(TrendHunter.com) I’ve dreamed of going to Greece my entire life; there’s a magical lure to the Mediterranean I just can’t describe. Planning trips (even if I won’t actually be going in the near future) is half the fun, so when I discovered a luxurious art hotel, the Classical Baby Grand Hotel in Athens, I wa…
(TrendHunter.com) Godiva unveiled a room made entirely from chocolate in Manhatten this week.
And it really is simply ALL chocolate. For example, opening the books will reveal piles of chocolates and not words. Lighting the logs in the fire, or the candles, may also be a bad idea as they too are made from chocolate.…
(TrendHunter.com) The greenest way to check in for a flight may also be the most yellow. Madrid wants visitors to know from the moment they land that its citizens are concerned with the environment.
The $7.4 billion Terminal 4 at the Madrid Barajas International Airport has a canopy of wavy bamboo ceilings with bui…
(TrendHunter.com) Seoul, South Korea, is a city that is continually transforming itself, from huts a hundred years ago to high rises now. A new project is scheduled for the Yongsan business district that will cost $31 billion and transform the gritty to the glittery. The 152 story centerpiece is a pear-shaped landmar…
(TrendHunter.com) In a battle to claim title to world’s cleanest cities, Paris has come up with a concept for anti-smog architecture.
What looks like the top half of a drinking straw poking out of the water, and a giant white and green football laying on a road is actually a new prototype by architect Vincent Calleb…
(TrendHunter.com) On why Dubai would want the longest arch bridge in the world and spend lots of money on it, I wouldn’t know. The most publicized emirate in the UAE has already chosen the New York architectural firm FXFOWLE to design the longest arch bridge that will be 205 meters tall and 667 meters long.
The Dh3…
(TrendHunter.com) The biggest pyramid in the world will no longer be in Egypt; rather, it will be in Dubai. As part of a new project called Falcon City, Dubailand will be adding replicas of the world’s wonders that will, from an aerial view, resemble the shape of a falcon. The buildings will be used for commercial an…
(TrendHunter.com) Flat pack furniture is exactly what it sounds like: furniture that starts out entirely as sheets of wood, metal or even cardboard.
There is a range of home decor items and furnishing availabe in thsi concept, from chairs and stools to entire flat pack houses.
In addition to being clever and aest…
(TrendHunter.com) NEC has designed a phone that in itself is the fuel cell. A hollow “flask†will hold the fuel, and what looks to be a valve at the bottom of the phone will be used to re-fuel your fuel cell powered phone.
Set to come out in 2008, the phone will feature a very cool touch screen that will be vis…
(TrendHunter.com) The search for the ultimate eco-friendly transportation continues with the Car-On-A-Stick. Or Largest-Streetlamp-Ever. The idea behind Ross Lovegrove’s car is that doubles as a street lamp, so there are no worries about parking. It would be solar powered, voice-activated and carry four people in a b…
(TrendHunter.com) We’ve seen the foldable crib for the nomad, and the bullet proof crib for 50 cent’s kids, but we haven’t really seen a crib that comes with a 3 year warranty and option of fairy godmother, Tinkerbelle or a regular nymph, that is until the carriage crib.
Like something straight out of a Disney…
(TrendHunter.com) I’ve always loved the idea of renovating a church or warehouse as a living space. The people at Zecc just reinforced how cool it would be to take a structure that perhaps has outlived its usefulness and recasting its role as a home. This church space is an outstanding example of what can be done wit…
DLD panel on Future City (Part 1)
Last part of the notes i took during Future City, a panel curated by Carson Chan and Johannes Fricke and moderated by Kazys Varnelis. After Richard Saul Wurman, Patrik Schumacher, Charles Renfro, Bjarke Ingels took the stage for a memorable performance. I thought he deserved a whole post because his work is slightly less famous than the one of the other panelists. Besides, i never found the time to blog the works That he and his team were showing at the exhibition New Faces in European Architecture: David Adjaye, Jürgen Mayer H., PLOT=BIG+JDS, SeARCH at the NAI in Maastricht last year.
