Wednesday, January 28, 2009

New Blogspot Address

I am transferring to a new blogspot address combining all my other blogspots http://pupclass.blogspot.com,
http://modern-arki.blogspot.com, and
http://greenarki.blogspot.com.

My new blogspot would be
http://architectureoverload.blogspot.com.

Sorry for the inconvenience and hoping you visit my new site.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Consorcio Building Concepcion / Enrique Browne

Architects: Enrique Browne y Asociados Arquitectos
Location: Concepción, Chile
Associated Architect: Patricio Browne
Collaborators: Enrique C. Browne, Sebastián Morandé, Davor Pavlovic
Project year: 2003-2004
Site Area: 1,096 sqm
Constructed Area: 3,789 sqm
Structural Consultants: Ruiz y Saavedra Ingenieros
Contractor: Ignacio Hurtado y Cia.
Technical Inspection: Juan Eduardo Mujica
Photographs: Guy Wenborne


The rainy city of Concepción, is located in the mouth of the Bío-Bío River, 520 Km south of Santiago. It has aprox. 220.000 inhabitants, but its threshold spans reaches some 630.000 people. The highlights of its economy are the elaboration of steel and the wood industry, both on wide exporting booms. We were asked to design a branch of the ‘Consorcio Nacional de Seguros’, National Insurance Consortium, in a corner site, in front of the only historic and antique church in Concepción, whose façade had been unfortunately reconstructed after an earthquake. Furthermore, it had a front fenced square that impoverished its quality and public character.

site plan

A first version was carried out. It consisted in a triangular building with the vertical circulation organized in a glazed tower in the south. Because the triangular building spun the first two floors in a double height space, a square was created, which joined to the church’s square, creating an environment of urban interest. In turn, the double point of the corner cantilever emphasized the building presence from the busy San Martin Street. The building was clad in copper. The glazed sectors had a ‘double skin’ with climbing plants on the North and West sides. This solution was eliminated for being expensive.


A simpler and more rectangular proposal was developed. The building also withdraws on the west to visually enlarge the square, which passes by the street, joining the old church to the new building. A interesting public space would be added to Concepción.

The building is composed basically by three elements:

exploted axo

a) A free plant “volume” that looks to the East, North and West, protected from the sun by laminated wood sections that support a “double green skin” with mature climbing plants. The wood use alludes to the regional production;

b) A “plan-volume” vertical to the South that flies over the square. Improves the energetic conservation of the building. It is clad in undulated metal plates, a material very utilized in the South of Chile in an economic version. Reminds as well the production of regional steel. Its tall and large windows allow views towards the hills of Concepción, but block the sight of the haphazard roofs of the city and;

c) A great “horizontal” cantilever roof that serves as an end of the building and protects the large balcony of the upper floor from the western sun wich has the view to the Bío-Bío river. In turn, emphatizes the relation with the small squate. These three bodies give the impression of detachment between them and are supported over a glazing membrane in the first two access and customer service levels. More ever, the main entrance is on axis to the church, on the other side of the square.


