Connected Construction

Floating Barn by NRJA This is a quite cool concept, which...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:18:29 +0100

Floating Barn by NRJA

This is a quite cool concept, which combines the ideas of house boats and cozy wood cabins. Latvian architects of NRJA (No Rules, Just Architecture) created a concept for a so-called Floating Barn. The houseboat features two storeys, a living room, bathroom and a sleeping area. On see-level there is also a small deck for sun-bathing. The architects tried to create a consistent look by using same materials for walls and roof, which spreads a modern and warm atmosphere. In the storage room the boat features tanks for clean water, wintered greywater and fuel. Unfortunately there are no more information about this interesting project on their website.

Selgascano Head Office In the adjacent woods near to Madrid,...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 20:10:00 +0100

Selgascano Head Office

In the adjacent woods near to Madrid, Spanish architects Jose Selgas and Lucia Cano of Selgascano created a very unique office experience.

Falling leaves, animals, and wildlife pass by, creating a shifting forest landscape that changes throughout the day. Employees can also look up into the trees and sky through the curved part of the glass casing. The office is formed like an aerodynamic tube with huge windows acting as both a window and a skylight. Half of the building is embedded in the ground, which provides an excellent degree of insulation. During Madrid’s hot summers, the building stays cool naturally, with less need for air conditioning.

The extraordinary office creates an unique and intimate atmosphere to nature to be both cozy and inspiring! The innovative architecture was beautifully photographed by Iwan Baan.

3D printed Facilities on the Moon The future is here. Imagine...

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:30:00 +0100

3D printed Facilities on the Moon

The future is here. Imagine huge 3D printers that are able to print buildings out of the materials of the moon. This is no joke and London-based architects Foster + Partners have revealed plans about such a science-fiction project in partnership with the European Space Agency.

“The technology will allow the team to use local materials on the moon as a building material, meaning they can print entire buildings from scratch.”

The 3D printer itself will spray binding solution onto the sand-like material, building up structures one layer by one.

“First, we needed to mix the simulated lunar material with magnesium oxide. This turns it into ‘paper’ we can print with,’ explains monolite founder Enrico Dini. “Then for our structural ‘ink’ we apply a binding salt which converts material to a stone-like solid. Our current printer builds at a rate of around 2 m per hour, while our next-generation design should attain 3.5 meters per hour, completing an entire building in a week.”

If this whole 3D printing movement is evolving - nothing will stay the same anymore. Find out more!

CC on Tour - This is Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of the World’s...

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:47:00 +0100

CC on Tour - This is Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the World’s most expensive cities to live according to Forbes and the city itself proves it from the start. Paying for an apartment of 100m² around $100,000 USD per month without any furniture is a statement! It is getting even more unbelievable when you want to buy real estate.

In May 2012 the most highest price for real estate was payed ever: $55,000 USD for just one square meter!

The GDP of Hong Kong is $35,000 USD per year and there are 16,000 people living on just one square kilometer. This is not only explaining the high real estate rates, but is also making Hong Kong to one of the most populous areas worldwide - next to Monaco. Inhabitants, who are earning less money share apartments with 10 others, dividing the space with boxes out of cardboard or wood, which are not bigger than two square meters. One cage or box costs around $100 to $150 USD per month.

When it comes to architecture Hong Kong features probably the most stunning skyline along cities like New York or Dubai. The architectural approach to set up the city in a vertical way is very unique in the world and this is a standalone reason to visit this place. Hong Kong is so diverse in every way! You can jump right into the trouble of street markets filled with thousands of people and then just switch from the stress and take a ferry to the small islands like Peng Chau and enjoy life at the beaches. The city is impressing and the business opportunities are great with direct connections to the many factories of China and the superb harbor. This makes Hong Kong to one of the most important cities for economical reasons. It is a great mixture of trouble, science fiction and tradition.

Photography and text by Felix Dorner. Released under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0!

Sky City is an awesome project by Broad Sustainable Construction...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:20:00 +0100

Sky City is an awesome project by Broad Sustainable Construction in China! This skyscraper is a superlative in every sense: It is going to be the biggest in the world and will be built in less than 90 days!

“At this very moment (January 5^th 2013) Broad Sustainable Construction is building world’s tallest building – Sky City –1, which is almost a kilometer high (838 m/2749 ft to be precise) with 220 floors. They are set to complete the construction of this building within 90 days. This is remarkable and revolutionary. They claim to prefabricate 95% of building off site. Guess what, whole world is trying to bring lessons learned from manufacturing to construction (in the form of lean principles from more than 20 years now) and this project’s team is writing history by doing just opposite. They are using best of both worlds. They are building one of a kind product (this building) and they are using assembly lines to build 95% of it.”