After co-founding PLOT Architects in 2001, Bjarke Ingels started his own office in 2006: BIG / Bjarke Ingels Group. Their work combines experimentation sustained by specific knowledge, social responsibility and humour. Three of his projects were the focus of his presentation: Superharbour, REN and Kløverkarreen.
The Superharbour project was an attempt to re-invent the role of an architect regarding the constant evolution of seas. It started with a proposal to “re-design Denmark, to re-brand the country”.
Video of the Superharbour project:
The project started with a few facts:
– 40% of the coast line in Denmark is urbanized (compared to only 12% of the whole country), urbanity in the country is defined by the proximity to the sea. 2/3 of the Danes live within 5 km of the sea. But it is harbour and its industries that occupy the best plots of land.
– Containerization. 98% of goods travel on ships. Over time container ships have become bigger ad bigger and they also reach deeper in the ocean. As a result, boats cannot pass between Germany and Finland anymore. Solution envisioned by BIG: bridge the two countries by combining a bridge and a tunnel: the hybrid solution would cost less than building a full-length bridge or tunnel and would create an artificial island.
BIG proposed to use the island (located thus at the intersection between Europe and Scandinavia as well as between the “new” Europe and the rest of the world) as a Baltic super harbour where all the shipping traffic would be concentrated. According to BIG’s analysis, the island would liberate 20 billion euros of prime real estate in Denmark’s 12 biggest cities for new forms of life, instead of pushing people to the periphery of the cities where they want to live. Shaped like a star, the harbour will be organized around piers, each of them focusing its activities on its own program and uses.
People’s Building (aka REN)
Video of the project:
The principle of Yin Yang and the 5 elements of Feng Shui are embedded in the architecture of the Hotel & Conference Center Shanghai (REN)
It actually started as a project for a hotel in Sweden. But the building was never made. Later on, the architects discovered that the shape of the building is the same as the Chinese character ‘Ren’ which means People. The Chinese liked the building as they felt that it “bridges the gap between traditional China and progressive China.”
“The REN Building is a proposal for a hotel, sports and conference center for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The building is conceived as two buildings merging into one. The first building, emerging from the water, is devoted to the activities of the body, and houses the sports and water culture center. The second building emerging from land, is devoted to the spirit and enlightment, and houses the conference center and meeting facilities. The two buildings meet in a 1000 room hotel, a building for living. The building becomes the Chinese sign for ‘The People’, and a recognizable landmark for the World Expo in China.”
Kløverkarréen (aka The Clover Block):
Having followed the debate of the skyrocketing cost of market rate housing in the centre of Copenhagen, the designers of BIG wanted to come up with a new affordable housing proposal which would create 2,000 units. Their initiative came on the heels of Mayoral candidate Ritt Bjerregaard campaign pledge to fund 5,000 units of affordable housing to teachers, firemen, nurse and community service professionals, etc who can’t afford to live in the center anymore. Following their habit of not waiting for a competition to be launched or for a developer to bring the designers a proposal, they started the Kløverkarréen project at their own initiative.
Kløverkarréen is built along the perimeter of a large recreational area, and will house 2,000 residents without losing a single recreational field. It is located closed to public transportation hubs, and to the city centre. The structure would provide generous daylight flats, a wind and noise barrier for people playing football in the recreational field (+ an audience for any match is always on hand), and it would be covered by a rooftop that can be used as a 3 kilometre promenade. BIG dubbed it “the Great Wall of China of housing.”
The new mayor was seduced by the idea, the football clubs who usually train on the field agreed with the idea. However, some people in the neighbourhood did not want to share their green oasis with the less wealthy and opposed the development. A survey was carried and and it emerged that 64% of Copenhagen’s citizens thought the project was a good one. A few months later, it was decided that project would indeed be carried out.
Bjarke Ingels believes that the role of architects is a constantly evolving one, they have the responsibility to make sure that the city evolves in the right direction.
