As Architecture and New Media Get To Know Each Other

Super duper video on the design of the GreenPix Zero Energy media wall in Beijing.

Is Sustainability Boring?

From the May issue of Abitare, an interesting article written by Michael Braungart, who is one-half of the cradle-to-cradle pioneers McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry. The following is an excerpt from the article:

But I can tell you, sustainability is boring. It is just the minimum. Like when you were asked: “How is your relationship with your girlfriend?” What do you say? Sustainable? I’d say: “I am so sorry for you.”

Check out the full article here.

It's the Economy Stupid

Robert Blinn has written "a macroeconomic primer for design(ers) and sustainability" for Core77. Click here to read the article.

An Invisible Memorial

Below is a synopsis of the project from www.markuskinson.de:

"Touched echo" is a minimal medial intervention in public space. The visitors of the Brühl's Terrace (Dresden, Germany) are taken back in time to the night of the terrible air raid on 13th February 1945. In their role as a performer they put themselves into the place of the people who shut their ears away from the noise of the explosions. While leaning on the balustrade the sound of airplanes and explosions is transmitted from the swinging balustrade through their arm directly into into the inner ear (bone conduction).

Disposable Dishes

When it comes to entertaining and special occasions, eco-minded consumers can be torn by two apparently conflicting desires: the need to be green and the easy clean-up made possible by disposable dishes. Thanks to a new innovation from VerTerra, however, that conflict can finally be put to rest.

Architecture that makes energy

The Dynamic Tower is a skyscraper that is also a wind generator.

Changing the Game with Innovations

Thoughts on innovation with Procter & Gamble's CEO, A. G. Lafley - which includes the following question and answer.

"Q. And yet only half of your product innovations succeed. Why isn’t the rate higher?

A. I don’t really want it to be. Human nature is such that, if we push our people to drive the batting average up, they’ll try to hit more safely, take a shorter swing, go for the singles instead of home runs.

But we try to set milestones that innovations must meet at every step along the development process. As soon as they miss one, we allocate the resources to another product moving through the funnel. That’s another difference from the old days, when P.& G. let bad ideas go too far."

Click on the title to read the interview from the NYTimes.

Two Architectures - Video

The architecture theorist Marcos Novak and Bruce Sterling discuss about Novak’s concepts such as “trans-vergence”, “trans-architecture”, “trans-modernity”, “liquid architecture”, “navigable music”, “habitable cinema”, “archimusic”. Architectonic explorations into expanded, mixed and alternative virtual reality.

Design and the Elastic Mind

"Design and the Elastic Mind,” a current exhibition at the New York MoMA running through May 12, brings together a wide range of design, art, architectural, computational and scientific experiments that challenge us to stretch our minds and see how design participates in science and science can be engaged in design.

A New Approach to Marketing Cheap Furniture

To promote yet another "big blue box filled with anything and everything a cost-conscience person needs to adopt a 'designerly' lifestyle" (this time in China), retail giant Ikea has renovated the train that would take you to such a magical place. Now that's thinking. 

Google HQ in Zurich

Talk about shifting the paradigm in office interiors.

Take a look at a gallery of pics here.

9009 Carothers - Crescent Resources

Little's DC and Charlotte offices are teaming up to assist Crescent in developing conceptual master plan and architectural solutions for Crescent's 9009 Carothers site in Nashville, TN. Crescent's intent is to create marketing materials in pursuit of development showcasing their committment to sustainability integrated with a high quality, and customer focused design approach. Eddie, Bo, and Rugel collaborated on assisting Crescent with their efforts. Our concept focuses on creating a series of green public spaces that thread through the site and help to organize and connect the existing buildings with the new. Visitors and employees park their vehicles and traverse these landscaped outdoor rooms on their way to work. Carefully designed and allocated covered walkway canopies will provide shelter during inclement weather so as to contribute to to design of the parks and plazas. The architectural facades will be articulated to maximize solar orientation and visual connectivity to the green public spaces. For the 10 story office building option we would also consider a green roof as part of the sustainable design approach.

Electroluminescent wall for British Airways

Videos coming soon!

Library of Green Building Materials

Rhode Island-based Ecolect, which was founded by two Rhode Island School of Design graduates, hopes to save designers time and money by answering three important questions: where to find sustainable materials, what makes them sustainable, and who else is using them and how. 

Super Sized Fries and Peace of MInd, Body & Soul

New McDonald's franchise shifts the aesthetic theme from gluttony to enlightenment.

Singapore - eVolo '08 Architectural Competition

Ted Givens and Rugel Chiriboga from the Durham and DC offices submitted the above entry boards in the Evolo '08 - Skyscraper Architectural Competition this week. 'eVolo is an international organization dedicated to the development of new architectural ideas. It is a forum of discussion towards excellence in design for the XXI Century.' eVolo

As part of our on-going research and emphasize in a holistic approach to design that incorporates sustainable design strategies into all of our projects, we teamed up to pursue the exploration of sustainable ideas in high rise mixed use residential design.

Our theoretical project is based in Jurong East, Singapore. The site benifits from its adjacency to a mass transit line station and beautiful natural lake amenity. It is located between the Chinese garden and a heavy industrial district. Culture, sustainability, and innovation particular to climatic influences in the region were primary drivers for our concept development. We gained inspiration from the Wah Kim orchid, the national flower that pulls water directly from the air. There is inherent beauty in its form, and efficiency in the manner by which the orchid draws sustenance from its environment. This flower became a wonderful source of inspiration in continuing to develop a sustainable strategy for our mixed-use hotel and residential towers.