Sunday, January 25, 2009

Heart Hospital at NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Center

The new Heart Hospital at NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Center will greatly expand the functional capacity of the Cardiology Department. The new building is an intervention in the existing hospital complex and serves to express the vitality and dynamism of the rapidly changing medical community it serves. A curving all-glass wall acts as a counterpoint to the existing masonry buildings and provides panoramic views of its spectacular setting to visitors, patients, and medical practitioners.
Inserted between two substantial existing hospital buildings, the new facility will provide a full range of medical services, including Diagnostics, Ambulatory Surgery, Cardiac Catheterization laboratories, Medical Practice suites, Critical Care units, and an Education/Conference center. The new hospital will be connected to the existing buildings on multiple levels, facilitating the continuity of medical departments and functional synergies.The most prominent architectural feature, the multilayered, curved glass wall, suggests the forward-looking energy of the new institution, both technologically progressive and personally responsive. The seating areas behind the glass wall enjoy spectacular views of the Hudson River and the Palisades beyond. The double-glass construction allows for both energy efficiency and visual transparency. Electronically controlled vertical shades track the movement of the sun, maintaining a temperate internal environment and presenting a constantly changing façade. At night, strategically deployed lighting refracts through the glass envelope, which is suspended from the uppermost floor by a web of stainless steel cables.
The new Heart Center provides a full range of cardiac care on six levels, including vascular ultrasound, cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology, surgical robotics, practice suites, and an expanded ICU/CCU. A four-story atrium makes clear the vertical organization of the facility and brings to the interior natural light, spatial generosity, and a visual connection to the blue of the New York City sky.
The arrival from the principal patient drop-off area is through a tall, sheer glass wall, the transparency of which is an invitation to enter. Strategically placed art draws the visitor into the building and a curved and gently ascending ramp leads to the skylit glazed atrium. The education and conference center is directly accessible from the main atrium and provides reception space, an auditorium seating 200, and four flexible conference rooms. Fiber optic connection between the procedure/operating rooms above and the auditorium, as well as satellite uplink capability, will greatly enhance the educational potential of the center.An entrance and vehicular drop-off from 165th Street is accomplished via a landscaped arrival court under a sheltering glass canopy.

The material palette of the building, water-white glass, stainless steel, aluminum, and limestone is intended to represent the clarity, dignity, and enduring values of the institution it serves. (source)

Rush University Medical Center


Rush is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

The project schedule calls for surface parking, the central power plant, parking, the orthopedic ambulatory building, and the supply chain and loading docks to be complete in 2009; the East Tower to open in 2012; the existing Atrium building renovations to finish in 2013 and 2015; and demolition of the oldest buildings on the west end of Rush’s campus to occur in 2016. (source)

University of Chicago Medical Center


The futuristic, $700 million, 10-story, 1.2 million-square-foot New Hospital Pavilion, designed by renowned architect Rafael Viñoly, provides a high-technology facility that combines the optimal setting for patient care and collaborative clinical research with the flexibility to adapt to and drive forward rapid changes sweeping through medicine.

Rafael Viñoly Architects of New York and London, working with health care facility specialists Cannon Design of Grand Island, N.Y., developed the design. Viñoly designed the University’s award-winning Charles M. Harper Center for the Graduate School of Business.

The building’s innovative and efficient design will foster collaboration and interaction among clinicians while providing a haven for patients and families dealing with complex illness. It will be spacious, easy to navigate and filled with natural light.

The architects created that flexibility by basing the entire structure on an innovative grid system—a matrix of modular cubes, each one 31.5 feet across and 18 feet high. The repeating modules, 102 on each floor, can be reconfigured as needed to accommodate a wide range of purposes, from inpatient beds to radiology suites to operating rooms, without changing the basic frame of the building.

Besides fostering collaboration, driving technological change and creating an environment where patient care, research and education could be developed seamlessly, “there was a clear intention to create a facility,” said Viñoly, “where architectural quality and operational efficiency are not in opposition.”

Playing off the traditional courtyard layout of much of the University, the design includes a Sky Lobby on the seventh floor, “effectively lifting the social, contemplative, outdoor space of the campus quad into the air,” according to Viñoly. The Sky Lobby, an elevated public space that “breaks the building’s mass into two components,” will contain central reception, family waiting areas, a chapel, gift shop, dining areas and other public spaces. Its floor-to-ceiling glass walls will provide expansive views of the campus and Lake Michigan to the east, Washington Park to the west, and the downtown Chicago skyline to the north. (source)

