The new National Library, named after the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, encompasses an estimated 33.000m2. The winning proposal was chosen by the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan K. Masimov together with Astana’s  akim I.Tasmagambetov and a council of architects. The design was hailed as being both modern and rational and anchored in a classical vocabulary of traditional libraries. The circular organisation of the archive at its inner core combines the clarity of a linear organisation with the convenience of an infinite loop.

The design of the National Library combines four universal archetypes across space and time into a new national symbol: the circle, the rotunda, the arch and the yurt are merged into the form of a Moebius strip. The clarity of the circle, the courtyard of the rotunda, the gateway of the arch and the soft silhouette of the yurt are combined to create a new national monument appearing local and universal, contemporary and timeless, unique and archetypal at the same time, Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner on the Astana National Library 2009

Nation Building
Being one of the future cornerstones of Kazakh nation building, and a leading
institution representing the Kazakh national identity, designing the library went beyond a mere architectural challenge. The new National Library in Astana,
Kazakhstan’s new capital since 1997, shall not only accumulate history but also
provide a foundation for new futures for the nation and its new capital. It will serve as an intellectual, multifunctional and cultural center, with a primary goal of reflecting the establishment and development of a sovereign Kazakhstan, its political history, and the Head of the State’s activities and role in the development of the country.

The National Library will be the place where the citizens of Astana, the people of Kazakhstan as well as international visitors can come to explore the country’s history, its diverse cultures, its new capital and its first president. The Library will accommodate and communicate with all segments of the population: civil servants, politicians, researchers, students, museum historians and staff. The Library is conceived as a symbiosis of urbanity and nature. Like Astana, which is located in the heart of the Kazakh mainland, it will be integrated into the heart of a re-created Kazakh landscape. The park around the library is designed like a living library of trees, plants, minerals and rocks allowing visitors to experience a cross section of Kazakhstan’s natural landscape, and personally experience the capital’s transition across the country from Almaty to Astana.

What is a library but an efficient archive of books… and a path for the public to reach them, Thomas Christoffersen, the Project Leader on the National Library In the library they will be able to study the history of the Kazakh culture and language present in the massive collection of books, magazines, film and other media. The archive is organized as a circular loop of knowledge, surrounded by light and air on both sides. On the periphery a 360 degree panorama of Astana – at the heart of the building a contemplative courtyard domed by the heavenly light blue of the celestial vault. The simplicity and perfection of the infinite circle allows for a crystal clear and intuitive orientation in the vast and growing collection that will populate the shelves of the National Library. The ideal addition to the perfect circle will be a series of public programs that simultaneously wraps the library on the outside as well as the inside, above as well as below. Twisting the public program into a continuous spiraling path tracing the library on all sides, creates an architectural organization that combines the virtues of all 4 complimenting
models. Like a Möbius strip, the public programs move seamlessly from the inside to the outside and from ground to the sky providing spectacular views of the surrounding landscape and growing city skyline.

Möbius Strip
The 2 interlocking structures: the perfect circle and the public spiral, create a building that transforms from a horizontal organization where library museum and support functions are placed next to each other, to a vertical organization where they are stacked on top of each other through a diagonal organization combining vertical hierarchy, horizontal connectivity and diagonal view lines. By wrapping the transforming composition of spaces with a continuous skin we create a Möbius strip volume where the facades move from inside to outside and back again.

The envelope of The National Library transcends the traditional architectural
categories such as wall and roof. Like a yurt the wall becomes the roof, which
becomes floor, which becomes the wall again,
Thomas Christoffersen, the Project Leader on the National Library

ASTANA NATIONAL LIBRARY CREDIT LIST:
ARCHITECT: BIG
CLIENT: Kazakhstan Presidential Office
COLLABORATORS: ARUP AGU
SIZE: 33.000 M2
LOCATION: Astana, Kazakhstan
STATUS: 1ST Prize
Partner-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels
Project Leader: Thomas Christoffersen
Team: Amy Campbell, Jakob Henke, Johan Cool, Jonas Barre, Daniel Sundlin

Denim as recognised work clothes formerly has, at times, shown different expressions as fashion items to the people. Equally, a group of plumbing, usually unnoticed, shows completely different expressions under the name of “Nature Factory”. The complex plumbing, trailing by the wall in all directions will cover all over the space. It is like a tree grown over a long time. An atmosphere like a natural arbor is created in the space covered with artificial plumbing.

