Foster and Partners in collaboration with d’Unienville and Associates Architects have designed a discreet and environmentally friendly masterplan for a series of residences in Corniche Bay, Mauritius. The main concept was to create a contemporary architecture that blends harmoniously with the lush landscape. Fingers of tropical vegetation are inserted into the buildings that respond to the contours of the landscape and recedes into the green totality.
The buildings are equipped with green technologies such as water collectors and solar panels. All the building materials are indigenous and mostly 100% recyclable. An interesting feature of the project is the undulating roof that allows for cross ventilation and few vertical supports.
From far away, the picture above might look like a fuzzy coconut sticking out of the water, but upon closer inspection, you'll see that it's actually a massive building made almost entirely of bamboo and other natural materials. Designed and constructed by Vo Trong Nghia, who is known as a somewhat of a bamboo building virtuoso, the domed structure is called the Water and Wind Cafe and resides in the Binh Duong province of Vietnam. Not only does the cafe showcase how versatile and strong bamboo, which is a rapid-growing renewable material, can be, it was also built without the use of even one nail!
The Villanueva Public Library is a stunning example of how local materials can be used to create sustainable and low maintenance buildings. Bogota-based architects, Alejandro Piñol, Germain Ramirez, Miguel Torres, and Carlos Meza, are responsible for the 16,000 square foot public library in Columbia. Former guerrilla fighters from the area worked as part of a rehabilitation program on the library, which is constructed out of locally-sourced river rocks and sustainably harvested pine.
Bionic-Arch is a Futuristic Green Skyscraper for Taichung / Vincent Callebaut
By: admin | September - 12 - 2011
For the hundredth birthday of the creation of “Taiwan R.O.C.”, the main aim of the Taichung City Government is to honour the local building traditions and symbolize the new Taiwan dynamics into economic, political, social and cultural achievements.
International model of the green building of the 21st century, the innovative and pioneering design of the Bionic Arch by Vincent Callebaut Architecture is part of the new master plan “Taichung Gateway – Active Gateway City”, the future urban oasis for lifestyle, innovation, culture and biodiversity in the heart of Central Taiwan.
Newest US City to Be Built Just for Testing Green Technologies
by Andrew Michler, 09/13/11
Up to 20 square miles of virgin desert in New Mexico will soon be home to the nation’s newest town, only with a twist — no one will live there. Developer Pegasus Global Holdings (a communication, technology and defense contractor) and the state of New Mexico have announced plans to create a “mid-sized” smart city that they are calling The Center for Testing, Evaluation and Innovation.
Process Zero: Retrofit Resolution, Los Angeles, United States Energy-generating algae to power 1960s-era GSA Office Building in Los Angeles
Architects and engineers from HOK / Vanderweil showcased their creativity and sustainable design expertise with a winning net zero building retrofit design in Metropolis magazine’s Next Generation® Design Competition 2011. Young designers were challenged to develop net zero energy solutions for a 46-year-old federal office building in downtown Los Angeles. In alignment with President Barack Obama’s mandate that federal agencies lower their greenhouse gas emissions, the building’s owner, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), has a goal of reducing building emissions 30% by 2020.
Hamburg to Convert a WWII Flak Bunker Into a Renewable Energy Bunker
by Mark Boyer, 11/14/11
What do you do with a virtually indestructible, 130-foot-tall flak bunker that was built to protect German citizens from Allied bombs? In the Hamburg district of Wilhelmsburg, local authorities are planning to convert an enormous World War II-era bunker into renewable energy power plant that will supply power to 3,000 nearby households.
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