From this indication, the designers took the prospect to generate a solution that references the local atmosphere and also provides a more prototypical design towards energy savings which can be adapted to other regular building types further than housing. The design proposes eight towers with distinct and separate programs. These are an entry tower, a food tower, a living tower, a gym tower, 2 bathroom towers and 2 bedroom towers. The segregations and strategic connections have been created through the deformation of each tower’s geometry. Such organization of the program permits greater effectiveness, since only one-third of these towers are required and occupied the energy consumption at any given time frame during a diurnal cycle. This system also intensifies the experiential differences between rooms and creates a high porosity level between exterior and interior spaces.

Designer : Single Speed Design

From Eduardo:
Autonomous Living Units is a somewhat satirical project that stands at the intersection of the current housing crisis, the tendency of people in developed countries to live on their own and the trend of turning architecture into a consumer product. The project poses a scenario in which living units (homes) have evolved into the most minimal yet visually alluring objects that can still provide for the basic needs of the 21st century human being.

Because of the morphing of architecture into furniture, the Living Units could be inserted in derelict areas and ruined housing projects. This project was exhibited among others at the d3 Gallery in New York for the “Future Cities: Past, Present” exhibition in April 2009.

Designer : Eduardo McIntosh via [Dezeen]

[Press Release]

DRAGONFLY, A METABOLIC FARM FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE

2009 : 800 MILLION OF URBAN FARMERS FOR RESPONSIBLE ECO-CITIES

The world of fast-food and frozen food is over! The urban keen interest of the beginning of our Century turns toward the garden flat bringing back the countryside in our overcrowded cities fighting from now on for a community urban agriculture able to contribute to the durability of the city and to rethink the food production.

On the roofs, terraces, balconies, in the hollow of the non-built public spaces, in the interior yards and the suspended greenhouses, the eco-warrior aspires to escape from its competitive and consumeristic universe imposed by the laws of the market. He desires to cultivate its immediate landscape so as to better take root in the ground by creating his own ecologic and alimentary biodiversity. The consumer becomes from then on producer and the garden inhabitant !

From the Parisian « worker gardens » to the « community gardens » of New York going though Muscovite « vegetable squares », eight hundred million of urban farmers, i.e. more than one human being out of ten, consume nowadays chlorophyllous products from these cosmopolitan kitchen gardens. These new gardens, aware of the emergency to reduce our fuel consumption and the necessity to modify our behaviour facing the climatic changes, decrease thus their environmental impact and build eco-responsible cities on a community way.

2025 : 5.5 BILLION OF CITY SLICKERS FACING THE FOOD CHALLENGE OF THE 21ST CENTURY

According to the PNUD (Programme of the United Nations for the Development), the worldwide urban population will go from 3.1 billion of inhabitants in 2009 up to 5.5 billion of inhabitants within 2025. Looking for a positive energetic assessment, the contemporary city aims within fifteen years at producing cleanly and intensively more energy than it consumes so as to pack this urban exodus! It develops therefore the urban agriculture to become food self-sufficient by recycling at the same time its liquid waste by phyto-purification, its solid waste in fertilizers by composting and by producing energy by biomass, photovoltaic cells and other renewable energies (thermic solar, photovoltaic solar, wind, tide-turbine energies…).

In order to avoid the asphixiation of the planet and the feeding of its 9 billion of inhabitants within 2050, it deals thus with reinventing the traditional energetic pattern between the city and the countryside between western countries, emerging countries and developing countries. This sums up as following: on the one hand import of natural and food resources, and on the other hand export of waste and pollution. The ecologic city aims at reintegrating the farming function on the urban scale by emphasizing the role of the urban agriculture in the use and the reuse of natural resources and biodegradable waste so as to close the loop of ecologic flows.

The urban agriculture can feed the city without any pesticide or chemical fungicide (whose toxicity is proved on the human being : cancer, sterility…), and make it less food dependant of its backcountry or other regions of the world. Organising the distribution of fresh products in short circuits, that means linked directly with the consumer, the urban agriculture complete thus the traditional agriculture. In addition to the nutritive quality of the produced and consumed food, the urban agriculture is also a growth lever of the urban unemployment market and the local economy. It is used directly as a social link in the conciliation of the primary needs of the newcomers with the challenge of their integration in the life of the city, fighting thus against poverty and exclusion. On the sanitary level, this farm approach presents also an interesting potential for the decontamination of polluted grounds and undergrounds as well as for he purification of the polluted atmosphere in CO2.

