benefiting from free solar energy. aesthetically, it is an abstract replica of a traditional house.The second skin of the houses design is untreated bamboo which envelopes the frame in solid wood panels.
The cladding, which becomes grey over time, drew inspiration from traditional barns in the part of the Ile-de-France region where the house is situated. It passes in front of the windows to the north and finishes by unfolding on to the roof. Identical shutters are fitted on large bay windows to the south to provide shade and light in the house, during the day or at night.
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Terrestrial Shrub Rover by Justin Shull
Terrestrial Shrub Rover fits easily into a number of environments ranging from suburbia to the urban forest, offering a green option for short distance travel. It is a solar-powered vehicle that looks, as you may have guessed, exactly like a large shrub.
According to Shull, “In the spirit of NASA and its forthcoming 2020 lunar expeditions in preparation for colonizing the moon, the Terrestrial Shrub Rover presents the opportunity to explore terrestrial and social environments back on Earth from within a manned, foliage bedecked, solar electric powered rover.”
