Archinect - News

Pioneering UC Berkeley professor Sim Van der Ryn dies aged 89

2024-11-18T16:06:00-05:00

Dutch architect Sim Van der Ryn, a pioneer of green architecture and a longtime professor at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, has died at age 89 according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He will be remembered for his experimental teaching methods and approach to designing buildings as ecological systems, both of which later became widely accepted as either field looked to embrace sustainability as its new baseline standard.

Van der Ryn's memorial page on the CED's website also credits his work with Murray Silverstein as leading the way for post-occupancy user studies. Dean Renee Y. Chow added her own context to his legacy at the school, saying: "Sim was one of the people who laid the foundation for CED’s ongoing commitment to resilience and environmental equity. He was focused on how to build in environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, socially just ways long before 'sustainability' was even a term in the architectural lexicon. His influence, on Berkeley and beyo...

New European Bauhaus Academy launches skills training network

2024-04-30T14:59:00-04:00

The New European Bauhaus Academy has launched a learning initiative called NEBA Alliance, a network of skills training hubs across the European Union meant to accelerate “up- and re-skilling” activities for workers in the AEC fields and adjacent professional industries. The news was shared via a press release earlier this month that included statements from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who announced the formation of the NEB Academy in November 2022.

Fourteen partners from industry and higher education have signed up to support the effort, which is meant to enable the 160,000 new jobs that are being added to the building sector as part of an inbound "Renovation Wave" in Europe.

"Setting up a central portal and database of certified training materials, courses, and modules, along with a selection of best practices in pedagogies, it will enable widespread scaling of training on bio-based materials in sustainable construction," the announcement states. "The curat...

Foster + Partners unveils designs for Greece's tallest tower

2021-07-09T15:27:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has released designs for what will be the tallest building in Greece. Located near Athens, Marina Tower will also be the first green high-rise building in Greece and the tallest green beachfront high-rise building in the Mediterranean.

Images © DBOX for Foster + Partners

The building is the centerpiece of a massive master plan, led by Foster + Partners and funded by Lamda Development, called the Ellinikon Masterplan. The project will sit on the site of the vacant Ellinikon International Airport and will include the construction of mixed-use districts as well as five other new skyscrapers.

The Marina Tower will stand at 650 feet tall and will contain 200 apartments on 45 floors. The high-rise is slender with a façade defined by balconies and hanging gardens. The extensive greenery reportedly allows the building to blend in with the surrounding natural environment and “the special character of the Mediterranean landscape.”

Images © DBOX for Foster + Partners

Accordi...

Carson Chan appointed as the first director of MoMA's Emilio Ambasz Institute

2021-06-11T16:19:00-04:00

The Museum of Modern Art has appointed curator, writer, and educator, Carson Chan, as the first director of the museum’s Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and the Natural Environment. He will also serve as a curator in the museum’s Department of Architecture and Design, where he will lead initiatives focused on ecology and sustainability in collaboration with all six departments at MoMA.

As the director of the Ambasz Institute, Chan will develop a “robust and diverse” roster of exhibitions, paired with digital and onsite programs that address the interconnectedness of architecture and ecology. He will begin his new role later this summer and will organize and present a major exhibition focused on the emergence of ecological thinking in architecture, scheduled for 2023.

“I look forward to challenging MoMA’s current and future audiences with new ways to define architecture in the midst of our ecological crisis,” said Carson Chan. “My vision for the Ambasz Inst...

When green architecture gets too green

2020-09-16T13:09:00-04:00

An experimental green housing project in a Chinese megacity promised prospective residents life in a "vertical forest", with manicured gardens on every balcony. [...] The problem? The mosquitoes love the plants, too. [...] Without any tenants to care for them, the eight towers have been overrun by their own plants - and invaded by mosquitoes.

