Style of Design

© Montse Zamorano

Architects: CA-DESIGN / Architecture and Urban Planning
Location: Qingpu, Shanghai, China
Director in charge: Pedro Pablo Arroyo Alba
Project year: 2010
Photographs: Montse Zamorano & CA-Group

The Xidayinggang Twin Bridges will be the most important landmark of the future expansion of Qingpu. The objective is to provide the city for a symbolic structure, reasonable, inexpensive, and avant-garde at the same time.

© Montse Zamorano

© Montse Zamorano

Given the scale of the structure, we propose the combination of arches as the most suitable solution. In reaction to the context, the angle of the river and roads with the axis of the bridges, we make the arches jumping from side to side of the deck. Since the heights of the arches are proportional to their spans, they don’t touch each other. The rotating stiffeners generate a series of virtual surfaces of double curvature, which emphasize the dynamism of the space. It is crucial to control the continuity of the arches at the ground level, and their connections with the deck, tangent and intersecting, which make the cables to alternate the alignment of their anchoring points.

© Montse Zamorano

The “balanced asymmetry” of the project resembles the profile of a chain of DNA, as metaphor of the vitality of the new city.

© Montse Zamorano

Architects: CA-DESIGN / Architecture and Urban Planning
Location: Qingpu, Shanghai, China
Director in charge: Pedro Pablo Arroyo Alba
Project year: 2010
Photographs: Montse Zamorano & CA-Group

The Xidayinggang Twin Bridges will be the most important landmark of the future expansion of Qingpu. The objective is to provide the city for a symbolic structure, reasonable, inexpensive, and avant-garde at the same time.

© Montse Zamorano

© Montse Zamorano

Given the scale of the structure, we propose the combination of arches as the most suitable solution. In reaction to the context, the angle of the river and roads with the axis of the bridges, we make the arches jumping from side to side of the deck. Since the heights of the arches are proportional to their spans, they don’t touch each other. The rotating stiffeners generate a series of virtual surfaces of double curvature, which emphasize the dynamism of the space. It is crucial to control the continuity of the arches at the ground level, and their connections with the deck, tangent and intersecting, which make the cables to alternate the alignment of their anchoring points.

© Montse Zamorano

The “balanced asymmetry” of the project resembles the profile of a chain of DNA, as metaphor of the vitality of the new city.

At a time when earthquakes dominate the headlines, we think it’s more important than ever to highlight architecture that keeps potential quakes in mind. So it goes with OFIS Architecture’s All-Seasons Tent Tower, a concept project that features two solar powered, cylindrical towers filled with restaurants, apartments, shops, a business center, spa, pool, bar and garage.

Read the rest of OFIS Unveils Earthquake-Proof Solar Powered Volcano Towers

Permalink |
Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Architecture, armenia, green design, Mercedes-Benz, ofis architecture, tent tower

Read the rest of Zendome: Gorgeous Geodesic Domes Create Flexible Green Spaces

Permalink |
Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: “prefabricated housing”, “sustainable architecture”, geodesic domes, Green Building, green design, prefab architecture, sustainable design, zendome

We’re totally intrigued by this pop music center for Taipei and its striking resemblance to a rolling green hill. Conceived by Italian firm Mario Bellini Architects, the design is “a single body wrapped in a plastic ‘mantle plant’,” according to our friends at Designboom. While we aren’t sure how sustainable this plastic ‘mantle plant’ is, or even what it is for that matter, we were taken with the creative landscaping and creation of an exciting outdoor public area for the people of the Taipei. The proposed structure would also have glass passageways, letting visitors look out onto the city. If anyone has any more information about the eco-features of this center, we’d love to hear them – so share your thoughts in the comments below.

+ Mario Bellini Architects

Via Designboom

Permalink |
Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: eco design, green architecture, Green Covered Taipei Music Center by Mario Bellini Architects, green design, mario bellini architects, sustainable design, taiper pop music center

It may sound a bit creepy, but wouldn’t it be cool if buildings could grow their own skin? California-based architecture firm Faulders Studio certainly thinks so. GEOtube, their proposal for Dubai is almost exactly like a normal building – except for the fact that it will have the ability to generate a web-like saline skin that spreads down the façade of the structure over time. Sounds like neighbors will always know where they can borrow some salt!

Read the rest of GEOtube is A Building That Grows Its Own Weblike Saline Skin

Permalink |
Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: building that grows its own skin, eco design, faulders studio, geotube, green architecture, Green Building, green design, self-skinning building, sustainable design

Sloping towards the open sea, Oppenheim’s luxurious mixed-use tower for the United Arab Emirates is both elegant and a model of efficiency. If you look closely, the pixelated residences comprising the development sprawl fluidly away from the lush garden oasis hidden at its base and onto the sandy beach. The design was conceived specifically to maximize the quantity of units available on the water while minimizing the amount of energy used.

Read the rest of Oppenheim’s Sloping Beach Tower Hides a Green Oasis Inside

Permalink |
Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: “clean energy”, beach marina tower, beach tower, eco design, green architecture, green design, oppenheim, Solar Power, Sustainable Building, uae, united arab emirates, wind energy

ACADIA 2010 will focus on the changing nature of information and its impact on architectural education, research, and practice. The conference will gather leading practitioners, theorists, and researchers who will examine the relation that architecture has with technology and information, and how the latter propels today’s most innovative design experimentation and research. ACADIA 2010 will be centered on a series of peer-reviewed paper sessions and a groundbreaking exhibition including peer-reviewed projects.

Conference will be held at The Cooper Union, New York City, from October 21 to 24. Details about the Conference and Call for Papers and Projects are now available at www.acadia.org/acadia2010.

ACADIA 2010 will focus on the changing nature of information and its impact on architectural education, research, and practice. The conference will gather leading practitioners, theorists, and researchers who will examine the relation that architecture has with technology and information, and how the latter propels today’s most innovative design experimentation and research. ACADIA 2010 will be centered on a series of peer-reviewed paper sessions and a groundbreaking exhibition including peer-reviewed projects.

Conference will be held at The Cooper Union, New York City, from October 21 to 24. Details about the Conference and Call for Papers and Projects are now available at www.acadia.org/acadia2010.

href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/01/15/new-zealand-train-station-transformed-into-green-meadow/">

Often times standing around in even the most modern and sleek subway stations can be an utter drag. But imagine the surprise if your local platform suddenly sprouted a vast green meadow! Not too long ago Auckland New Zealand’s Britomart Station received a grassy green makeover that transformed 1,250 square meters of its cold hard concrete into a plush green field.

Read the rest of New Zealand Train Station Transformed Into Green Meadow

/>

Permalink |
Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Auckland, britomart station, eco-art, green design, green meadow, Landscape Architecture, meadow fresh, New Zealand, new zealand train station, public spaces, sustainable design, train station, train station as green meadow, Urban design, urban garden

•