Providence Newberg’s New Medical Center

First hospital to earn Gold LEED
Architects: Mahlum Architects

Providence Health System's new medical center in Newberg was the first hospital building in the United States to acquire enough renewable electric power to meet all its needs. Providence has agreed to purchase 183,294 kilowatt hours per month of renewable power from Portland General Electric through PGE's Clean Wind program. By doing this, Providence will offset the need for conventional power generation that would have sent more than three million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere each year. The CO2 emissions avoided will be equivalent to taking 273 cars off the road.Providence Newberg’s medical center is breaking new ground in many ways. The project is the first hospital in the nation to earn GOLD LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification through the U.S. Green Building Council, which is extremely rare for hospitals. Providence Newberg is demonstrating that a medical center can incorporate the most advanced technology and forward-thinking patient care design along with energy-efficient, environmentally sound construction.(source)
  • Providence Newberg is the first Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified hospital in the country. LEED is a certification from the U.S. Green Building Council to encourage and support construction of healthier, more energy efficient buildings.
  • The building location maximizes views and daylight for heating and cooling efficiency.
  • Courtyards increase natural lighting inside the building – every patient room has
    natural light.
  • Specially treated windows improve heating and cooling efficiency.
  • Occupancy sensors control lighting and HVAC, cycling down systems when they are
    not in use.
  • Our ventilation system does not recycle air inside the building. The air you breathe is 100 percent fresh.
  • The healing garden outside Ruth’s Café allows patients, visitors and employees to take advantage of spectacular views of nearby Parrett Mountain.
More pictures and information from Mahlum Architects

Green Hospital Articles

The Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care

Building Green Hospitals Checklist

Healthy Building Network and Health Care Without Harm

Green Building Priorities for Healthcare

Hospitals for a Healthy Environment and the NY State Energy Research & Development Authority

Green Guide for Healthcare

American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE)

Green Healthcare Construction Guidance Statement

CleanMed 2002

Green and Healthy Buildings for the Healthcare Industry

National Health Service (NHS) Estates

Sustainable Development: Construction and the National Health Service (NHS)

BUILDING GREEN HOSPITALS CHECKLIST

BUILDING GREEN HOSPITALS CHECKLIST

1. Choose an Environmentally Friendly Site

[] Avoid farmland, wetlands, flood plains, environmentally sensitive lands, and hazardous substance sites.

[] Rehabilitate vacant areas as necessary.

[] Share existing parking/transportation infrastructure.

[] Minimize heat island (thermal gradient differences between developed and undeveloped areas).

[] Take advantage of existing transit, water, and energy infrastructure in the community.

[] Preserve local habitat, greenfields, and natural resources.

2. Design for Sustainability and Efficiency

Building

[] Prioritize parks, greenways, and bikeways throughout the new hospital area. Plan sufficient shade.

[] Investigate incentives available from the U.S. Department of Energy.

[] Consider (re)use of existing buildings, including structure, shell, etc.

[] Identify opportunities to incorporate recycled materials into the building, such as beams and posts, flooring, paneling, bricks, doors, frames, cabinetry, furniture, trim, etc.

[] Provide suitable means of securing bicycles with convenient change/shower facilities for those who cycle to work.

[] Design for durability-life cycle costing/value engineering strategy for finishes and systems to reduce waste.

[] Maximize daylighting and view opportunities (building orientation, exterior/interior shading devices, high-performance glazing, photo-integrated light sensors, shallow floor plates, increased building perimeter, etc.).

[] Designate an area for recyclable collection and storage that is appropriate and convenient with consideration given to using cardboard balers, aluminum can crushers, recycling chutes, and other waste management technologies to enhance recycling program.

[] Consider the installation of an on-site compost vessel.

[] Design for adaptability of building design as user needs change.

[] Establish a project goal for locally sourced materials and identify materials and material suppliers that can help achieve this goal; this reduces environmental impact due to transportation and supports the local economy.

[] Provide capacity for indoor air quality monitoring to sustain long-term occupant health and comfort (carbon dioxide sensors integrated into building automation system).

Energy

[] Orient building to take advantage of solar energy for heating and daylighting, and to encourage natural ventilation and passive cooling.

[] Consider heat recovery systems where appropriate.

[] Use computer-simulation model to assist in maximizing energy performance.

[] Install mechanical ventilation equipment.

[] Install high-efficiency heating and cooling equipment. Install a lighting control system.

[] Install high-efficiency lights, appliances, and fixtures with motion/occupancy sensors where appropriate.

[] Consider heating/cooling and energy from renewable sources (e.g., solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, bio-gas, etc.).

[] Minimize light pollution by proper and judicious illumination.