(TrendHunter.com) Seeming trying to prove that too much is not nearly enough the Dubai developer of “The World†has just announced plans to build the “The Universe†which they will squeeze in between “The World†and Dudai’s increasingly crowded coast.
“The Universe†will occupy 3,000 hectares of l…
(TrendHunter.com) One has only ever dreamed of being able to fly half way across the world in as little time as possible. Being in a cramped little seat next to Jabba the hut for 10 hrs is not ideal. However LAPCAT (Long-Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies) is a project funded by Europa General R&D;tha…
Back from the DLD conference which was held in Munich on January 20-22. You can’t count on me to report on the whole conference. However, Ulrike Reinhard is busy posting her notes and videos from the conference on her blog and you can find online the videos of some of the panels and presentations. I’d recommend Craig Venter & Richard Dawkins’ discussion on Life: a gene-centric view and some of you might be interested in Design: from thoughts to actions, a panel featuring Greg Lynn, John Maeda, Yves Behar, Konstantin Grcic and Paola Antonelli.
The most exciting panel for me was dedicated to cities of the future.
Carson Chan, co-director of Program, one of my favourite galleries in Berlin, and Johannes Fricke, DLD associate curator of art and architecture’, set up the cast. In the order of appearance: Kazys Varnelis as the moderator; Richard Saul Wurman as the character whose mission is to make the complex clear, Patrik Schumacher from Zaha Hadid Architects was the guy who shoots fascinating key concepts faster than his shadow, Charles Renfro from Diller Scofidio + Renfro as the archetype of the creative New Yorker and Bjarke Ingels in the role of the annoyingly young and bright rising star.
Cities are communication systems
Varnelis (the book he wrote together with Robert Sumrell, Blue Monday, should be on you Must Read list if you’re into “Stories of Absurd Realities and Natural Philosophies”) compared cities to communication systems. History shows how the two of them are closely interconnected. Think of the impact of the commercialization of Graham Bell’s invention in the 19th century and how the suburbs wouldn’t have developed the way they have without the tv. But what about the 21st century? What is the impact of the new media on cities and architecture and vice-versa?
192021
Richard Wurman presented the 5-year project he is currently dedicating his energy to: 192021. The research is based on 19 cities which will count 20 millions inhabitants in 2021. The aim is to collect information about urban and business planning and its impact on consumers around the world. Corporate infrastructures who ambition to work “globally” are actually not ready for life, communication and business in these intense urban hubs. Ultimately, 192021 will provide a “roadmap for understanding the world ahead.”
Visit the website to get some facts and figures about cities. The one i found most striking was the top 10 of the largest cities throughout the ages. In turns out that Cordova was the most populated city back in 1000, followed by Kaifeng in China and Istanbul. Paris appears in the top 10 only in 1500, ranking as the 8th largest city at the time. London appears as number 2 (behind Beijing) in 1800. In 2005, London is number 22 and Paris is not there anymore. Tokyo is currently the biggest city.
Parametric Urbanism
Patrik Schumacher mentioned that the challenge today for architects is to be able to comprehend and reflect in their work the increase in society complexity. Order and lack of complexity bring disorientation A quick look at the way urban areas were built in the 50s brought us makes the case clearer.
Station Hungerburg designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, in Innsbruck, Austria (Photograph by David Levene)
Schumacher had something like 12 minutes to run through a presentation which i imagine would usually last an hour. He therefore invaded the screen and our brains with a fast-paced series of images, renderings and key concepts that the Zaha Hadid office is working on. The main source of inspiration when exploring well-managed chaos and cacophony is nature or “Complex Order” (e.g. beehive). The idea is to simulate this nature, create a “second nature”, to recreate natural systems and inject them into the design process. Key concepts:
Maya Hair Dynamic, Bio Media, Typological Differenciation, Swarm Effects and swarm orientation which could guide you through a complex-looking structure, two swarms interacting, Finding coherence into differences, Moire Effects, develop and re-appropriate genotypes, etc.
Schumacher demonstrated how he and Hadid chose the Thames Gateway area as a testing ground in which to evolve new ways of approaching large-scale urban developments. Driven by architectural rather than town-planning concerns, they used a series of digital design techniques to develop an approach to urban regeneration which they call ‘Parametric Urbanism’.