Our intent is to marry site specific sustainablity strategies with a new interpretation of the vibrant clutter found in the traditional Malay village, and the streamlined efficency of modern Singapore. We seek an organic expression that will provide a stark contrast to the existing architectural landscape. Our heavy use of gardens both in the landscape and in the towers provides a point of departure in a sea of brutalist housing blocks adjacent to our site.

The sustainability strategy for the towers is locally referential and provides for an environmentally inspired cooling and ventilation approach. The tower placements capitalize on the prevailing north winds to provide thru ventilation into the bldg.. The roofs of the modular pod units for the residences utilize a water-reclamation system to capture rainwater, purify it, and use it for cooling and gray water use. Energy for the system is generated by the bldg. integratede photovoltaic cells in the double skin glass facade on the west Facade. Some of the pods have a green roof to assist with cooling and terraces for the residents use. The configuration of the pods also provide shading for the south facades and create dynamic exterior and interior sky gardens capitalizing on climatic influences.

Our intent in to continue to develop these ideas with continuing research and turn this into a viable, real project.

These are additional images:

Phipps Tower - Atlanta, Georgia

The renderings at the top depict the final configuration of the Phipps Tower project in Buckhead, Atlanta, Georgia.

DESCRIPTION

Context:

Phipps Tower establishes itself as a premier address in the Buckhead Community, one of the most prestigious locactions in the the Southeast.
The project is prominently situated at the intersection of Lenox Road and Phipps Boulevard. Rising gracefully adjacent to Phipps Plaza Mall, this twenty four story, glass tower presents timeless proportions and infuses a contemporary edge in its simplicity and sophisticated elegance. At the south facing main entrance plaza, guests and tenants alike are invited to gather for events, and socials, or engage in the wonderful public garden for respite. This public green space becomes a focal point in the vicinity receiving pedestrian activity from the neighboring business, hospitality, and retail venues. The front facade glass lobby blurs the line between inside and out as softly curving marble walls frame the lobby and introduce all to the prominent business address in Buckhead.

Building:

The Phipps Tower project has been registered with the U.S. Green Building Council seeking LEED Certification. The building will be industry recognized for utilizing energy conservation and sustainable design strategies that include:

· High performance, energy efficient insulated glazing coupled with the long facades oriented facing north and south to maximize the benefits of natural daylight.
· Energy efficient building M.E.P. systems minimizing utility consumption.
· Utilization of Green Power.
· Sustainable Sites practices.
· Water efficient landscaping.
· Construcation waste management.
· Indoor environmental quality control
· Energy and Atmosphere – Measurement & Verification , Base building.

RENTABLE SQUARE FEET 475,000 rentable square feet.

AVERAGE FLOOR SIZE 25,000 rentable square feet.

EXTERIOR SKIN

Custom curtainwall with 1” high performance insulated glazing accented at the main entry with stone and aluminum columns

INTERIOR LOBBY

Polished “Crema Marfil” marble floors and walls accented by stainless steel bands frame Etimoe, quartered sliced millwork panels. The elevator portals are carved out of the millwork panels and utilize stainless steel and marble to create a strong sense of entry.

The project site contruction has broken ground this month. Project is scheduled to complete construction in 2009.

Founder Credit Union (Additional images)

This project merited the posting of additional information shedding a little more background on Little's process to get to this point.

Founders Credit Union presented us with a great opportunity to capitalize on a primary goal of our Design Methodology, that is to implement a multidisciplinary approach to practice from inception of the project development process. Our team emphasized a holistic approach to design incorporating sustainable design strategies that very much depended on the expertise and full collaboration of our client, and all of our members representing, Architecture, Land Development, Interior, and Engineering.

This presentation is part of Little's package put together to solicit client approval and sign-off of our Visioning phase. It will provide a strong foundation for our project development as we proceed.

Founders Federal Credit Union

We presented our process and concepts to the client this past Monday and I believe we blew them away. Eddie is trying to incorporate the Design Methodology in this process. We established the project goals and parameters from the Visioning session we had and developed the concepts around those. These boards show some of the results of the programming interiors has completed and the client is currently validating. The owner has invited us to come to their board meeting tomorrow and present the process and final concepts to the board.

Where as typically we go in to present one final concept, we presented two. Both are very strong schemes, but have different attitudes. We wanted the client to tell us if the building was to be a bold gesture towards the future (as they stated in the Visioning session) or a subtle building that wouldn't offend their main members which are the everyday, blue collar worker (which also came out during the Visioning session).

I would love to hear some comments/critique if you have a minute.

Thanks,

choyt

Founders Federal - 02.25.08 Presentation

The Advantages of Closing a Few Doors

Do options help us or hurt us? Check out the article from Science section of the NYTimes using the link above. Below is an exerpt from the article.

"Xiang Yu was a Chinese general in the third century B.C. who took his troops across the Yangtze River into enemy territory and performed an experiment in decision making. He crushed his troops’ cooking pots and burned their ships. He explained this was to focus them on moving forward — a motivational speech that was not appreciated by many of the soldiers watching their retreat option go up in flames. But General Xiang Yu would be vindicated, both on the battlefield and in the annals of social science research."