The Solar and Gravity Powered Art and Science Pavilion is a design proposal for a public functional art structure dedicated to celebrating the relationship between art and science. The umbrella shaped roof covers a very large open floor area that would be used to exhibit art and science based projects along with many other related events.
Sixteen large steel arms (weighted at the orange-colored ends) are hinged at the center of a high tower that is supported by the umbrella shaped roof. A large solar cell array is mounted on top of the tower. The solar cells are used to power sixteen winches that periodically pull the arms up to the top of the tower in many different configurations. Whenever additional energy is needed to power the pavilion, and/or there is a desire to send the energy into the local power grid or just to change the shape of the pavilion, the 16 weighted arms are lowered by gravity back down into their original positions around the perimeter of the tower. The kinetic energy generated by the lowering arms, run 16 electric generators that create electricity for the pavilion, and/or for the local community.
Fidenza Village – the first Italian luxury shopping outlet – on the occasion of its fifteenth anniversary, revolutionizes the visitors’ experience with a new landscape design project, which creates a renewed relationship between people and outdoor spaces.
The Milan based studio Vudafieri-Saverino Partners has redesigned the iconic Mainstreet: a 600 metre promenade around which are spread out the 120 boutiques and restaurants of the famous shopping village. A fashion destination less than one hour from Milan, which boasts boutiques, restaurants, shows and entertainment over a 21,000 sqm commercial surface.
Farmers Park is a mixed-use development for active, healthy, and engaged families and businesses in the Ozarks region. It is anchored by the Farmers Market of the Ozarks, a venue for organic and locally grown food that attracts over 5,000 visitors a week. Ground-level amenities include restaurants, shopping, community gardens and a micro-orchard. An office component was designed to achieve LEED Silver Certification and serve as a template for sustainability in the region. The strategy of Farmers Park is simple: encourage pedestrian activity and community interaction. The activity at the street level makes the development safe, vibrant, and economically viable.
UNStudio, in collaboration with Werner Sobek, was invited by the wasl Development Group to design a new kind of high-rise for the city of Dubai that would act as a benchmark for both the region and for the wasl Development Group itself.
The project is located in an exceptional central position in Dubai’s network – along Sheikh Zayed Road, the main thoroughfare that connects the Emirates north to south – and directly opposite the Burj Khalifa and when completed will be one of the world’s tallest ceramic facades.
Location: Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Client: Wasl Asset Management Group
CGI Visualisations: Methanoia and Plompmozes
UNStudio: Ben van Berkel, Gerard Loozekoot, Frans van Vuure with Harlen Miller, Crystal KH Tang, Nick Marks and Megan Hurford, Machiel Wafelbakker, Derrick Diporedjo, Matthew Harrison, Aleksandra Sliwinska, Pietro Scarpa, Mihai Soltuz, Fernando Herrera, Jung Jae Suh, Jae Geun Ahn, Henk van Schuppen, Elizabeth White, Pieter Doets and Dana Behrman, Roman Kristesiashvili, Filippo Lodi, Rene Wysk, Hans Kooij, Nanang Santoso, Thomas van Bekhoven, Ka Shin Lu, Patrik Noome, Philip Wilck, Shankar Ramakrishan, Meng Zhang.
Contractual Partner, Lead Consultant Engineering: Werner Sobek
MVRDV Designs Renovation of a Listed Heritage Building on an Island in Wrocław
MVRDV has released its proposed design for the Concordia Hub, a renovation and extension of a 19th-century listed building on Słodowa Island in Wrocław, Poland. MVRDV’s design retains the façade of the existing building and adds a contemporary extension to the rear, creating a focal point for the neighbouring park and a destination that will attract more visitors to the Island.
The German Army used Słodowa Island as a base for artillery in 1945, meaning that almost all of the structures on the island were destroyed during the Siege of Breslau in the final months of World War 2. The existing building is notable as the only remaining survivor after a handful of other structures were demolished, with the rest of the island now serving as a popular public park at the heart of the city, and the host of a number of festivals and cultural events.
Situated at the heart of Muttrah, on Oman’s largest harbor, the new fish market is a tribute to both the past and the future of Oman. The city of Muttrah is known for its long history of commercial trade, its characteristic port, and long-standing fishery traditions. Located close to the city’s original fish market, built in 1960, the new market marks a continuity of the region’s trade and fishing traditions, while also fulfilling Oman’s need to accommodate for the country’s growing tourism industry.
Snøhetta’s design comprises a brand new 1,500 m2 planetarium as well as scattered interstellar cabins, each shaped like a small planet. The new facilities will offer a range of scientific activities within astronomy, sun studies and natural science. Here, researchers, school children, retirees and international tourists can embark on a journey into the world of astronomy and learn more about natural phenomena, such as the Northern lights and the night sky.
The new visitor’s center is situated near the original solar observatory, a twelve-meter research tower built by the University of Oslo for the total solar eclipse of 1954. More than a decade later, in the late 50’s, Solobservatoriet expanded its facilities though a collaboration with the US Air Force with the introduction of a satellite tracking station that monitored Soviet satellites during the Cold War. From 1986, and until it was sold in 2008, Solobservatoriet served exclusively as a scientific research and information hub administrated by the University.
The building envelope is created by methods of twisting, connecting and layering the city grid axis and the adjacent RRS Discovery ship axis, using a ring structure made of reconstituted stone and concrete to compliment the traditional construction materials used in Dundee and reflect the natural cliff structure of the coastline.
The building’s form creates dramatic spaces with an impressive main hall forming a public indoor plaza, and areas that overhang the external public plaza. The external envelope draws people to the waterfront and generates a new migration route along the riverside promenade. The interior space of the main hall is filled with a gentle light emanating from apertures cut through the layered stone to create an open yet intimate public space.
Today Fentress Architects and its collaborators, West 8 and Arquitectonica, released the first photographs of a $620 million transformation of the Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC).
In 2016, the City of Miami Beach selected Fentress Architects to serve as the lead architect for the 1.435 million square foot redesign, incorporating a 500,000 square foot exhibit hall, four new ballrooms ranging from 10,000 to 60,000 square feet, and 127,000 square feet of new meeting spaces. The shared vision between the client and design team was to reposition the MBCC as the most technologically advanced convention center in the U.S. and raise the facility to comply with FEMA code as part of a resiliency plan to safeguard against future hurricanes and flooding. Throughout the nearly three years of construction, MBCC has remained operational with over 40 shows and hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Article source: Bernd Steinhuber and FIPE Architecture
At Light & Building 2018 in Frankfurt, visitors encountered XAL in a minimalistic abstract city. It is the background, it is essential.
A city is not merely the sum of its structures, its ambiance, its participants and how they shape it. It consists of stories. It consists of history. It consists of frontiers and limits. Where in earlier times there were walls made of stone, today is is capital that sets the boundaries. And it is the exclusivity of what lies within these boundaries that seems superficially desirable.
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