New attractive scenery is presented with plumbing and fashion-items to show such primarily functional things actually are more diverse and also have higher value.

Artist Profile: Makoto Tanijiri
Architect. Born in Hiroshima in 1974. Established suppose design office in 2000. Has designed over 60 residences and his work sphere is broad including commercial spaces, set-ups of exhibition spaces and products. As of 2008, many domestic and international projects are in progress while based in Hiroshima and Tokyo.

Curator Profile: Masaaki Takahashi
Masaaki Takahashi is an independent writer and editor specialising in design, architecture, art and culture. He is a regular contributor to AD:Architectural Design, Interior Design, FRAME, and Mark magazines. His work also appears in other international publications such as environmental design at London Metropolitan University. Gained degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology at The State University of New York., at the same time he took courses at New York University.
He established his own editorial production company, Brizhead, in 1996. Authored: Japan The New Mix: Interiors, Architecture and More, Cardinal Rules of Architectural Presentation, Design City Tokyo, Sweet Shop Interiors & Graphics, etc.

About Diesel Denim Gallery
Only existing in Tokyo and New York, DIESEL DENIM GALLERY is the signature store for the most prestigious collection at Diesel, and it functions as a gallery space as well. It has been actively supporting talented rising artists by providing its space to exhibit their work.

DIESEL DENIM GALLERY AOYAMA holds art installations twice a year on the 1st floor, and art exhibitions four times a year, featuring different artists on each floor. Actual artworks can be purchased at the gallery. Experience our unique and innovative art space at DIESEL DENIM GALLERY.

Facts:
Title: Nature Factory
Artist: Makoto Tanijiri / Suppose design office
Curation: Masaaki Takahashi (BRIZHEAD)
Date: 2009.8.14 (Fri) – 2010.1.31 (Sun)
Venue: DIESEL DENIM GALLERY AOYAMA 1F
Address: 6-3-3, Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 81-3-64 18-5323
Hours: 13:00-20:00
Holidays: Non-regular Holiday
Web: www.diesel.co.jp/denimgallery

11th Lorraine mondial air balloons happened this year from 24th July to 2nd August. The  greatest international hot air balloon gathering was attended by 329 pilots.

Lorraine Mondial Air Ballons began in 1989. At that time it was an uncommon event creation, a show, a competition and a tool to promote tourism. The aim was to gather a thousand of hot-air balloons from 67 nations, during ten festive days. It was also the idea to invite visitors, media and partners. The most international ballooning event in the world is held on Chambley Planet’Air Air Base (Meurthe&Moselle – Lorraine) every other year by the end of July.

On 500 acres, in the heart of Lorraine Nature Park, the event site is organised around the launch field. From the main gate, a grand boulevard deserves 3 villages called “BallonVille”. Public, crews and partners have their own area. Twenty months are necessary to set up this event by a small team of 7 people. A battalion of three hundred volunteers join the event a few days before and have many different functions, to help that huge machine run smoothly.

Besides hot-air balloons takeoffs, a panel of ground animations and air sports is offered to the visitors. “A Space Journey 3A” for Aeronautics ; Astronomy ; Aerospace, presents all these disciplines under three different points of view: dynamic (first flight and initiations), static (exhibitions and workshops) and virtual (multi-media and simulators).

Photos Flickr
http://www.pilatre-de-rozier.com/

truth and lies… One of the major elements of Textportrait art project by Ralph Ueltzhoeffer predicts the fact, that no other faulty product is demonstrable highly frequented as the internet as absolute information medium.

That is why the visually created text portraits which are analogue to the internet content within the project are created with partly faulty information which suits the arty thought totally..

Ralph Ueltzhoeffer was born in 1966 in Mannheim, Germany and since 1984 he has been working as a photographer. His works range from installations, such as the web-art-project “Textportrait”, to other medias like photography and personal computers. Concentrating on human aspects, either through black and white or colour photography, the work of Ralph Ueltzhoeffer gives a different dimension and value to information and biographies. However, one might wonder what a text portrait is.

http://www.lumas.de

Architect Juan Pablo Maza created a large underground home to take advantage of the ground’s natural insulation but the most striking feature is the suspended living area above ground surrounded by a forest of beams.