Due to the fuel crisis and climatical change, the rural agriculture of the western countries must answer to the worldwide food crisis of the developing countries and mainly Africa. Its role is from now on to produce (with an increase estimated of 60% within 2050) all the foodstuffs transportable by boat such as cereals or corn. This is based on the evolution of the science and the most advanced biotechnologies. In addition to this nutritious role, the rural agriculture is newly challenged to recycle its own culture rebus for the green chemistry in order to produce the bio fuel called “second generation fuel” using the energy of non-consumable materials from the plants, that means fibres such as celluloses.

DRAGONFLY, A NOURISHING VERTICALY CULTIVATED CENTRAL PARK

The architecture has to be in the service of this new agriculture and to design this new social desire in this context of ecologic mutation and food autonomy! The Dragonfly project suggests therefore building a prototype of urban farm offering around a mixed programme of housing, offices and laboratories in ecological engineering, farming spaces which are vertically laid out in several floors and partly cultivated by its own inhabitants. This vertical farm sets up all the sustainable applications in organic agriculture based on the intensive production varied according to the rhythm of the seasons. This nourishing agriculture is furthermore in favour of the reuse of biodegradable waste and the keeping of energy and renewable resources for a planning of ecosystemic densification.

Floor by floor, the tower superposes not only stock farming ensuring the production of meat, milk, poultry and eggs but also farming grounds, true biological reactors continuously regenerated with organic humus. It diversifies the cultivated varieties to avoid the washing of stratums of soft substratum. Thus, the cultures succeed one another vertically according to their agronomical ability to provide some elements of the ground between the essences that are sowed and harvested. The tower, true living organism, becomes thus metabolic and self-sufficient in water, energy, and bio-fertilizing. Nothing is lost; everything is recyclable to a continuous auto-feeding!

A BIONIC AND ENERGETICALLY SELF-SUFFICIENT ARCHITECTURE
The architecture of Dragonfly prototype suggests reinventing the vertical building (that outlined the urbanistic booming of New York City since the 19th Century) as structurally and functionally as ecologically and energetically.

To ensure the social diversity and a permanent life cycle (24h/24) in the tower, the mixed programmation is mainly laid out around two poles of housing and work places. Around housings, offices and research laboratories as well as the most private to the most public agricultural and leisure spaces are designed in gardens, kitchen gardens, orchards, meadows, rice fields, farms and suspended fields. The distribution of flows is made around a true safe spine spreading in loop the numerous elevators, the goods elevators and stair wells serving all the levels by separating simultaneously the inputs and the outputs recycled from plants, animals and human beings.

Architecturally, the functional organisation is represented by two oblong towers symetrically arranged in pair around a huge climatic greenhouse that links them and deploys itself between two crystalline wings. These very light wings in glass and steel retake the loads of the building and are directly inspired from the structure of the dragonfly wings coming from the family of “Odonata Anisoptera” whose transparent membrane is very finely nervured. Two inhabited rings buttress around these wings. Their organically chiselled exo-structure accommodates the inter-climatic spaces that receive the agrarian cultures. They buttress.

The whole set forms «double layer» architecture in bee nest mesh that exploits the solar passive energy at its maximum level, by accumulating the warm air in the winter in the thickness of the exo-structure, and by cooling the atmosphere by natural ventilation and by evapo-perpiration of the plants in the summer. Protecting thus the cultures from climatic changes in New York (from -25.5°C in the winter to +41°C in the summer), these plug spaces are useful to reflect on the agriculture not anymore in terms of surface area but really in terms of volume. Actually, whereas grounds nourish orchards, each wall and each ceiling are metamorphosed into three-dimensional kitchen gardens. The interior frontages of the housing and offices throw towards the skyline of New York the cantilever of their hydrophonic balconies with hexagonal section thanks to what it multiplies the culture layers by floors. The vegetation abounds, the earth is swarming of insects and animals are freely brought up in holding tanks by urban consumers with low income. The architecture becomes eatable!

Designer : Vincent Callebaut Architect

Designer : Viktor Ramos via [BLDGBLOG]

[Press Release]
The future headquarters of Antwerp Port Authority will be designed by the London firm of Zaha Hadid Architects. The choice of architect was made at the Port Authority board meeting on 13 January. The new Port House will occupy the site of the technical services building on quay 63.

The Port Authority aims to make its operations more efficient by centralising the administrative and technical services which are now divided between the Port House and quay 63. The new headquarters will also solve the pressing shortage of workspace in the present Port House on the Entrepot quay. Some 500 people will be able to move into the new building when it is completed in 2013.

In addition to offering better accommodation, the future Port House will contribute to further development and upgrading of the part of the city known as Het Eilandje. The brief for the new building specified that it had to symbolise the Port of Antwerp as a world port and economic driver of Flanders and the Antwerp area. It also had to be built according to the principles of sustainability.