3 Canadian mayors join global leaders in signing net zero carbon buildings pledge

2018-08-24T14:46:00-04:00

Today, 3 Canadian mayors, alongside 16 mayors from around the world, representing 130 million urban citizens, committed to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions from their cities by ensuring that new buildings operate at net zero carbon by 2030 [...] Buildings in urban areas are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and typically account for over half of a total city’s emissions on average. I

Mayors from 19 cities around the world have now signed the Net Zero Buildings Declaration, which also pledges to ensure all buildings will meet net-zero carbon standards by 2050. A net zero building uses energy efficient design by drawing from renewable sources to meet performance needs. These commitments are an essential goal of the Paris Agreement and controlling global temperature rise.

Cities pledged include: Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Copenhagen, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, New York City, Newburyport, Paris, Portland, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Monica, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, Tshwane & Washington D.C.

Deborah Berke Partners completes new $19M residence hall for Dickinson College

2018-08-23T18:06:00-04:00

Ahead of the new academic year, Dickinson College has opened a new $19 million residence hall that will house 130 students. The High Street Residence Hall, the Carlisle liberal arts college's first new residence hall since 1973, is part of a $46 million campus investment plan that began in 2012. Officials said demand for on-campus housing exceeded available space, prompting the start of construction on the new residence hall last year.

Deborah Berke Partners' new dormitory for Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA is now open for the upcoming academic school year.

Residence Hall at Dickson College by Deborah Berke Partners, located in Carlisle, PA. © Deborah Berke Partners.

The 40,500 square foot building is currently targeted to be LEED Platinum, making it the first college residence hall in Pennsylvania to achieve this level if approved. The dorm features an upgraded stormwater management system with four rain gardens.

Residence Hall at Dickson College by Deborah Berke Partners, located in Carlisle, PA. © Deborah Berke Partners.

The residence hall was designed with an energy efficient roof, exterior walls, and windows. The facility connects with the colleges' central energy plant to reduce carbon emissions.

Collaborating Firms
Deborah Berke Partners – Architect and Interior Designer
Andropogon – Landscape Architect
Kohler Ronan – MEP Engineer
Steven Winter Associates – LEED/Environmental Consultant
PHT Lighting – Lighting...

Air conditioning's challenge for the built environment

2018-08-16T16:14:00-04:00

The US expends more energy on air conditioning, for example, than the whole of Africa does on everything. Then again, it expends even more energy on hot water, which doesn’t get the same rap. The question then is not whether to condition climate, but how. As long ago as the 1940s the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy demonstrated, with his village of New Gourna near Luxor, how traditional techniques of orientation, ventilation, screening and shading could be revived.

Rowan Moore dives into the history of air conditioning and how the development of this technology shaped architectural design over the years. Rather than condemn its use, Moore advocates for optimizing both old and new techniques for sustainable cooling with the current challenge to scale up for rapidly expanding cities.

Penda's Tel Aviv Arcades offer arches and terraces rather than the generic glass tower

2018-06-25T15:39:00-04:00

The Austrian branch of Penda reveals a residential high-rise for Tel Aviv defined by arches and cascading terraces. The design responds to the broad display of the city’s Bauhaus era and responds to the city's climate challenges rather than opting for another glass tower.

Tel Aviv Arcades rendering by Penda Austria. Image: Penda Austria.

Defined by the arch, the structure's design allows for views while still minimizing openings to direct sunlight in order to cooperate with the mediterranean climate. Varying terraces are used as a shading devices while also functioning as a vertical neighborhood for residents.

Tel Aviv Arcades rendering by Penda Austria. Image: Penda Austria.

The condominium tower measures approximately 380 feet in height featuring about 58 square feet of residential areas on 18 floors. The building will ...

Celebrate Earth Day with the latest in green architecture from 2018

2018-04-22T09:00:00-04:00

In honor of Earth Day today, we look at the latest in sustainable architecture revealed in 2018 so far. Working with our natural environment, upcoming green projects range from sculptural electric charging stations to the world's largest single-domed tropical greenhouse. Our future is being shaped by new technologies such as a machine to recycle demolition waste, progress in nuclear fusion power, and mass timber building techniques.

