Archinect - News

NBBJ designs biospheres for Amazon's Seattle headquarters

2013-05-21T18:44:00-04:00

Reminiscent of a greenhouse or conservatory, the three intersecting biodomes replace an earlier plan for a six-story office building and would establish a visual focus and “heart” for the three-block project, according to plans filed with the city. The spheres will offer “a plant-rich environment” filled with species from mountainous ecologies around the globe, chosen for their “ability to coexist in a microclimate that also suits people,” according to the plans.

Winners of innatur_2 Ideas Competition

2013-01-02T21:17:00-05:00

The winning entries have been announced in the second edition of the innatur ideas competition. Organized by Spanish architecture platform OPENGAP, the contest invited designers to submit innovative and thoughtful strategies of implementing architecture in a protected natural environment.

Visiondivision's Chop Stick celebrates the raw materials that make our built world

2012-12-04T14:24:00-05:00

The design is based on the universal notion that you need to sacrifice something in order to make something new. Every product is a compound of different pieces of nature, whether it is a cell phone, a car, a stone floor or a wood board; they have all been harvested in one way or another. Our project is about trying to harvest something as gently as possible so that the source of what we harvest is displayed in a pure, pedagogic and respectful way...

Chop Stick has hit the internets today! Chop Stick is a concession stand, playground, and sculpture-building for the Indianapolis Museum of Art's 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. I was very fortunate to be local architect-of-record for this innovative project by Swedish architecture duo Visiondivision.

↑ On opening day, Ulf and Anders of Visiondivision handed out ice cream. Courtesy IMA.

↑ The large swing is fun for children and grown-ups alike. Courtesy VIMA.

↑ The swings were made from chunks of wood cut out and "dropped" from the main trunk, visible here.

Visiondivision conceived of this project as a way to consider how we use natural resources in our architectural works. The project combined the vast knowledge of workers at both ends of the art and construction spectrum - engineers and architects, loggers and carpenters - to create a building that remains close to nature while being a functional structure for the 100 Acres Park. The ...

SunRay Kelley’s Ungated Community

2012-11-30T15:51:00-05:00

It is an unusual soul, however, who proceeds to build 7 houses, 10 ponds, a hermit’s hut, a 17-foot-tall maple-wood Jesus and a yoga studio whose sculptured pink doorway resembles (with frank anatomical accuracy) the female genitalia. The lord of this manor is a 60-year-old barefoot maverick named SunRay Kelley. And his fantastical hand-hewn compound lies at the end of a dirt road that bears his grandfather’s name, in the foothills of the Cascade Range, north of Seattle.

I like this quote:

A recent Saturday morning found Mr. Kelley rambling in the garden while smoking an herbal palliative the size of a cigar. He self-medicates in this fashion at certain times of the day, like when he is awake and doesn’t have food in his mouth.

Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Biophilia" Pinterest Board

2012-10-12T14:28:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Biophilia.

↑ Cabbagetown Garden in Toronto, Canada by PLANT Architect Inc.

↑ Robinson Nature Center in Columbia, MD by GWWO Architects

↑ Galileo's Pavilion; Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS by Studio 804 (team member: Nathan Jarvis)

↑ Pine Creek Pavilion in Pine Creek, MT by Artemis Institute

↑ The Offices of Buck O'Neill Builders, Inc in San Francisco, CA by jones | haydu

↑ AEA Headquarters in Bronx, NY by Future Green Studio

↑ Home in the Hills in the Santa Cruz Mountains, CA by Geoffrey Holton and Associates (team member: David Waldorf, Photo: Muffy Kibbey)

↑ Tree Adventure in Philadelphia, PA by Metcalfe Architecture & Design

↑ Pelter Residence in Los Angeles, C...

Winners of inNATUR Competition Announced

2011-12-19T17:33:16-05:00

The inNATUR Competition, organized by OPENGAP, recently announced three winning entries and five honorable mentions. The international contest sought for innovative and cutting-edge ideas for a Nature Interpretation Center committed to a strategy of implementing architecture in a protected natural environment. The jury comprised architects Edgar Gonzalez, Liong Lie, Gerardo Mingo, and Paula Montoya.

TEDxJacksonHole - Nona Yehia & Jefferson Ellinger - New Architectures: Nature and Phenomena

2011-12-05T17:05:06-05:00

Nona Yehia and Jefferson Ellinger established the architectural firm, Ellinger/Yehia Design LLC in 2003 to investigate links between architecture, landscape and technology. In 2004, the firm opened an office in Jackson Hole, Wyoming to further explore these inter-relationships.
Architects, artists, scientists and designers throughout the ages have been inspired by the beauty and elegance in nature; studying, imitating and attempting to recreate natural systems has shaped life as we know it. Today, the question is how natural phenomena can become instrumental in the design of new architectures that radically redefine our built environment.

“SAIVU” Wins Sjunkhatten National Park Competition in Norway

2011-10-11T13:26:29-04:00

Oslo-based Eriksen Skajaa Architects recently won the competition for new gateways to the Sjunkhatten National Park in the northern part of Norway with their proposal called SAIVU. The proposal was a collaboration with Pushak and Bjørbekk & Lindheim Landscape Architects.