Category Archives: Architecture
Londoners crossing the River Thames could enjoy some solar-poweredshade on the Victorian-era Blackfriars Bridge soon. The bridge is currently being hooked on to London’s largest solar roof and will soon begin soaking in energy from the sun to generate some green and renewable energy. A 6,000 square meter photovoltaic array is being installed on the Blackfriars Bridge and will make it the world’s biggest solar bridge when completed. The array is being put into place by Solarcentury and will generate a sweet 900,000 kilowatt hours of electricity on an annual basis, enough juice to power 35 homes!
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The next time you fly out of Kuwait, the experience could be a lot greener than you’ve ever had before. Foster + Partners architects are busy working on an airport design, that’s technologically ahead and is a green architectural marvel of sorts. With each terminal designed to sport three symmetrical wing-like structures, each of these will have a façade measuring 1.2 kilometers. The roof is of each terminal will pack solar panels and is looking for an LEED Gold certification.
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Nissan has given the world hope when it comes to transport and a roof above your head in a near-apocalyptic world. Unveiled at CEATEC Japan (Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies) 2011 the NSH-2012 Smart House is part of Nissan’s line of standalone community structures, including Smart Healthcare, Smart Cottage, Smart Rental Car and Smart Food Stand. Inspired by a modern aircraft fuselage design and ancient Japanese homes, the structure of this home is disaster-proof. And the best part of it all is the ever-green Nissan Leaf parked beneath, to ensure you get around on an eco-friendly set of wheels.
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We’ve had news of green structures being unveiled at the Solar Decathlon before, and the 2011 Solar Decathlon championship finally ended with the University of Maryland Water Shed winning first place. The competition had 19 prefab homes, all eco-friendly and green to the finish, competing with each other this year. With points awarded in 10 different categories, with each category worth a 100 points, the winning design, the Water Shed home, won the architecture contest and won a place in the first five in just about every other contest too! In all, the Water Shed home won 96 points for its amazingly green design that was crowned the best solar-powered residence from them all.
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We all know just how combustible film can get. And when it comes to storing reels and reels of film, particularly with one of the largest and most significant moving image collections in the world, fire-proofing ain’t a breeze. Well, the British Film Institute seems to have done a pretty sweet job with it though, with Edward Cullinan Architects designing the BFI Acetate & Nitrate Film Store building, complete with all the energy efficiency you’d require from a building of this type. Covering an area of 3000 sq, the warehouse plays home to 460,000 canisters of film at -5°C and 35% relative humidity, and to keep it all from going up in flames, the designers included 4 industrial chillers, 4 dehumidification plants and 12 air handling units as well as heat recovery and a tight, heavily insulated and very air-tight envelope.
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In the land where soccer is considered more than just a religion, turning a soccer stadium green is like giving heaven a green makeover! Nestled in the third largest city in Brazil, Salvador da Bahia, the Pituaçu Stadium will soon sport a 403 kilowatt peak (kWp) system that will begin juicing the stadium in September. Germany-based Gehrlicher Solar AG has teamed up with Brazilian environmental technology group Ecoluz Participações S.A. are working on the project called Gehrlicher Ecoluz Solar do Brasil S.A.
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When it comes to energy efficiency, OLEDs are right up there, and are expected to change the home-electronics industry for the greener good forever. Israeli designer Meidad Marzan’s UrbanTiles concept uses OLED lights to spice up building facades aesthetically. These two-sided reversible tiles have photovoltaics on one side which collect sun energy during the day and OLEDs that light up using the energy collected at night. These when used on building facades could turn our city skylines into an eye-pleasing treat like never before!
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And after hours of efforts and sweat being put into making this skyscraper the greenest in the world, the Taipei 101 building has finally been accredited with LEED – EBOM Platinum Certification, breaking three records in the bargain and earning itself the title of the world’s tallest green building! With an approximate area topping 1.6 million square feet, the building set the Tallest Green Building record along with the Largest Green Building and the Most-user Green Building, given that it houses about a 90 tenants! The building sports waste reduction, energy- and water-saving systems and a bunch load of more technology ensuring that its office temperatures, humidity and carbon dioxide levels are all kept under check!
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The best way to turn the world into a greener place to live in is by turning our own abodes green. Take this eco-friendly home nestled in Chicago for instance. Chicago is known to have its temperatures drop and rise, and heating and cooling systems tend to extend the bills of residents by quite a few inches. To solve this, local architecture and urban-design firm Farr Associates built a 2,600-square-foot house that’s nearly capable of completely powering itself! The house is currently being worked upon, with designers trying their level best to have it go net-zero. Complete with water recycling, forty-eight solar panels, geothermal walls, radiant heat systems and ultra efficient windows, this home is as green as it gets!
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Houseboats aren’t uncommon, and neither is living away from land! Rishi Sowa prefers living off-land on a home made from recycled plastic bottle though, and seems to have done a pretty neat job of it too! An ecological project unlike any we’ve ever seen before, Sowa’s home was made from recycled plastic bottles that could’ve, if not for the designer, ended up in dumping grounds, killing our environment with every passing hour. Made from a staggering 135,000 recycled plastic bottles and taking several years to build, this floating home has been playing residence for Sowa since the last three years!
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Londoners crossing the River Thames could enjoy some solar-poweredshade on the Victorian-era Blackfriars Bridge soon. The bridge is currently being hooked on to London’s largest solar roof and will soon begin soaking in energy from the sun to generate some green and renewable energy. A 6,000 square meter photovoltaic array is being installed on the Blackfriars Bridge and will make it the world’s biggest solar bridge when completed. The array is being put into place by Solarcentury and will generate a sweet 900,000 kilowatt hours of electricity on an annual basis, enough juice to power 35 homes!