A single stairway twists its way up making even the Apple Cube store in NYC seem complacent. Absolutely gorgeous.
www.frentearq.com

Gimme Shelter moves away from the temporality of nomadism but maintains the underlying principal of nomadic dwellings, which is to shelter from detrimental climatic conditions.

Today we find ourselves in a world of increased mobility in which transportation networks permit endless possibilities of travel for work, living, and pleasure we remain connected. In this new real of mobile populations, merchandise, and in formation, a new breed of nomads arises, dependant on the environments they travel much like the traditional nomads.
The partially submerged building provides warmth while efficiently circulating cool air during the hot dry summers. There are several living units for many families with gardens and public spaces spread across 1,000 square meters. The interiors are studded with apertures to allow crosswinds. The layout is somewhat playful with a series of bridges connecting 4 levels. All of this is really happening sometime in 2010. This is nomadic living for the 21st century.

www.rojkindarquitectos.com

Brazilian brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana designed limited edition of polos for Lacoste – Campanas + LACOSTE series. The limited and super limited editions are produced exclusively in cooperation with Coopa-Roca.

Coopa-Roca is a socially responsible sustainable development organization based in the Rocinha favela of Rio de Janeiro that provides work for the very creative craftswomen and seamstresses who live in that underprivileged neighborhood.

Based in Sao Paulo, Estudio Campana is constantly investigating new possibilities in concept and uses for different clashes of materials. It creates bridges and dialogues where the exchange of information is also a source of inspiration. Designers Fernando and Humberto Campana carry the duality of their rural Brazilian background and the urban codes from their youth and adulthood. For the fourth Holiday Collector’s Series by LACOSTE, the Campanas have created an exclusive range of polos. The special edition of 20 000 pieces is based on their famed Alligator Chair, which shows how the reptiles pile up in mud beds during the dry season in their natural habitat. The brand invited the brothers to work on a reinterpretation of the classic polo shirt and to release a limited edition which would interact with the little alligator, the brand’s traditional logo. Being inspired by alligators is a recurring theme in the brother’s work, like their iconic Alligator Chair, which was based in the way those reptiles rest in their habitat.

The masculine shirt collection refers to the Anavilhanas islands, the biggest fresh water archipelago of the world, which is located in the Amazon. Because of that, they are isolated in different points. The feminine collection was inspired by the Lianas, which are a kind of woody vines that grows in Brazil’s tropical forests. To represent that the logos are organized in a random way, like the growing flux of a woody vine. They also released a third line, which is a special edition where the shirt is totally covered with Lacoste’s logo. The inspiration comes from intricate designs traditional of artisans from the north of Brazil. Besides those references to brazilian culture, the brothers looked for a way to integrate the shirt line and poor communities of the country.

The exhibition LEVEL GREEN was opened on the 4th of June 2009 and encompasses approximately 1000 m2, the exhibition renders this highly complex topic tangible, providing for an aesthetic access to information. In so doing, it seeks to unfold the various aspects of the topic while creating an information environment that addresses the visitor on different sensual levels.

Personal responsibility in the sustainable use of global resources continues to play an increasingly important role in the life of the average consumer. In this context, the offices of J. MAYER H. Architects and Art+Com Berlin were commissioned to develope a permanent exhibition on the topic sustainability for the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany. The exhibition LEVEL GREEN was opened on the 4th of June 2009 and encompasses approximately 1000 m2, the exhibition renders this highly complex topic tangible, providing for an aesthetic access to information. In so doing, it seeks to unfold the various aspects of the topic while creating an information  environment that addresses the visitor on different sensual levels.

The Autostadt’s exhibition LEVEL GREEN examines three aspects of sustainability – the environment, society and the economy – and brings the everyday interaction between these components together in an artistic installation. The design displays the content in an interactive and playful way, stimulating the visitor’s curiosity about the subject of sustainability.

The exhibition, situated on the first floor of the Volkswagen GroupForum in the Autostadt, on approximately 1 000 m², offers 25 exhibits from which to explore the theme of sustainability. The visitor is led to discover the areas in which she/he can become an active participant.

