The Cube, the smallest eco-home in the world
If you think your home is a little cramped, take a look at this one. (Pics)
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Arc Island – An Artificial Floating Island the Size of Manhattan
Arc Island
Entrepreneur Bernard Way has created a Kickstarter Page for an incredible project: building an artificial floating island the size of Manhattan.
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Metropol Parasol – World’s Largest Wooden Structure Opens in Spain
Metropal Parasol
March 27 marked the opening of the “Metropol Parasol”, the Redevelopment of Plaza de la Encarnación in Sevilla, designed by J. MAYER H. Architects. The final completion of the project is scheduled for April 2011. (Pics)
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Rain Collecting Skyscraper Cuts Water Usage
Rain is an under valued resource.
Gutters aren’t pretty. Most architects, given the choice, try to find a way to conceal them so they don’t turn an elegant roofline into a clunky mess. But when it comes to the ‘Capture the Rain’ skyscraper, gutters are perhaps the most important element of the structure, and they’ve been integrated in a way that makes them a design statement of their own accord.
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Hexayurt
A hexayurt in action.
The hexayurt is an update on Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome and is a sturdy, affordable, easy-to-build temporary shelter. The geometry has been adjusted slightly to make it easier to build domes from materials like plywood, insulation, plastic, cardboard and more. The hexayurts are made from only one kind of triangle: an 8′ x 8′ isosceles triangle, rather than the strangely-shaped triangles which are standard for Fuller-style geodesic domes. They are not strictly geodesic, either, but it doesn’t seem to matter much in practice. The slightly stiff, angular lines look a lot like any other dome.
The most common place to see hexayurts is at Burning Man…
Translucent Concrete
Concrete with a special twist.
This special concrete tile allows light to pass through. The tile contains optical fibers that make up about 5% of its surface area. The fibers are distributed uniformly throughout the surface to allow an outline to be clearly visible on the other side. The tiles have the unique combination of being nearly unbreakable and translucent.
The material is made with a combination of optical fibers and fine concrete…
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New Orleans Arcology Habitat (NOAH) – Floating U.S. City to Shelter 40,000
New Orleans Arcology Habitat
Designers in Boston have created a unique Noah’s Ark that can house 40,000 people at a time and is a city in itself, complete with hotels, shops, casinos and schools. (Pics)
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The Water-Scraper Habitat
Visions of water dwellings.
Taking advantage of the 71% of the Earth covered in water, the “Water-Scraper” is a partially submerged, self-contained habitat. A combination of tidal, solar and wind sources generate power for the floating behemoth while garden acreage just above the water line produces food for the structure’s inhabitants.
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Blobitecture – The Rise of Organic Architecture
Blobitecture example in Selfridges, Birmingham UK
Yet what is blobitecture? It is a term for an architectural school in which organic shapes are the aim, bulging, cellular, amoeba-like buildings its expression. Although the term did not appear in print until 2002, blob architecture had been used as an expression in architectural circles since the middle of the previous decade. Notably it was the New York Times which first brought it to greater attention, as part of William Safire’s On Language column. (Pics)
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Circular Walking Bookshelf
A new twist on circular reasoning?
DAVID GARCIA STUDIO is an experimental architectural platform and has put forth some pretty awesome and thought provoking creations including this circular walking book case. From the site:
The Archive Series are investigations on space and books, aiming to blur the borders between art and design. Clearly non functional, they aim to appeal to the senses, creating a narrative which more often than not, reaches the absurd…
Skyscraper Building Boom in China
Shanghai Tower illustrations are displayed outside its construction site in Shanghai.
Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao, in Chicago today, will see a city famed as the birthplace of the skyscraper, for decades the towering symbol of U.S. economic ambition and power. These days, China has taken over as the skyscraper’s home.
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Japanese Post-Apocalyptic Housing Springs Up with the Push of a Button
EDV-01
We’ve seen many post-apocalyptic housing concepts before, but none have been quite as, well, realistic as the Japanese EDV-01. Daiwa House is actually producing these houses, which can spring up into mobile-houses with the push of a button. (Video)
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