Vishal Porwal is explaining the connection to a proper BIM integration and how we can learn from that new approach. This will change everything!

Further Reading:
BIM + LEAN + GREEN - World’s Tallest Building Sky City-1 Changsha China and BIM, Lean and Green - What might be coming?

These awesome shots from various rooftops are made by Aurelie...

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:59:00 +0100

These awesome shots from various rooftops are made by Aurelie Curie. Her series ‘Above’ shows cities from the birds eye view and spreads an atmosphere of neo colonial societies of future cities like shown in Blade Runner or Minority Report, but this is reality.

“Aurelie Curie is a photographer who explores the world, high and low, to shoot rare, urban vantage points filled with mystery and wonder. In her series, Above, Curie climbed to to the top of buildings and bridges to capture the many quiet moments that occur in a city. In each photograph, she combines a broad urban composition with the close details of buildings and bridge architecture to form her collection of fascinating cityscapes. Curie says, “I wander the hidden places and find beauty in infrastructure.”

More of these awesome photos can be found here.

4 Modular Hotels you might like! A new trend is spotted, which...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:00:38 +0100

4 Modular Hotels you might like!

A new trend is spotted, which consist of modular-structured hotels with beautiful designs. People like to experience adventures and with that concept it gets possible to sleep in the trees, on mountains and relax just in between nature and awake with the birds. Hotels are not longer looking contrary to the landscape but getting one unit with it. These modular concepts provide small cabin-like space for residents arranged piece by piece and located at special places on Earth. Here we go with a list of hotels you need to visit:

Juvet Landscape Hotel - Jenson & Skodvin realized a nice concept in the woods of Norway.

Igloo Hotel - This hotel in Kakslauttanen, Finland is worth a visit because it is offering its guests a great view on the Northern sky. Spotting Norther Lights is possible there and probably a once in a lifetime moment!

Whitepod - This modular hotel in the Swiss Alps is located beautifully in between the snow-covered mountain slopes near Les Giettes. It consist of 15 luxurious igloos. Residing there must be awesome!

Baumgeflüster - This is a treehouse hotel in Germany near to Bad Zwischenahn. People like treehouses because they offer typical excitement we know from childhood. Treehouses are hidden, dangerous to get in and lift you up from the ground providing shelter. Maybe this is your next stop, when escaping from the stress in cities to the balance of nature.

Vertical designed cities might be a trend, which I documented...

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:51:00 +0100

Vertical designed cities might be a trend, which I documented already here! The architects of MVRDV proposed a kind of skyscraper that combines multiple aspects of a city in one object. Peruri 88 is a project based in Jakarta, where densification and ecological improvements are needed!

“The 400 meter tall tower, part of a developer’s bid competition for the Jl. Palatehan 4 site in Jakarta, mixes retail, offices, housing, luxury hotels, parking and cultural content.”

The structure of the building is less complex than one might think, and consists of four regular towers, which rise up between bridging floors. The construction can be matched to satisfy regulations and budget of the investor. If this team is going to win the construction a number of international hotels, retailers and real-estate operators have shown interest.

Peruri 88 is a cooperative venture between MVRDV, ARUP, the Jerde Partnership and developer Wijaya Karya.

JUST SPOTTED Okay, this looks weird. Residential houses on top...

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 12:56:00 +0100

JUST SPOTTED

Okay, this looks weird. Residential houses on top of a mall! Are you serious? Maybe this picture is the perfect shot for stating the trend that cities are developing vertically!

In the city of Zhuzhou a real estate developer decided to build four large, single homes on the roof of a several stories high mall.

Actually the investor did not get the permission to use the roof for residential housing, but he will use them as offices instead. I really like the idea of using rooftops, but in this case it is somehow aimed to high. A green roof with a nice park would be better for inner city locations like a mall.

Further Reading:
Pop Up City - Houses Pop Up On Roof Of Chinese Shopping Mall

Never seen such useless architecture. Nevertheless it looks...

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:03:56 +0200

Never seen such useless architecture. Nevertheless it looks quite fascinating. Most people don’t get the trick that this piece is no building at all. It’s a piece of art. Art can be useless, but in an abstract sense never is. It tells always a story or makes people be astonished.

“The Cerro del Obispo lookout point is a tall, concrete monolith along a pilgrimage trail in Mexico. Designed by Christ & Gantenbien, the “pilgrims column” stands like an extruded amoeba or giant Aalto vase made out of concrete.”

As I indicated before the monolith has many haters, when viewing comments about that project on other websites: “Ridiculous,” “useless,” “vaginal phallus,” are the statements, that are floating around. People have a lot to say about this simple concrete tower. Most people don’t get the point, that this piece is somehow art and it’s purpose was to spread spirituality rather than utility.