Sustainability is one of Volkswagen’s core values and a long-term policy. “Sustainability at Volkswagen” illustrates this specific approach. The focal points in this area are sustainable mobility and responsibility: presented in this area are drive-train and energy strategies, car life-cycle assessment and research into traffic congestion.

“Sustainability and the economy“ presents points of view held by prominent business people, politicians and environmentalists.  This area clearly shows that companies with global interests have a great responsibility when it comes to implementing sustainable development.

In the area “Personal use“, the visitor discovers more about how they personally affect the usage of resources, the “Effects of Climate Change” and “Mobility Concepts for the Future” are also presented within the exhibition.

How big is your “Ecological Footprint”? An interactive installation allows each visitor to compare the impact she/he has on the planet with the German average. For instance if everyone on earth consumed resources at the average level for Germany, we would require 2,5 “earths” to absorb the environmental impact.

The Autostadt’s CEO, Otto Wachs, comments: “Each one of us can contribute to sustainable living. If you are aware that 16 000 litres water are needed in the production of one kilogram of beef, then perhaps you will ask yourself whether from time to time a vegetarian meal wouldn’t do just as well?”  He continues: “We would like to draw attention to the potential there is for sustainable action in everyday life”.

That there are many aspects to sustainability which are interwoven, is mirrored in LEVEL GREEN’s architectonic concept. The architectural firm J. Mayer H. of Berlin developed the concept utilizing the green recycling symbol of three arrows as a starting point, they created a net-like structure, rather like a sculpture, which draws the content of the exhibition into an integral whole.

During the construction of LEVEL GREEN, the Autostadt made use of C02-neutral -and recycled materials as far as possible. In addition, when it came to the surface area and lacquering of the architectural components, the same high standard of quality that is used in the production of Volkswagen vehicles, was implemented.

Since its inception the Autostadt, as the Volkswagen Group’s communication’s platform, has engaged with themes and values which are fundamental to responsible business practice e.g. environmental protection or social responsibility. Since 2006 these fall under the heading of sustainability. Together with external partners, this theme is continually being developed.

Client: Autostadt GmbH, Wolfsburg
Site: Volkswagen GroupForum, 1st Floor, Autostadt, Wolfsburg
Architect: J. MAYER H. Architects, Berlin
Scenography and Mediadesign: Art+Com, Berlin
Photos: Uwe Walter, Berlin

Ivana Porfiri created the unusual angular architecture of amazing yacht Guilty. 35 metre ryacht Guilty was built in Italy at Cantieri Navali Rizzardi. It is one of the most striking yachts recently launched. 

Yacht name: Guilty
Length: 114 ft • 35 m
Year: 2008
Builder: near Rome
Exterior art: Jeff Koons
Design: Ivana Porfiri
Owner: Dakis Joannou

Photos: Andrea Ferrari

Further to the anthropogenic activity, the climate warms up and the ocean level increases.

According to the principle of Archimedes and contrary to preconceived notions, the melting of the arctic ice-floe will not change the rising of the water.
However, there are two huge ice reservoirs that are not on the water and whose melting will transfer their volume towards the oceans, leading to their rising. It deals with the ice caps of Antarctic and Greenland on the one hand, and the continental glaciers on the other hand. Another reason of the ocean rising, that does not have anything to do with the ice melting is the water dilatation under the effect of the temperature.

According to the less alarming forecasts of the GIEC (Intergovernmental group on the evolution of the climate), the ocean level should rise from 20 to 90 cm during the 21st Century with a status quo by 50 cm (versus 10 cm in the 20th Century). The international scientific scene assets that a temperature elevation of 1°C will lead to a water rising of 1 meter. This increase of 1 m would bring ground losses emerged of approximately 0.05% in Uruguay, 1% in Egypt, 6% in the Netherlands, 17.5% in Bangladesh and up to 80% approximately in the atoll Majuro in Oceania (Marshall and Kiribati islands and step by step the Maldives islands).