Scroll down and get inspired to further harmonize our built and natural environments:

Social housing goes green with another urban forest designed by Stefano Boeri

Charging in Style: Danish firm COBE is rethinking fueling stations

Signum Architecture designs sustainably minded Napa Valley winery and office

The case for a semi-permeable architecture

Biocylcer wants to recycle construction waste into new building materials

Largest timber-constructed office building in the nation planned for Newark’s waterfront

The Solar Decathlon Competition Showcases Cut...

The case for a semi-permeable architecture

2018-01-29T20:18:00-05:00

Our current built environment squanders too much fresh water and other vital resources, and tips too many poisonous substances into our surroundings. To develop a more sustainable relationship with the natural world, we need to allow chemical exchanges that take place within our living spaces, and between the inside and the outside. We need to embrace permeability.

Professor of experimental architecture, Rachel Armstrong, endorses a renewed symbiotic relationship between the built and the natural worlds and explains the benefits of permeability with the help of recent technological developments in the field of biodesign, such as mycotecture, algaetecture, bioplastics, and a variety of bioreactors.

Are planted building renderings a real solution or just for show?

2017-12-18T15:10:00-05:00

The trend for “green” eco-fantasy buildings is sweeping the world of architecture, with designers now integrating gardens, terraces and all manner of vertical planting in their specifications for office blocks, apartment buildings and even skyscrapers. “Starchitects” [...] who a few years ago would have scoffed at the idea that their sleek and shiny building might incorporate something as embarrassingly domestic and “unmodern” as a garden, are now getting in on the act.

We have all seen many plant covered architectural renderings of firms getting in on the green building movement. While green buildings and sustainability are not new concepts, they are now a widespread trend being commercialized on a whole different scale. From the vast number of these green projects we must now distinguish between the quality of these designs and their overall effectiveness on the environment. Now we must ask: is there a difference between putting trees on buildings and real environmental change?

Vincent Callebaut's luxe, green Agora Garden Tower twists up the Taipei skyline

2016-12-06T14:32:00-05:00

After his firm Vincent Callebaut Architectures was awarded the bid to create the building in 2010, Callebaut decided to erect a structure that was "like an inhabited tree," that could create a green urban landmark for the city with a minimal carbon footprint. Slated for a completion in September 2017, the tower will stand 20 stories tall with a 90 degree twist that is achieved with a 4.5 degree turn per floor as the building ascends.

Vincent Callebaut, the Belgian architect known for audacious, ecologically-minded design proposals now has a project under construction in Taipei. We previously featured Callebaut's "LILYPAD, A Floating Ecopolis for Ecological Refugees" in 2008.

Related on Archinect:

Architecture Dean Poh says reduction in energy savings is not enough: "I am for net zero."

2016-08-29T17:11:00-04:00

“Right now (the industry is) setting targets of 30 to 40 per cent reduction in energy savings from the current business as usual. I think that’s just not enough. I am for net zero,” he says. [...] “The time scale between what we know can be done and should be done, and when the technology and processes become the norm, needs to be shortened. Currently it takes about 10 to 15 years.”

France Mandates "Green Roofs" for all new buildings

2015-05-25T16:51:00-04:00

A new law recently passed in France mandates that all new buildings that are built in commercial zones in France must be partially covered in either plants or solar panels. Green roofs, as they are called, have an isolating effect which helps to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat a building during the winter or cool it in the summer. They are capable of retaining rainwater and reducing problems with runoff, and also offer birds a place to call home in the urban jungle.

Süha Özkan Looks Globally to Find Architectural Innovation

2015-02-20T11:12:00-05:00

What is the architectural legacy of May 1968? The question framed Süha Özkan’s talk last Tuesday at SCI-Arc, which he began by invoking his own memories of being a young man in Paris during that year's turbulent month of student-worker protests. “Let us be reasonable and ask for the impossible,” Özkan said, quoting the famous slogan that was “uttered in the streets of Paris while stones were thrown.”