[] Design the building with equipment to measure water and energy performance.

[] Consider task lighting "opening window" technology, and underfloor HVAC systems with individual diffusers.

(Source)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Macallen Building Condominiums

The Macallen Building, a 140-unit condominium building in South Boston, was designed to incorporate green design as a way of marketing a green lifestyle while at the same time increasing revenue from the project. Located in a primarily industrial area among highways, train and bus routes, and an international airport, the site presented challenges for the project team tackling air and noise pollution, addressing the urban heat-island effect, and creating local green space.

The green building features include innovative technologies that will save over 600,000 gallons of water annually while consuming 30% less electricity than a conventional building. This dedication to sustainable initiatives produces many benefits for everyone involved in the project: developer, architects, engineers, and residents alike.

This project was chosen as an AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Green Project for 2008. It was submitted by Burt Hill with Office dA in Boston, Massachusetts. Additional project team members are listed on the "Process" screen.

Environmental Aspects

This LEED Gold project has a sloped green roof that controls stormwater drainage, filters pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the air, reduces heating and cooling loads, reduces the project's contribution to the urban heat-island effect, and provides an ecosystem for wildlife. A 20,000-ft2 outdoor terrace incorporated into the building provides similar benefits as the green roof. In addition, a covered garage was integrated into the building to reduce overall square footage and contribution to the urban heat-island effect and stormwater runoff.

The building is well insulated and features several energy-saving technologies, including heat-recovery ventilation and water-source heat pumps. No potable water is used for irrigation on the site. Instead, rainwater and air-conditioner condensate are collected and stored for use. In addition, the project was awarded a LEED innovation point for the use of a system that treats cooling tower blowdown water without the use of chemicals for use in irrigation. (source)

Garthwaite Center for Science & Art

The Garthwaite Center at the Cambridge School of Weston houses laboratory classrooms for biology, chemistry, and physics; lab prep rooms; faculty offices; meeting space; a science display atrium; a large community gathering gallery; a small, secure art gallery; an integrated studies classroom; independent study space; and a campus data center.

In addition to focusing on its environmental goals, the project team had to contend with space and budgetary requirements. The site consisted of sloping bedrock, and the school wanted to preserve existing trees. In addition, the building had to accommodate all-school art shows, blend in with the existing campus, and create a popular student space on campus,.

This project was chosen as an AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Green Project for 2008. It was submitted by Architerra, Inc., in Boston, Massachusetts. Additional project team members are listed on the "Process" screen.

Environmental Aspects

The project team's environmental goals included preserving as many trees as possible to maintain the wooded setting of the campus. The building was designed to integrate with the site, with floor levels arranged to mimic the hillside they sit on. The partial green roof manages stormwater, lowers heating and cooling loads, and shades the building from solar heat gain with overhangs.

The building is oriented to the south to take advantage of daylighting and passive solar heating opportunities. A heavy timber frame was left exposed to minimize finishing. In addition, several of the building's systems were left exposed to offer teaching opportunities; an enthalpy heat wheel, a wood pellet boiler, and toilet composters can all be seen by students. (source)

Sidwell Friends Middle School


The master plan for the Sidwell Friends School, a pre-K through 12th-grade Quaker independent school, focuses on meeting programmatic needs for its two campuses in Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, Maryland, including the unification of the campuses through coherent landscapes and enhanced pedestrian circulation.

The renovation and addition to the middle school transforms a 55-year-old facility into a school that teaches environmental responsibility by example. The 39,000 ft2 addition more than doubled the size of the existing building, providing modern spaces for music and art, science and computer labs, counseling, and a library while retaining and enhancing the value of the existing structure.

This project was chosen as an AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Green Project for 2007. It was submitted by KieranTimberlake Associates, LLP, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Additional project team members are listed on the "Process" screen.

Environmental Aspects

Designed to foster an ethic of social and environmental responsibility in each student, the facility demonstrates a responsible relationship between the natural and the built environment.

Bicycle storage and showers are available, and the building is located within walking distance of a subway stop and several bus stops. Parking is available in an underground lot. A green roof and constructed wetland reduce stormwater runoff, improve the quality of infiltrated runoff, and reduce municipal water use. The wetland treats wastewater for reuse in the toilets and cooling towers.