This highrise building features a long development history due...

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:04:00 +0200

This highrise building features a long development history due to fiancial problems. First of all it is beautifully designed by Herzog & De Meuron and named ‘56 Leonard Street’. It is the first skyscraper to built for the architects and will be a 57-story residential condominium building at the intersection of Church Street and Leonard Street in the Tribeca Historic District of downtown Manhattan (New York), where it will rise above cobbled streets and historic 19th century neighbors.

“With its articulated surfaces, dramatic cantilevers, profiled slab edges, profusion of balconies, expanses of glass, and views from downtown Manhattan to as far as the Atlantic Ocean, Herzog & de Meuron’s 56 Leonard Street breaks down the old image of the high-rise as a sleek, hermetically sealed urban object to propose instead a thoughtful, daring and ultimately dazzling new alternative — the iconic American skyscraper re-envisioned as a pixilated vertical layering of individually sculpted, highly customized, graceful private residences opening to the atmosphere.”

In late 2008 work on the building stopped as the recession hits the investors, that failed to raise the last part of the project’s $600 million in financing. This week it was announced that the construction can go on, finally. While the design plans have not changed that much it is not sure whether the stainless steel scultpure (second picture) designed by British artist Anish Kapoor is going to be released or not. The new time-table sets a completion date for spring 2016. It would be such a pity if this ambitious design object of a building could not be released.

World Building of the Year! Cooled Conservatories at Gardens by...

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:12:00 +0200

World Building of the Year!

Cooled Conservatories at Gardens by the Bay is elected by a jury of 75 members as the world building of the year 2012 at the World Architecture Festival. This impressive constructions was built with the intention to support Singapur’s vision to transform the city into a ‘garden’ and to showcase climate changes. The two main complexes cover an area of 20.000 sqm including the largest climate-controlled glass-houses in the world.

“They provide a spectacular, all-weather attraction and comprise a 1.28 hectare cool dry conservatory (the ‘Flower Dome’) and a 0.73 hectare cool moist conservatory (the ‘Cloud Forest’). Each has its own distinct character, but both explore the horticulture of those environments most likely to be affected by climate change.”

Further the interior is very spectacular while featuring a planted mountain with a 35m high waterfall. Both domes are covered by a construction that mixes gridshell elements and arches to withstand natural powers like wind but nevertheless staying as light as possible. The gridshell is very fragile and can only support it’s own weight, while the arches are set away from the surface of the envelope to protect the gridshell, which is also one of the biggest in the world. The commission to design the 54 hectare Bay South garden in Singapur was won in 2006 by a team led by Grant Associates and including Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Atelier One, Atelier Ten, Land Design and Davis Langdon and Seah.

Well deserved! Congratulations.

This stunning photography comes from Ward Roberts, who is...

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:59:47 +0200

This stunning photography comes from Ward Roberts, who is presenting his first book named ‘Courts’. Roberts traveled around the world to find exciting and interesting courts worth a shot.

“Whether set against a backdrop of Hong Kong’s pastel high-rises and smog-filtered light, London’s manicured garden beds and quaint architectural details, or the concrete and brick palette of Melbourne and New York, Roberts’ photographs prove striking for their linear properties and architectural contexts.”

His book is partly an approach to understand and visualize urban and public environments to draw a picture of linearity and unity in neutral places like courts. You can win his book untill friday over at the great page of Ignant.

CCTV FEB 2012 from tomas koolhaas on...

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 22:57:24 +0200

CCTV FEB 2012 from tomas koolhaas on Vimeo.

Cinematographer Tomas Koolhaas, son of the famous architect Rem Koolhaas created the documentary film, REM. It is going to debut in 2013 and tries to find other ways documenting the relationship between buildings and humans by exposing the raw, human experience of Dutch architect’s most famous projects.

“Architecture is often viewed from the outside, as an inanimate object represented in still imagery. ‘REM’ exposes the human experience of architecture. The resulting documentary is more revealing than the generic poster image, and more evocative than the intellectual reality of architectural renderings. The audience (through the camera) gains a rare insight into the reality of the hidden internal life of the buildings. ‘REM’ brings the human back into architectural representation.”

The trailer is really impressive and don’t miss the interview of Tomas Koolhaas over at ArchDaily! Looking forward to see the whole documentary.

MZ Architects are Lebanon and Abu Dhabi-based architects plus...

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 11:10:39 +0200

MZ Architects are Lebanon and Abu Dhabi-based architects plus the designer of that impressive proposal of a dessert stadium. The architects were commissioned to think of a sports facility, which should be situated around the city Al Ain in the Unite Arab Emirates. MZ came up with an amazing design merging architecture and landscape into one piece. The 200.000 sqm colosseum is inspired by buildings of our ancestors and refers to the Greek amphitheater. I love the minimalism here, but the concept is unfortunately not fully realizable that way. Due to sandstorms in that area and problems with parking spots, which would destroy the super minimalistic appearance this concept can only stay awesome on paper.