In selecting the architect it was decided to use the Open Call for Tender procedure of the Flemish Government Architect’s team. The procedure was launched in December 2007, and nearly 100 architectural firms responded. A shortlist of five firms was chosen:

• Consortium of TV A2O Architecten / Atelier Kempe Thill / Marcq & Roba / BEG from Hassel, Belgium
• Vier Arquitectos from La Coruña, Spain
• Xaveer De Geyter Architects from Brussels
• Zaha Hadid Architects from London
• Rapp + Rapp from Rotterdam

The jury/board of directors finally opted for the proposal by Zaha Hadid Architects, because:

• The design preserves as much as possible of the dignity of the present building as a monument, adding a new object to the site;
• The board and its advisors had confidence in a team such as Zaha Hadid Architects being able to further develop the project so as to achieve a high quality end result that can act as a “shop window” for the Port Authority.

The estimated construction cost is 31.5 million euros excluding VAT and architect’s fees. This includes all the work for an office building with around 12,000 m² of floorspace for around 500 people, together with underground parking for 300 or so cars.

The new building fits in with the Port Authority’s future-oriented investment policy. At the same board meeting it was also decided to purchase four tugs as part of a renewal series of nine. And of course there will be further investments in infrastructure for expansion and renovation of the port. The various Flemish port authorities are currently holding discussions with the Flemish Government about financing for basic port infrastructure.
The new Port House forms part of a programme of improvements to the Port Authority’s own buildings. In addition to various renovation and new construction work that has already been carried out, a public call for tender has been issued for the new VTS (Vehicle Traffic Service) building beside the Zandvliet lock.

Design proposal

The design team from Zaha Hadid Architects proposed a very dynamic architecture that strikes up a dialogue with the Oosterweel road link, with the Lange Wapper bridge forming a backdrop to the New Port House. With its unique design, its facade architecture and its height of 46 metres, the new Port Authority will be an iconic building, visible from many different directions.

The concept is a free interpretation of a beam-shaped volume raised above the existing fire brigade building and supported on three sculptured concrete pillars housing the stairs and lifts. Two of the pillars are situated on the covered inner courtyard of the firehouse, while the third is located beside an external support point and consists of a panoramic lift shaft.
The new volume is oriented North-South parallel to the Kattendijk dock. The head of the building on the South side is a frame that looks towards the city and clearly marks the start of the port area.
The outside walls are made up of glass triangles, some transparent and some reflecting. These do not all lie in the same plane but are rotated slightly with respect to one another, creating an attractive reflecting play of incoming light in a reference to Antwerp’s diamond industry.

The present firehouse will be kept free of building all around, so that the four outside walls will be fully respected. As for the arrangement of the inside spaces, consultations will be held with Flanders Real Estate Heritage and the Monuments department of the City of Antwerp to determine whether open-plan offices (as laid down in the schedule of requirements) are possible, either partly of throughout.

The inner courtyard will be roofed over at the height of the second story so as to create an air-conditioned inside space. This central entrance hall will be considered as a semi-public space, with various enquiry desks (Personnel department, Harbourmaster’s Office, Planning Permission & Environment Permit office and Port Dues payment desk) integrated in the inside wall portals.

A sculptural, sloping roof unites an underground lobby with the covered inner court. Access to the underground car park is an important aspect of the overall concept, with the loading & unloading bays and the refuse handling facilities also located here. The car park has space for 300 or so cars and consists of a single underground level. The design of the square can be arranged so that daylight is allowed to enter. The above-ground layout forms part of a design project that is being carried out in consultation with the city departments responsible, with the main imperative being to “preserve the visual quality of the outside spaces in the Het Eilandje area.”

The open plan offices are indeed very open, so that office staff will have a great impression of space with a view along the various outside walls. The concept for the open plan office also allows for small areas in which to hold meetings, along with separate study offices.

Designer : Zaha Hadid Architects via Bustler

Text from Felix :
People in disaster areas need more than just housing. Both physical and psychological needs are often neglected. People find themselves displaced from their familiar environment and dwellings, and they are often traumatized. In this situation, individual survival becomes a priority and can result in brutalization and societal decline. The concept behind Sphere not only considers taking shelter from extreme weather conditions but also re-establishing feelings of security and companionship without a loss of privacy. The centre of Sphere has been conceived as a social place, where the inhabitants can constitute a community – a circle.

This place offers the opportunity of regaining contact with others, cooking and simply getting together in a social way. In this way, every Sphere becomes a germ cell for a community.

Every Sphere contains nineteen tent units that can each accommodate up to three people. Partition walls can be unbuttoned in order to create larger units for families. The inner layer of the tent is made of light, breathable material. This layer is independent of the outer layer, which consists of hard-wearing canvas. The stakes are made of fibreglass and plastic, and guarantee the stability of the whole construction. The design as such is long lasting and can be recycled if required.