The building was sited to take advantage of passive solar design. Together with high-efficiency electric lighting, photosensors, and occupancy sensors, daylighting minimizes lighting energy use. Solar-ventilation chimneys, operable windows, and ceiling fans minimize the need for mechanical cooling. Rather than develop a utility plant for this building alone, a central plant was created to serve the entire campus. A photovoltaic array generates about 5% of the building's electricity needs.

Reclaimed materials include exterior cladding, flooring and decking, and the stone used for landscaping. Interior finishes were selected for their high levels of recycled content, low chemical emissions, and use of rapidly renewable materials. (source)

The Plaza at PPL Center


The Plaza at PPL Center, Allentown, Pa.,
Robert A.M. Stern Architects, New York City
(In association with Kendall/HeatonAssociates and with support from environmental building consultant Atelier Ten)

The Plaza at PPL Center, an urban office building, was designed and built in 18 months on a suburban real-estate budget. Located in the center of Allentown, Pennsylvania, this eight-story building is the first new downtown office development in more than 25 years and represents a major commitment to the City by the building's tenant, the PPL Corporation, a regional energy company. While the PPL Corporation occupies most of the building, the owner, Liberty Property Trust, developed one floor as speculative office space, and the plaza level of the building includes retail storefronts.

Chosen as an AIA Top Ten Green Project for 2004. The Plaza at PPL Center was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects in association with Kendall/Heaton Associates with support from environmental building consultant Atelier Ten. Additional project team members are listed on the "Process" screen.

Environmental Aspects

Located in downtown Allentown on a previously-developed site, the building sits at a major public transportation node and forms a new public plaza at one end of the City's main business corridor. The highly transparent south façade animates the street scene and metaphorically opens to public view the activity inside. The building is a catalyst for economic development in the center of Allentown's business district.

A dramatic eight-story central glass atrium brings natural light deep into the core of the building, while extensive perimeter glazing provides abundant daylight to, and views from, all building spaces.

Carbon dioxide sensors insure that fresh air is supplied to each building area as needed, and zero-emitting or low-VOC paints, adhesives, sealants, carpet, and composite wood were used throughout. Two two-story, plant-filled winter gardens along the south façade of the building provide unique workspaces, bring daylight deeper into the floor plates, control glare, and improve indoor air quality.

The design integrates environmental moderation and control into the fabric of the building with high-performance glazing, brises-soleil, and a vegetated roof. The building's energy demand is more than 30% lower than code requirements, its water use is 45% below code requirements, and its construction materials contain over 20% recycled content.

(source)

Lake View Terrace Library


Lake View Terrace Branch Library, Los Angeles
Fields Devereaux Architects & Engineers/GreenWorks, Los Angeles

Lake View Terrace Library is a branch library and multi-use facility for the City of Los Angeles. It is located in the San Fernando Valley within the Hansen Dam Recreation Area. The building program includes the library, a community room, an environmental display gallery, and an exterior courtyard.

The building plan responds to the desire expressed by the community to have a library that reflects the rancho tradition of the region, with interior spaces organized around an open central courtyard. A spacious main reading room stretches along the east-west axis and enjoys dramatic views of the park to the south.

Chosen as an AIA Top Ten Green Project for 2004. Submitted by Fields Devereaux Architects & Engineers, Los Angeles, CA. Additional project team members are listed on the "Process" screen.

Environmental Aspects

Public transit at the adjacent intersection provides convenient pedestrian access. Site stormwater runoff was reduced by 25% with landscaping features that include a series of radial bioswales that allow for efficient infiltration of rainwater. Over 75% of construction waste was diverted from landfills to local recycling facilities.

The Library's energy performance is over 40% more efficient than California standards. The building shell is high-mass concrete masonry units (CMU) with exterior insulation to allow night venting. Approximately 80% of the building is naturally ventilated with mechanically interlocked windows controlled by the building's energy management system. A building-integrated photovoltaic system shades the entry and roofs the community room, providing 15% of the building's energy. The design provides nearly 100% shading of glazing during operating hours. During a typical day, all public areas (93% of the building) achieve target lighting levels without artificial light. Daylight-dimming ballasts and occupancy sensors are used where appropriate.