Further readings:
DesignBoom - MZ Architects: Rock Stadium

Okay this is a strange story: Turkish administratives thinking...

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:00:00 +0200

Okay this is a strange story: Turkish administratives thinking about to add a second canal to the city of Istanbul, which would result in one billion cubic meters of soil. This is a massive amount and therefore the developers requested a concept by New York designer Dror Benshetrit, which should transform the big amount of soil into an innovative off-shore project! After six months of developing Benshetrit came up with an impressive solution of an island measuring 3km in diameter.

“The lush island is bordered by 6 uniquely sized hills that surround the downtown center of the land. Each hill up rises on top of a mega geodesic dome that supports hillside residences and a community life at the center.”

All six micro-centers produce more energy than they consume and each hill represents either education, entertainment, health, sport facilities or business districts. The vision of the designers sounds quite ambitious but I doubt that this is financeable at the moment - but let’s see. More project details can be found here!

France architects Cattani realized a nice conversion project by...

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 15:06:18 +0200

France architects Cattani realized a nice conversion project by transforming old shipping containers into students accommodation.

“The new town is the result of the transformation of old containers in modular housing units equipped with every comfort. Mounted on a metal grid, the containers have given shape to a four-story building that houses 100 apartments of 24 square meters each.”

To ensure maximum heat and sound insulation, the walls of the adjacent containers to the outside and those that divide the different units have been coated with fire walls in reinforced concrete, and come within layers of rubber to dampen vibrations.

The project is called Cité and is located in Le Havre, France.

A crowd-funded skyscraper! We know the stories by successfully...

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:32:00 +0200

A crowd-funded skyscraper!

We know the stories by successfully crowdfounded projects over at Kickstarter, but these were just small ideas in comparison to the one of Fidi Global. In Columbia it just happened that ordinary people crowdfunded a 66 stories tall skyscraper! This was possible through an imense media campaign via television, radio and the internet. Here is a video about pitching all those people to invest in the new BD Bacatà:

Critics claimed that it is hard for normal people to calculate the risks, but the initiators gave a lot of workshops and background information, which convinced finally more than 3.000 small investors raising $145.000.000! Is this a new way to realize construction projects? What else could be possible through the power of people? Creating whole cities or environments, where the inhabitants are the stakeholders? Another nice side-effect would be less lobbyism and more projects for the people instead for the money. Looking forward to that development and waiting for a similar try in Europe. Do you think crowd-funding could be the future for even mega projects? (Discuss over at Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin!)

Further readings:
Arch Daily - BD Bacatá: The World’s First Crowdfunded Skyscraper
The Atlantic Cities -Crowdfunding a Skyscraper

Future Cape Town and This Big City are running a nice and...

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:49:50 +0200

Future Cape Town and This Big City are running a nice and regular discussion round over at Twitter called CityTalk:

#CityTalk is a monthly series of tweetchats, discussing urban issues and trends affecting cities around the world. Launched in January 2012, the debates and conversations often reach 30,000 people or more.

This time the discussion is focused on social sustainability and the question of factors, which influence the quality of people’s lives. Whether it is about relationships and their connection to fulfilness and contribution to a better social environment or about safety issues and the ability to influence local areas. The talk will take place on thursday September 27th at 7PM BST/8PM CET+SAST/2PM EDT. Participating is easy: Just follow the #CityTalk Tag on Twitter and contribute your ideas.

Further readings:
This Big City - Social Sustainability and Sustainable Communities: Introducing Our Next #citytalk
Future Cape Town - Building socially sustainable communities for the future

(Image by Felix Dorner is released under CC BY-SA 3.0)

Do you remember the featured story about the Villa Asserbo,...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:34:00 +0200

Do you remember the featured story about the Villa Asserbo, which was built due to rapid-prototyping technologies? Now think about that and take it to another level et voilà, you got a 3D printer, which is able to generate a whole furniture for your building and even more. Imagine real-time printing of needed elements within minutes on construction sites! The possibilities are endless and 3D printing is probably the most-discussed topic around the net in the last months. I’m still fascinated by all the opportunities of this amazing technology and hope that it reaches mainstream within the next year. This ambitious project was created by DUS architects who just built the Kamermaker, a moveable 3D printer that is able to print objects by the size up to 7.2 feet by 7.2 feet by 11.4 feet. It is possible to see that machine in action in the next four days. The guys over at DUS created a pavillon in the center of Amsterdam for showcasing the Kamermaker.