Image Tate Modern
Hadid and Schumacher started with a research into the historic permutations of different building types in London and internationally. They examined four main building types: individual villas, high-rise towers, slab-shaped buildings and city-blocks. Then they used a modelling software to project these four building types over a base map of the Thames Gateway. They adjusted the model to reflect the area’s current conditions, and used it to speculate on possible forms of future development. They tested multiple combinations of the different building types, often fusing them to create hybrid structures. The outcome of these experiments was documented in a large-scale image with a range of new forms during the Global Cities exhibition at the Tate Modern last Summer.
The Low Down on the High Line and Tales of Architectural Insider Trading
The studio Charles Renfro runs together with Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio is known for blurring the boundaries between architecture, art and technology. His talk focused on how one of their latest endeavours which blurs the lines between architecture, urbanism and the marketplace.
After he turned 40, Renfro bought a property on the 30th street in Manhattan. Coming from Brooklyn, it felt to him as if he had “left New York and entered America” because of the amount of ugly condos and, more generally, the banalization of the city.
Image from The New York Architecture images
The High Line, an elevated railroad stretching 1.45 miles along Manhattan’s Westside, was used as food delivery rail line. Built in 1929, the High Line was partially torn down in 1960 and abandoned in 1980. The remains of the railway structure float above the city and intersect with the heart of hot art in Manhattan: Chelsea.
Many people wanted to get rid of the line. Until the not for profit organization Friends of the High Line decided to save the track and launch a competition to design a master plan for The High Line.
Images of the current state of the High Line show that pristine eco-system has developed since the track has been abandoned, with some plants native from New York and others brought by the food train and wind sewn along the track.
The competition, won by DSR, saved this romantic industrial ground with cracks and decay.
Why keep it? Because the night owl, the bird watchers, people who like to walk, etc. could enjoy spending some time up there. Important: no commercial developer would be allowed on the track.
DRS came with what they cal “Agri-Tecture”, a merger of agriculture and architecture.
Impermeable plank system that allows for a new nature to grow with the cracks. The strategy of agri-tecture combines organic and building materials into a blend of changing proportions that accommodate the wild, the cultivated, the intimate, and the hyper-social. “It’s a nostalgic project,” Renfro admitted. They work with what is already there instead of overlaying new elements above it.
The project keeps the end section of the track visible and abrupt
The first section of the project is already in construction.
The flipside of the High Line project is that some 50 projects of condos have flourished, attracted by the new landmark. The High Line and the building projects that derive from it form the biggest architectural project in the city since the turn of the 20th century. Still, some interesting “Starchitect Condos” should show up in next few years. They’ve been designed by Annabelle Seldorf,
Flank Architects, Peter Poon, Handel Architects, Jean Nouvel, Seven Holl,
Audrey Matlock, Frank Gehry, etc.
That’s a development that DRF had not expected.
Keep reading…. DLD panel on Future City (Part 2)
Image from The New York Architecture images
(TrendHunter.com) Less people go to church today, hence these buildings are often converted to other uses. Some of them for instance become hotels, and here are a few examples.
Located in the heart of Royal Deeside, Scotland, the Auld Kirk is a fine example of a Victorian Scottish Free Church building.
Converted i…
(TrendHunter.com) If you’re afraid of haunted places, this church is probably worth avoiding. The inside of this historical Christian building near Prague, Czechoslovakia is covered in the remains of over 40,000 people. The matter in which it’s done is quite extraordinary as they’ve managed to create some elaborate w…
(TrendHunter.com) These heavenly buildings are actually churches which have been converted into modern homes.
The richly historic architecture of these U.K. buildings makes for a fascinating framework for modern design. Notable features include old beams, arches and pointed ceilings as well as very unique windows. …
This is one of the stairways at Nydalen subway station in Oslo, Norway.
27 meters of delightful light shows.
Just beautiful.
Via: TrendHunter.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