The program called for a LEED(r) Platinum building as rated by the U.S. Green Building Council, and it is the first project of the city to attempt or achieve this level of certification.

(Source)

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Vertical Garden - Contemporary Garden for Small Space

contemporary vertical garden

Vertical garden is a new concept for you who bored with conventional garden layout. The vertical garden is made possible through a lightweigh system with a high degree of self-sufficiency. It enables a large number of species to grow on vertical surface, allowing for variety and artistic freedom in the design. Each vertical garden is given a unique design and mix of species. The composition of plants takes in consideration the specific environment where it will be built. Its a solution if you would like to have a garden in the small space. To get the fresh atmosphere at the limited area. Visit Vertical Garden Site

garden for urban space

cafe garden

another views

fresh views

Friday, January 16, 2009

Madrid Barajas Airport

(image via: E-Architect )

Spain recently opened the new Madrid Barajas Airport and it’s quite an improvement from the original, dating from 1933. The updated terminal is huge - 1.2 million square feet - and is capable of processing up to 75 million visitors annually

(image via: Giramondo1 )

The architects - Richard Rogers Partnership with Estudio Lamela - took pains to make the new airport’s passenger and baggage terminals as environmentally friendly as possible, orienting them in a north-south direction and using passive design features to reduce the need for energy-intensive heating and cooling as much as possible. Note that the ceilings used bamboo in a dramatic fashion.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Renewable Energy From Slow Water Currents

We can use slow moving ocean and river waves for a new, reliable and affordable alternative energy source. A University of Michigan engineer has developed a device that acts like a fish that turns the potentially destructive vibrations in water into clean, renewable energy. Read more at http://earthalternate.blogspot. com/

Biotecture

Biotecture is defined as architecture using organic materials (e.g. plants, minerals, organisms) for architecture purpose.

A growing awareness of the importance of the natural environment had led to the recognition that even a man-made environment could never be a wholly man-controlled environment, because it could not disconnect itself totally from the natural world around it.

Concern over pollution and depletion of natural resources led to a greater appreciation of nature expressed in “Natural Wood Walls, Bamboo Furniture, Greenhouses, and Indoor Gardens.”

A Biostructure grown by Architect R. De March on his “House Farm” near Stuttgart, Germany, consists of living Hazel trees bent into arched shapes as frameworks over which dense foliage plants have been trained to form protective walls.

Biotecture begins from the standpoint that nature itself is the ideal architectural construct.

Man-made structures and garden are not to be taken as new creations starting from nothing but rather as rearrangement of elements present, which are a small part of total structure.

Biotecture seeks to take advantage of the workings of nature to produce the desired conditions without unwarranted side effects, instead of expending great quantities of energy and material resource to create and maintain an artificial environment.

The goal of biological architecture is to produce a human habitat compatible with the habitats of the other life forms on this planet, and wholly integrated into the natural cycles of water and air circulation, using clean energy and reusable materials, and capable of changing in response to changing conditions.

Two Approaches used by Biological Architects:

Biomorphic – uses nature as a model and design buildings that apply the structural principles and decorative motifs found in nature.

Biostructural – nature does the actual construction work and make direct use of natural system for architectural purposes.

In essence the first concept makes use of nature as designer while the second takes nature as builder.

Principle of Biostructure

Natural processes should be employed to create structure according to human specifications.

Genetically altered plants that would grow into buildings and building components.

Crystalline materials that would be chemically treated to grow into pre-programmed shapes.

Building with materials available on site and on the immediate locality as many species of animals do.

Animals such as:

*Shellfish, corals build elaborate houses for themselves by extracting minerals naturally present in water.

*Spiders construct elaborate webs of great strength and flexibility byextruding a quick-hardening organic fluid from their bodies and can recycle an old web by absorbing the threads back into their bodies again.