If the first meter is not very funny with more than 50 million of people affected in the developing countries, the situation is worse with the second one. Countries like Vietnam, Egypt, Bangladesh, Guyana or Bahamas will see their most inhabited places swamped at each flood and their most fertile fields devastated by the invasion of salt water damaging the local ecosystems. New York, Bombay, Calcutta, Hô Chi Minh City, Shanghai, Miami, Lagos, Abidjan, Djakarta, Alexandria… not les that 250 million of climatic refugees and 9% of the GDP threatened if we not build protections related to such a threat. It is the demonstration inflicted to reluctant spirits by a climatological study of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and that challenges our imagination of eco-conception!

The water rising being not written in the agenda of the Grenelle agreements on environment in France, it is primordial in terms of environmental crisis and climatic exodus to pass from now on from a strategy of reaction in emergency to a strategy of a adaptation and long-lasting anticipation. It is surprising, whereas some islands prepare their disappearing to see that the management of the rising of the ocean level does not seem to worry the governments beyond measure. More surprising to see that the populations of the developed countries continue to rush on the littoral to build districts over there; houses and buildings dedicated to a certain flood.

Lilypad, a prototype of auto-sufficient amphibious city

Whereas the Netherlands and the United Arabic Emirates « fatten » their beach with billion of euros to build their short-living polders and their protective dams for a decade, the project «Lilypad» deals with a tenable solution to the water rising! Actually, facing the worldwide ecological crisis, this floating Ecopolis has the double objective not only to widen sustainabely in offshore the territories of the most developed countries such as the Monaco principality but above all to grant the housing of future climatic refugees of he next submerged ultra-marine territories such as the Polynesian atolls. New biotechnological prototype of ecologic resilience dedicated to the nomadism and the urban ecology in the sea, Lilypad travels on the water line of the oceans, from the equator to the poles following the marine streams warm ascending of the Gulf Stream or cold descending of the Labrador.

It is a true amphibian half aquatic and half terrestrial city, able to accommodate 50,000 inhabitants and inviting the biodiversity to develop its fauna and flora around a central lagoon of soft water collecting and purifying the rain waters. This artificial lagoon is entirely immersed ballasting thus the city. It enables to live in the heart of the subaquatic depths. The multifunctional programming is based on three marinas and three mountains dedicated respectively to the work, the shops and the entertainments. The whole set is covered by a stratum of planted housing in suspended gardens and crossed by a network of streets and alleyways with organic outline. The goal is to create a harmonious coexistence of the couple Human / Nature and to explore new modes of living the sea by building with fluidity collective spaces in proximity, overwhelming spaces of social inclusion suitable to the meeting of all the inhabitants – denizen or foreign-born, recent or old, young or aged people.

The floating structure in « branches » of the Ecopolis is directly inspired of the highly ribbed leave of the great lilypad of Amazonia Victoria Regia increased 250 times. Coming from the family of Nympheas, this aquatic plant with exceptional plasticity was discovered by the German botanist Thaddeaus Haenke and dedicated to the Queen Victoria of England in the 19th Century. The double skin is made of polyester fibres covered by a layer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) like an anatase which by reacting to the ultraviolet rays enable to absorb the atmospheric pollution by photocatalytic effect. Entirely autosufficient, Lilypad takes up the four main challenges launched by the OECD in March 2008: climate, biodiversity, water and health. It reached a positive energetic balance with zero carbone emission by the integration of all the renewable energies (solar, thermal and photovoltaic energies, wind energy, hydraulic, tidal power station, osmotic energies, phytopurification, biomass) producing thus durably more energy that it consumes! True biotope entirely recyclable, this floating Ecopolis tends thus towards the positive eco-accountancy of the building in the oceanic ecosystems by producing and softening itself the oxygen and the electricity, by recycling the CO2 and the waste, by purifying and softening biologically the used waters and by integrating ecological niches, aquaculture fields and biotic corridors on and under its body to meet its own food needs.

To reply to the mutation of the migratory flows coming from the hydroclimatic factors, Lilypad join thus on the mode of anticipation particular to the Jules Verne’s literature, the alternative possibility of a multicultural floating Ecopolis whose metabolism would be in perfect symbiosis with the cycles of the nature. It will be one of the major challenges of the 21st Century to create an international convention inventing new special means to accommodate the environmental migrants by recognizing their rights and obligations. Political and social challenge, the urban sustainable development must more than ever enter in resonance worldly with the human sustainable development!

vincent.callebaut.org