Designer : Felix Stark via IGreenSpot

Designer : Zaha Hadid Architects

Text from Yiftach :

SeaO2 is an experimental ecological housing project. The project poses an alternative to current plans for Tel Aviv North West coastal district. SeaO2 demonstrates vast use of cutting edge computer software, some being used in the aerospace industry, in order to improve building performance and to ensure the existence of a sustainable urban environment with a minimal ecological footprint. The project final form is a consequence of a scientific approach that calculates numerous of elements: the sun orbit, wind conditions, maximum open scenic views, very high density and more, all in a free-form organic manner.

Advanced Computer Simulations ensure the project’s credibility. The project’s unique morphology enables: optimized solar reception for heating at winter time, self-shadowing and solar reception for electricity generation at summer time, natural lighting, optimized natural ventilation, open looks to the natural coastal environment, public green spaces, rain collection and more. Various passive mechanical systems complement the basic morphology, enable better performance and create an energy efficient, environmentally friendly housing project

Designer : Yiftach Ben Meir

[Press Release]
MVRDV wins Gwanggyo City Centre Competition, near Seoul, South Korea

The Daewoo Consortium and the municipality of Gwanggyo announced the MVRDV concept design for a dense city centre winner of the developer’s competition for the future new town of Gwanggyo, located 35km south of the Korean capital Seoul. The plan consists of a series of overgrown hill shaped buildings with great programmatic diversity, aiming for high urban density and encouragement of further developments around this so-called ‘Power Centre’, one of the envisioned two centre’s of the future new town.

Since the beginning of the millennium local nodes with a high density concentration of mixed program are used in Korean town planning. These nodes consist of a mix of public, retail, culture, housing, offices and leisure generating life in new metropolitan areas and encouraging further developments around them: the Power Centre strategy. The Gwanggyo Power Centre will consist of 200,000m2 housing, 48,000m2 offices, 200,000m2 mix of culture, retail, leisure and education and 200,000m2 parking.

This diverse program has different needs for phasing, positioning and size. To facilitate this all elements are designed as rings. By pushing these rings outwards, every part of the program receives a terrace for outdoor life. Plantations around the terraces with a floor to floor circulation system store water and irrigate the plants. The roofs of these hills and the terraces are planted with box hedges creating a strong, recognizable, cohesive park. This vertical park will improve the climate and ventilation, reduce energy and water usage. As a result a series of overgrown green ‘hills’ appear in the landscape.

The site is surrounded by a beautiful lake and forested hills, the design aims to create a landscape on top of the new program that enlarges the green qualities and that links the surrounding parks by turning the site into a park.

The shifting of the floors causes as a counter effect hollow cores that form large atriums. They serve as lobbies for the housing and offices, plazas for the shopping center and halls for the museum and leisure functions. In each tower a number of voids connect to the atrium providing for light and ventilation and creating semi-public spaces. On the lower floors the atriums are connected through a series of public spaces on various levels linking the towers and serving the outdoor facilities of the culture, retail and leisure program. The Power Centre creates a dense urban program with a green regard.

The concept plan is currently at the Gyeonggi provincial authority’s Urban Innovation Corporation for further development and feasibility study, the entire new town will be a self sufficient city of 77,000 inhabitants. The estimated budget and timeframe are still in the process of being established, completion is envisioned for 2011. A consortium lead by Daewoo develops the project with local firm DA Group, which commissioned MVRDV to design the scheme. British firm Arup is involved as engineer.

Designer : MVRDV via IGreenSpot via WordArchitectureNews

From Victor Vetterlein :
Introducing ‘YO’ – an iPod and MP3 stereo speaker dock by Victor Vetterlein

YO is a rechargeable and wireless stereo speaker docking station for digital audio players. The system is portable, waterproof, and suitable for indoor and outdoor use.

Inside the dock base are lithium-ion (rechargeable) batteries that are capable of powering the stereo system for hours when the unit is disconnected from a power source. The design intention is that a renewable energy source such as solar power, wind power, or hydroelectricity charges the battery packs when the stereo is not in use.

The speakers also contain lithium-ion batteries in their base, and recharge when placed in the stereo base portals. The batteries also provide high-density ballast enabling the speakers to stand upright when removed from the charging ports.

The speaker enclosure is designed to amplify sound. The speakers are mounted in the rear of the speaker housing. Similar to a megaphone, the front portion of the speaker enclosure is extruded to increase and direct sound.

Two removable rods are mounted between the stereo speakers to stabilize the stereo assembly and provide a lifting handle when the unit is transported.

Designer : Victor Vetterlein via Dezeen