For Özkan, the demonstrations of ’68 introduced a new set of values into “the architectural agenda.” He described the preceding parts of the twentieth century as defined by “polarities and oppositions”: west vs east; capitalism vs communism; developed vs underdeveloped; blue vs red; north vs south; conservative vs progressive; right vs left. With ’68, a set of new values were introduced, disrupting this binary structure. According to Özkan, these new values included participation, plurality, freedom, non-discrimination and peace. Today, during the beginning decades of the 21st century, Ö...

Winners of the "Behind the Green Door - A Critical Look at Sustainable Architecture through 600 Objects" book giveaway

2014-08-07T13:00:00-04:00

Time to announce the winners of the Rotor + Oslo Architectural Triennale "Behind the Green Door" book giveaway we had last month.

Based on the acclaimed exhibition and one-year-long research of Belgian creative collective Rotor for the 2013 Oslo Architectural Triennale, Behind the Green Door questions the concept of sustainability, its paradoxes, and its widespread influence in architectural development and urban planning in recent decades.

The winners are:

Jenny V. - Chicago, IL
Wendy L. - New York, NY
Michael B. - San Antonio, TX
Yaprak H. - Montreal, Canada
Chuck F. - Los Angeles, CA

Congrats! Thanks to everyone who participated.

Want to enter another giveaway? Check out the Àlvaro Siza book giveaway we just launched!

Win "A Place in the Sun: Green Living and the Solar Home"

2014-07-09T14:21:00-04:00

Need some ideas for designing a solar home or to make your space a little greener? "A Place in the Sun: Green Living and the Solar Home" could be a helpful guide -- and Archinect is giving away 5 copies to our readers.

Released this past April, the 228-page hardcover book by green-living writer and advocate Stephen Snyder includes an intro by John Hix of John Hix Architect Studios, over 200 color illustrations, and 28 featured profiles on green residences.

To enter this random drawing, fill out this survey by midnight Friday, July 11. Winners will be selected at random. Good luck!

Here's more detail into the book:

"The book vividly demonstrates that living green does not have to mean sacrificing comfort and living with less...Snyder demonstrates that the new solar home is also the new energy-efficient home, the new geothermal home, the new rainwater-harvesting home, and even the new recycled home. This generation of sustainable residences applies earth-friendly techniques throughout—in ...

Boeri Studio's Bosco Verticale in Milan makes the forest tower fantasy a reality

2014-05-16T14:14:00-04:00

Boeri Studio will soon realize the dream of the forest tower with Bosco Verticale, or Vertical Forest -- and they're building two. The thought of a tower "built" out of living greenery has been rendered by architects numerous times, it has reached the point where it's considered a trope of green architecture. But from an idealistic view, seeing the tree-tower design get past the planning stage and move toward completion is quite refreshing, if not intriguing, to say the least.

Located in Milan's redeveloping complex of Porta Nuova Isola, Vertical Forest was designed to help alleviate the city's increasing air pollution problem and provide a biological urban habitat in a total area of 40,000 m2.

The towers -- at 110 meters and 76 meters tall -- allegedly have 900 trees (measuring between 3m-6m) already planted in the residential balconies, along with 5,000 shrubs and 11,000 floral plants on terraces up to the 27th floor. As described by the studio, the vast number of plants will not on...

AIA announces the 2014 COTE Top Ten Green Projects

2014-04-22T21:05:00-04:00

Since it's Earth Day, here are the 18th annual Top Ten Green Projects just announced by the AIA and their Committee on the Environment (COTE). The awards program is the best known in the field for recognizing excellence in sustainable architecture and ecological design. Additionally, AIA and COTE awarded one project as the Top Ten Plus Project, which honors a past Top Ten Green Project that demonstrates through quantifiable metrics the impact of sustainable design and technology.

The winners will be honored at the AIA 2014 National Convention and Design Exposition in Chicago this June.

Have a look at this year's winning projects below.

