Nov 25, 2008

Amazing Organic House -Nautilus Shell House

Nautilus Shell House was build for a Mexico City couple by Senosiain Arquitectos. This sculpture perhaps taking inspiration from a certain Beatles song.The construction involves steel reinforced chicken wire with several inches thick concrete spread over to create smooth curved surfaces, resembling the internal abode of a snail.
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)
''The work in scale model generated numerous changes until finding the volume that requested the construction:The Nautilus''
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)
''Harmonic space in three dimension where the continuous dynamics of the fourth dimension when journeying in spiral perceived on the flight of steps ,with the sensation to float on the vegetation''
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)
It promotes the flight of steps in spiral it continues through the lobby,it passes by the TV room sheltered by the belly of the crustacean and climbing by the snail-stairs one gets to the study from where one can get a glimpse of the mountainous landscape''
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)
image(copyright Senosiain),(click 2 enlarge)

Watch Video
More Information: www.arquitecturaorganica.com

Recommended Books:


Nature and Architecture
By Paolo Portoghesi










The Organic Approach to Architecture
By Deborah Gans, Zehra Kuz









Bio-Architecture, First Edition
By Javier Senosiain

Nov 16, 2008

Hearst Tower By Foster + Partners wins the 2008 International Highrise Award

New York's Hearst Headquarters Tower designed by Foster + Partners has won the International Highrise Award 2008, which is worth EUR 50,000. The award was bestowed on Lord Norman Foster during a festive ceremony in Frankfurt's Paulskirche. Dr. h.c. Petra Roth, Lady Mayoress of the City of Frankfurt/Main, and Dr. Matthias Danne, DekaBank Board member responsible for real estate, together gave renowned London architect the world's most important architectural prize of its kind.The 182m high edifice (Project designer: Foster + Partners, London; Architect of record (shell + core): Adamson Associates, Toronto; Fit out: Gensler, New York) creates a new emphatic highlight in the midst of New York's skyline. Resting on a plinth that is a historical building, the transparent highrise stands out for its very expressive shape. The jury, chaired by London-based architect Alejandro Zaera-Polo, was of the opinion that "its load-bearing triangular steel structure creates stories of different sizes and could be a model for new prototypes.
Image ( Copyright Foster+Partners).(Click 2 enlarge)
The upper part of the building was completed in May of 2006. Any high rise that was completed between January 2006 and April 2008 is eligible for this award. Their was 26 projects nominated from 11 different countries. The 5 finalist included the Missing Matrix Building in Korea, the Newton Suites in Singapore, New York Times Building in NYC, and the TVCC Building in Beijing.
Image ( Copyright Foster+Partners).(Click 2 enlarge)
Foster said:
“I am thrilled that Hearst Tower has been honored with this prestigious award. It is a mark of an enlightened client and a great city that the tower literally sparkles on the New York skyline today. It represents the realization of William Randolph Hearst’s original plan for a tower in Manhattan and it has been a privilege to revive this dream with a sustainable new home for the Hearst Corporation.”
Image ( Copyright Foster+Partners).(Click 2 enlarge)
The Hearst Tower also won the 2006 Emporis Skyscraper Award.Hearst Tower is the first high rise to be built in NYC after September 11, 2001. It is also the first green building that has been completed in New York City, with a number of environmental considerations built into the plan. The floor of the atrium is paved with heat conductive limestone. Polyethylene tubing is embedded under the floor and filled with circulating water for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. Rain collected on the roof is stored in a tank in the basement for use in the cooling system, to irrigate plants and for the water sculpture in the main lobby. The building was constructed using 80% recycled steel. Overall, the building has been designed to use 25% less energy than the minimum requirements for the city of New York, and earned a gold designation from the United States Green Building Council’s LEED certification program.
Image ( Copyright Foster+Partners).(Click 2 enlarge)
The international jury for this year’s award was chaired by Alejandro Zaera Polo of Foreign Office Architects, London and included: author, Layla Dawson; Suzanne Stephens, Deputy Director of the Architectural Record; Felix Semmelroth, Cultural Mayor of the City of Frankfurt; and Peter Cachola Schmal, Director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum.
Image ( Copyright Foster+Partners).(Click 2 enlarge)
Image ( Copyright Foster+Partners).(Click 2 enlarge)
Image ( Copyright Foster+Partners).(Click 2 enlarge)
Recommended Books:


Norman Foster: Works 3
By Norman Foster









Brazilian Leaf House - Sample of Organic Architecture

This project was inspired by Brazil's Indian architecture, perfectly suited for the hot and humid climate where it stands, Rio de Janeiro .On a beautiful little beach with amazing blue water, sits a little house with a flowering roof that shades and protects like a big tropical banana leaf. Designed by Mareines + Patalano,The open air abode is meant to encourage interaction and connection between man and nature. With verandas and open spaces in between rooms and no corridors,The roof acts as a big leaf that protects from the hot sun all the enclosed spaces of the house, such as the verandas and the in-between open spaces. These last two types of space are the main social areas, the essence of the design. They allow trade winds from the sea to pass trough the building, providing natural ventilation and passive cooling.
The architects describe their design as low-tech Eco-efficient, due to the use of natural ventilation for cooling. Homes in the tropics rarely need much more than a breeze in order to keep the environment comfortable. As for other sustainable design techniques, the roof harvests rainwater for use in the house, and the interior is naturally finished with wood, stone and natural fabrics. We suspect the wood was harvested locally, and can only hope it was done so in a sustainable fashion.
Above all the Leaf House is amazing inspiration for organic design that brings the outdoors in. It protects the inhabitants from rain and sun, while bringing in fresh breezes to cool the interior. The design was originally inspired by Brazil’s Indian Architecture, which used local materials to provide shade, protection and encourage natural breezes for cooling.
More Information Mareines + Patalano

Recommended Books:



Sustainable Architectures
By Steven A. Moore










The Big Book of Small House Designs: 75 Award-Winning Plans for Your Dream House, All 1,250 Square Feet or Less
By Don Metz, Catherine Tredway, Lawrence Von Banford, Kenneth R. Tremblay









The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture
By Alanna Stang, Christopher Hawthorne

Nov 13, 2008

Treetop Restaurant - Yellow Tree House Restaurant

The concept of a working restaurant up in a large Redwood tree which is over 40m high and 1.7m diameter at the base, on a site north of Auckland and is inspired by a suspended chrysalis, in a fairy-tale environment overlooking a meadow and meandering stream on the edge of a forest.The concept is driven by the ‘enchanted’ site which is raised above an open meadow and meandering stream on the edge of the woods.
The tree-house concept is reminiscent of childhood dreams and playtime, fairy stories of enchantment and imagination . It’s inspired through many forms found in nature -the chrysalis/cocoon protecting the emerging butterfly/moth, perhaps an onion/garlic clove form hung out to dry. It is also seen as a lantern, a beacon at night that simply glows yet during the day it might be a semi camouflaged growth, or a tree fort that provides an outlook and that offers refuge.The plan form also has loose similarities to a sea shell with the open ends spiraling to the center .
The selected site and tree had to meet a myriad of functional requirements -18 seated people and waiting staff in relative comfort complete with a bar; gaining correct camera angles with associated light qualities for filming the adverts, web cam and stills, have unobstructed views into the valley and entrance to the site and structural soundness .
The Architectural component embodies a simple oval form wrapped ‘organically’ around the trunk and structurally tied at top and bottom, with a circular plan that is split apart on the axis with the rear floor portion raised. This allows the approach from the rear via a playful tree-top walkway experience, slipping inside the exposed face of the pod and being enchanted by the juxtaposition of being in an enclosed space that is also quite 'open' and permeable to the treetop views. There is also a ‘Juliet’ deck opposite the entrance that looks down the valley.
The scale and form of the tree-house creates a memorable statement without dominating it’s setting. While it’s natural ‘organic’ form sits comfortably, the rhythm of the various materials retains it’s strong architectural statement. The vertically of the fins mimics the vertically of the redwoods and enable the building to naturally ‘blend’ into it’s setting, as though it were a natural growth.
It sits almost 10m wide and over 12m high, with the split-level floor sitting 10m off the ground. Timber trusses form the main structure. The curved fins are glue-laminated pine, plantation poplar has been used for the slats and redwood milled from the site used in the walkway balustrading. Openings are formed for windows by leaving spaces between the slats/fins that keeps the overall form yet affords a variety of openness for the views and light and closes down toward the rear. To loosen the regularity of the elements, steel is wrapped arbitrarily around the pod.
It is designed to be weather resistant using acrylic sheeting fixed to the roof under the fins with vertical roll-down cafe-style blinds within. Lighting is an important architectural component enhancing and changing the mood, with discreet lighting within the walkway and up-lighting within the tree house.
A team of consultants working alongside the architects includes fire and structural engineers, town planners to meet functional and Building Code requirements.
The Yellow Tree House Restaurant is due for completion December 2008. (more information and up-to-date information about the tree house constructionhttp://www.yellowtreehouse.co.nz .)

Recommended Books:









Nov 8, 2008

Inspired Folding Bamboo House - Origami

The concept of the bamboo house is basically a series of bamboo poles that are assembled to create a rigid shape. Once the shape of choice has been made it is covered with pre-consumer recycled paper.the structures design is amazing and will be a very nice alternative to the 1.5 million homes that where supposed to be built. At the moment this is only a concept but we hope to see many of these being built for the future.
I really like the origami style design they went with because once on the landscape it looks very nice and can also be made into many different sizes and styles. You can look at more pictures of the concept design below.
Ming Tang came up with this concept after a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck central China killing 69,000 people. He decided to design a shelter that was easily produced, cheap and environmentally friendly.
More Information about Bamboo Design
Recommended Books:



Bamboo: A Material for Landscape and Garden Design
By Jan Oprins, Harry van Trier








New Bamboo: Bamboo architecture and design
By Marcelo Villegas, Ximena Londono








Share This Post With Planet Earth Bookmark and Share