Archinect - News

Safdie Architects stacks vertical gardens in new Shanghai tower complex

2024-07-22T16:07:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has shared photos of their latest contribution to Shanghai's Luwan district, the new LuOne Mixed-Use Complex, after its construction was completed in the past year.

Featuring an eight-story bronze colonnade-lined retail component and a 35-story office tower, the project “answers the pressing need for connection to nature and a place of community within Shanghai’s urban core,” in the words of Senior Partner Christopher Mulvey.

Image: Shao Feng. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

Accordingly, the tower’s southwestern edge includes a glass-enclosed “corner garden” running vertically with a series of seven four-story garden spaces stacked to create the appearance of plant life ascending or “climbing” the length of its facade.

Image: Shao Feng. Courtesy of Safdie Architects.

The 484,000-square-foot tower was designed to complete the program, which began with the construction of the 1.5 million-square-foot retail galleria in 2018...

Foster + Partners replaces MAD on Hollywood office tower design

2024-03-20T18:59:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has been revealed as the architects of a replacement design that will take the place of the previous MAD Architects-produced The Star scheme at 6061 W Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

The newly proposed $1 billion "vertical creative office" is meant as an office for tenants in Hollywood's creative content industries.

Renderings for the replacement design showcase a high-rise structure with 360-degree views provided by its cylindrical form and punctured by a diagonal schism that contains biophilic elements and gathering spaces ribboning around the building's volume in three bands. A rooftop restaurant culminates the design at its uppermost floor.

Rendering courtesy Foster + Partners

The new proposal demarcates considerably from the original $500 million MAD design, which called for 22 stories of vertical gardens to be contained by a glass canopy. The rest of the program includes a ground-level LED video screen, an "arched paseo of restaurants," community gathering sp...

MVRDV begins construction on 'urban oasis' mixed-use concept for Paris

2023-11-29T12:44:00-05:00

MVRDV is behind a newly commenced mixed-use housing tract called La Serre, to be located in the Paris region’s ZAC Léon Blum eco-district at Issy-les-Moulineaux.

The firm’s project announcement details an 18-story development defined by its open facade with a landscaped vertical village provided by landscape architect Alice Tricon.

MVRDV says a total of 390 trees will be planted throughout the structure, helping to defy “traditional housing norms” in order to present a refreshed take on urban dwelling that’s in tune with Paris’ need for biodiversity and constructed using a host of low-carbon materials.

Image: © ENGRAM

The city’s Mayor, André Santini, said: “The project prioritizes nature, placing it at the forefront while the building recedes into the background. This urban oasis is not just a residential space; it's a genuine village square.”

Image: © ENGRAM

An open steel rack superstructure hosts the carefully selected slate of 150 different (mostly native) plant species while provi...

Biophilic installation begins at Brooklyn's Domino Sugar Factory, including 17 big trees

2023-04-10T14:55:00-04:00

In advance of the expected project completion later this summer, the Brooklyn-based developer Two Trees Management has shared images of its recent installation of the biophilic program inside PAU’s long-awaited Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment in Williamsburg.

The installation comprises 17 30-foot trees, each weighing more than 10,000 pounds, that make up the core of the project’s indoor vertical garden component, which highlights the 460,000 square feet of new office space being created inside the iconic 19th-century waterfront structure.

Image © Wes Tarca

Each tree had to first be carefully hoisted above the roofline of the refinery and then “surgically” placed inside via a 12-foot-wide opening between the brick facade and envelope of the 27,000-square-foot all-glass office addition located further within.

The overall $250 million project began in 2014 and includes the James Corner Field Operations-designed Domino Park segment i...

MAD Architects proposes a tree-filled 'office of the future' in the heart of Hollywood

2021-09-16T15:43:00-04:00

LA's Hollywood neighborhood is undergoing a massive transformation with new developments popping up everywhere. MAD Architects just introduced another $500 million design proposal to the mix which is guaranteed to stand out from the sea of often unbearably bland new buildings.

Located at 6061 Sunset Boulevard, only a few blocks away from Netflix' new Hollywood office campus, the planned office tower, dubbed 'The Star,' intrigues with an unusual shape we would expect from the team at MAD and features landscaped gardens and terraces integrated throughout its 22 floors.

A short video rendering released this week reveals a textured glass facade and external elevator pods sliding up and down the building's spines.

Video courtesy MAD Architects

"Hollywood has been a signature center for culture and creativity for a long time," Ma Yansong, MAD's founding principal, shared. "The Star will be the new iconic landmark in Hollywood and continue to nurture the public's inspiration and creativi...

Singapore Sets a Record For World’s Largest Vertical Garden

2014-06-12T13:44:00-04:00

In land-scarce Singapore greenery too is going sky-ward, with a 24-storey condominium earning a Guinness record for boasting the world’s largest vertical garden. Tree House condominium, completed in 2013 by property firm City Developments Limited, has covered its façade in nearly 2,300 square meters of greenery. [...] The condo uses the plants as natural insulation to help filter pollution, absorb heat and reduce the amount of energy needed to cool individual units.