Pictured above: Arizona State University Student Health Services; Tempe, Arizona
by Lake|Flato Architects + Orcutt|Winslow

Bud Clark Commons; Portland, Oregon
by Holst Architecture

Bushwick Inlet Park; Brooklyn, New York
by Kiss + Cathcart, Architects

Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt (EGWW) Federal Building Modernization; Portland, Oregon
by SERA Architects in association with Cutler Anderson Architects

Gateway Center - SUNY-ESF College of Environmental Science & Forestry; Syracuse, NY
by Architerra

John & Frances Angelos Law Center; Baltimore
by Behnisch Architekten and Ayers Saint Gross

Sustainability Treehouse; Glen Jean, West Virginia Design
by Mithun (Architect); BNIM (Executive Architect/Architect of Record)

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Headquarters; Los Altos California
by EHDD

U.S. Land Port of Entry; Warroad, Minnesota
by Snow K...

The Urban Algae Canopy shows the power of "algaetecture" for Milan Expo 2015

2014-04-17T19:27:00-04:00

Here's another look at what to expect at the Milan Expo in 2015. As part of the Expo's Future Food District project, the Urban Algae Canopy shows the great potential of micro algae organisms for integrative greener, cleaner bio-digital architecture. London-based ecoLogicStudio designed the pavilion in collaboration with local architect Cesare Griffa.

Full-scale prototypes of the pavilion are currently being previewed at the INTERNI ‘Feeding New Ideas for the City’ exhibition at Cortile d’Onore, University of Milan, Festa del Perdono happening until April 18.

Once it's fully built, the canopy will be able to produce oxygen equivalent to 4 hectares of woodland and up to 150kg of biomass per day -- 60% of which are natural vegetal proteins.

Dig into the project details right below:

"The Urban Algae Canopy, based on ecoLogicStudio’s six years long research on building integrated bio-digital systems, is presented here with a 1:1 scale prototype of the world’s first bio-digital canopy integra...

Ostim Eco-Park competition entry by ONZ Architects

2013-12-30T20:49:00-05:00

ONZ Architects participated in a restricted competition - among eight other teams - to design the Ostim Eco-Park, a green technological and research hub for the industrial region of Ostim in Ankara, Turkey.

Although ONZ Architects' proposal did not come out as the competition winner, we're happy to present it in more detail below.

All images courtesy of ONZ Architects.

Click the thumbnails below for additional images.

Eco-Porn Competition results expose the sassy side of green architecture

2013-12-20T14:29:00-05:00

Participants in Reality Cues' cheeky Eco-Porn Competition got to have some fun with the green architecture trend. But since there weren't enough submissions to go through with the full judging process, only Honorable Mentions were given.

Here's a handful of the entries that piqued our interest:

Floramorphism: Bloominating Inorganic Objects by BanG studio – Babak Bryan & Henry Grosman

If Robert Moses had his way in 1941… by Ida Tam

Tower of Babel by Feliks Bochenek

The Green Roof Trope by Eric Karasek

Grimshaw completes the nature-inspired Ecorium, their first project in Asia

2013-11-25T20:14:00-05:00

Grimshaw Architects recently announced the completion of the Ecorium at the National Ecology Center in Seocheon, South Korea -- making this the firm's first project in Asia.

The newly built ecological educational and research center gives visitors a first-hand experience to learn about the Earth's ecosystems all in one place.

Below are more details on the project:

"The project, which was secured through a turnkey design and build competition hosted by Korea’s Ministry of the Environment, uses nature as an immersive teaching tool to showcase the world’s diverse ecosystems. Grimshaw’s New York studio was appointed by Samsung Construction and worked alongside Samoo Architects and Engineers.

The project concept is inspired by the form of an oxbow lake, an aquatic body created by the evolving erosion of a meandering river. The masterplan guides the visitor flow through a series of botanical gardens and into Ecorium."

"Visitors travel through five biomes, seeing, hearing...

Seeing (Too Much) Green: Reality Cues' Eco-Porn Competition

2013-08-15T21:41:00-04:00

Whether by accident or on purpose, we've all seen it somehow.

The Eco-Porn Competition, which launched on August 11, is the latest in Reality Cues' series of tongue-in-cheek competitions that point out the tropes in architecture. The series gives entrants a chance to be sassy yet reverent with their submissions, while opening a broader discussion on various architectural trends. This time around, Reality Cues is looking for some top-notch Eco-Porn in the green architecture trend.