*Certain termite colonies fashion natural systems for maintaining constant humidity, temperature, control, and deep-well water supplies sufficient to maintain indefinitely a population of over 2.000.000 insects; the source of power is the sun, building materials are those found in the area.

Hilbertz looks at ways to take architecture responsive to changes in its environment, as well as changing needs of its inhabitants.

His goal is to achieve a complete symbiosis between man-made and natural environments. In building environments that grow he envisions building with light, like in the use of laser beams to generate 3-dimensional holographic images, through the guidance of computers or in making autotrophic structures which are self-generating or self-building life the chambered nautilus.

“Biological Architecture” advocates the incorporation of living plants and animals into architecture, designing buildings that will realty like living things to changing environmental conditions.
The Green Machine is a comprehensive urban megastructure proposed be Glen Small from Los Angeles it is capable of restoring the environment of the entire Los Angeles Basin. It can support a population density high as 250,000 people per square mile on a biotecture concept.

The Green Machine combines high technology and ecologically sensitive design in a multi-story urban housing structure.

It also incorporates both active and passive solar heating, with parabolic disc solar collectors for power generation and hot water.

It conserves water by collecting rain-water and recycling waste water for sub-surface irrigation.

It has built in greenhouses which will permit recycling of garbage and produce food for residents.

It accommodates modular homes, travel trailers, artist’s studios. It has a housing project for low-income families and individuals.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Monaco House / McBride Charles Ryan

Architect: McBride Charles Ryan - Rob McBride & Debbie-Lyn Ryan
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Project year: 2007
Photographs: Trevor Mein

This is a new 4 storey building located in a largely pedestrian lane (Ridgway place) at the East end of Melbourne’s CBD. Dominant in the lane is the historic Melbourne Club wall and the gigantic plane trees emanating from the Melbourne Club Garden which arch over the diminutive lane. The site with dimensions of 6.1 m in width and 17m in depth and a foot print of 102.5 sqm is a postage stamp.

Our brief was to provide a ground level entry and café, followed by two levels of office tailored for the Proprietors Investment and Philanthropic Organisation. The top level contains a small reception area primarily for official functions associated with the client’s role as Honorary Consular of Monaco.

The process of the Aggregation of the Melbourne’s allotments is now almost universally seen as a process which diminishes urban quality and diversity. There is now an earnest attempt, even in large block developments, to reintroduce fine grain urbanism that has been lost to the city. This project is rare; despite renewed respect of fine grain urbanism there are few willing to make the significant investment that this type of building entails.

This was this client’s first foray into what may be considered contemporary architecture. Despite this inexperience, our client had a love of the design of cars, boats (particularly early 20C) and finely crafted objects. He bemoaned the loss of shape in the contemporary world. It was in the area of shape, craft and material that the architect and client found our common ground.

To meet cost constraints building elements had to be structured around crane sizes, and crane sizes around turning circles. Much of the external is pragmatic and unremarkable. It is in the 2 metre frontage zone where for many months we explored and discussed the nuances of composition. We wanted the building to be both abstract and awash with imagery. We looked at the plane trees, the gothic, surrealism, the heraldic, deco and the Prague cubists. We wanted the building to be above all else something that amplified its miniature urban grain and enriched the pedestrian experience of the city.

Within the office large apertures to the West are well shaded by deep balconies and the adjoining plane trees.
The workspace has good natural light and cross ventilation. . . Exposed windows have electronically controlled external blinds. Outdoor balconies provide areas of release from the office desk. The ‘green roofscape’ is a similar space but also adds additional insulation to the upper floor. Water is harvested and stored in the stairwell. Fixtures are selected for their low energy and water usage. There is a heavy emphasis on insulation with a combination of closed cell Styrofoam, air cell and bulk insulation reducing reliance on conditioned air.

From a technical point of view the complex geometry and use of such materials as Glass Reinforced Cement and its structural support demanded sophisticated use of 3d software and integration of those techniques with the off site production. This project may have brought us a small step closer to the ideal where our CAD software can integrate with production and enhance diversity, complexity and apparent craft without large cost impost.