Lilypad the ecotectural marvelhas been built by Vincent Callebaut and it could serve to be a luxurious future retreat for almost 50,000 inhabitants who seek refuge from rising waters due to global warming. This floating structure is an optical wonder, and it’s a dramatic display of the most modern green innovations. Callebaut has named it as the “Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees” and he hopes that the same will make the transition from design to reality by the turn of the century. His designs depicts tropical residency, in affluent paradise of Monte Carlo, Monaco. His is of the opinion that the world shall desperately seek shelter from the devastations of climatic changes, and hopes that this auto-sufficient amphibious city will be the luxurious solution.
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Competing against Daniel Libeskind and Massimiliano Fuksas, Zaha Hadid Architects have won the competition held by Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania. Zaha Hadid’s futuristic designs match the cultural aims of the new Hermitage Guggenheim Vilnius Project. As always, the characteristic of Zaha Hadid architectural design always takes the conceptual terms of fluidity, velocity and lightness. The building appears like a mystical object floating above the extensive artificial landscape strip, seemingly defying gravity by exposing dramatic undercuts towards the surrounding entrance plazas. Large activated green fields flow around the museums sculptural mass, underlining its enigmatic presence with curvilinear lines echoing the elongated contours of the building. Contrasting with the vertical business district skyline it is a manifestation of Vilnius’ new cultural significance.
“I am delighted to be working in Vilnius on the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum” states Hadid. “The city will be the European Capital of Culture in 2009 and has a long history of art patronage. With such an interest in the arts, Vilnius will continue to develop as a cultural center where the connection between culture and public life is critical. This museum will be a place where you can experiment with the idea of galleries, spatial complexity and movement.”
This is exactly what we mean by saying “when architecture meets new technologies”.
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