Sustainability, now a requirement in modern architectural projects, has brought about revolutionary ideas into the field. But there are those questionable renderings that go a little too far, adding excessive greenery and other common eco-friendly paraphernalia to merely sell the project as sustainable (a.k.a. eco-porn). The competition questions the motives behind this trend: Are architects seeing too much green?

Entries are being accepted until Sept. 21. Winners will be announced by Reality Cues on Oct. 31.

B...

Harvest Dome 2.0 is finally afloat

2013-08-05T17:39:00-04:00

After two years of steadfast trial and inevitable error, Harvest Dome 2.0 was finally docked into the Harlem River at the Inwood Hill Park Inlet in New York during its debut last week.

Created by husband-and-wife team Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi of SLO Architecture, the first Harvest Dome crashed into Rikers Island where it was later destroyed by NYC's Department of Correction in October 2011. Without losing hope, Schachter and Levi launched a Kickstarter fund we helped promote last year to build Harvest Dome 2.0. And to their success, they raised $7,596 out of their $7,500 minimum goal.

The cactus-like 24-foot-diameter orb was built entirely out of over 400 disposed umbrella skeletons collected around NYC and a ring of 128 two-liter soda bottles to keep it afloat. A bright addition to Harvest Dome 2.0 is the LED lights inserted into each bottle to create a glowing halo that illuminates the river at night.

The dome was built as an artistic representation of NYC'...

Orange Barrel Media Announces LEED Platinum Headquarters in Columbus

2012-04-21T11:46:00-04:00

The new Orange Barrel HQ will reuse existing concrete storage silos and a renovated 10,000-sqft warehouse with a new 10,000-sqft addition. OBM President Pete Scantland says they’re aiming for LEED Platinum certification with the project. Solar panels will be located on the back side of a 120-foot tall structure rising above the new offices, while the front side will provide a showpiece advertising space.

Orange Barrel Media is a nine-year-old outdoor wallscape mural design and advertising firm that serves markets in New York, Boston, Charlotte, Columbus, Denver, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Yesterday, they announced a new headquarters in Columbus that includes an innovative solar-panel advertising tower and 20,000 square feet of space on a former concrete mixing plant adjacent to Downtown.

The new development was designed by George Acock of Acock Associates with Landscape Architecture done by Keith Meyers and his team at MSI+KKG.

$1.5 Billion Star Trek Theme Park Announced for Jordan

2011-08-12T16:47:56-04:00

King Abdullah of Jordan, who was once an extra in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, has given the green light to a $1.5 billion Star Trek-inspired theme park that will boldly take Jordan where no Gulf state has gone before. While the theme park will not be powered by dilithium crystals, it will utilize green technology in order to lower its carbon footprint.

UPDATE: Hanin Fakhriddin, IP & Brand Protection Manager at Rubicon Group, one of the creators behind the theme park, just contacted us from Amman, Jordan and pointed out that "the Theme Park is not a Star Trek Theme Park, nor a theme park revolving around Star Trek. It will be dedicated to our region’s history and culture. A section of the park will be dedicated to the future, and this is where the Star Trek attraction will be."

The 6 Most Dubious “Green” Projects from Dubai

2011-08-01T17:11:22-04:00

Despite a handful of genuinely sustainable developments taking place in Dubai, the Emirate has an embarrassing reputation for realizing some of the world's most absurd "green" projects. Inhabitat has compiled a list of our favorite to poke fun at, including the world's tallest tennis court.

Raumlabor’s ‘Big Crunch’ is an Incredible Building Made from Discarded Materials

2011-06-29T14:29:51-04:00

Raumlabor just completed construction on "The Big Crunch" - a recycled building made from a heap of discarded objects. The mound of materials is condensed in a theater plaza from all over the area, seemingly to move like a small wave cresting on the Georg-Büchner-Platz grounds in Darmstadt, Germany.