Architecture & Web Art

Archive for the ‘Utopia’ Category

by Yuka Yoneda

Arcology may sound like a made up word – probably because it is. A hybrid of architecture and ecology, it is essentially a mega city which packs a ginormous population into one hyperstructure – think Death Star, Zion in The Matrix or the Anthill of Antz fame. Now, a real-life a group of ambitious designers has taken their looming pyramidal arcology and placed it smack dab on the Mississippi River as a proposal for the rebuild of New Orleans which is currently in progress. This 30 million square foot beast-building with an array of green features is aptly named NOAH (Get it? Noah and the Arcology?), and is meant to house 40,000 mostly human residents.

Simply beautiful design.

The Pavilion of Ideas, designed by Heatherwick Studio, beat five other short-listed designs, including plans put forward by the creators of the London Eye – the largest Ferris wheel in the world – to becomes the winner. The pavilion looks like a box with thousands of spines that hover without visible support above a public square.

All the spines, which can swing in the breeze, are tipped with tiny colored light sources which can display a variety of images together.

Inside the pavilion, visitors will see an enormous digital screen showing various contents. The outside area of the pavilion will be an exhibition space and auditorium as well as a cafe and shops surrounded by two strips of grass. The pavilion will be as ecological as possible and the designers are trying to make all the aspects recyclable and carbon-neutral. It is light, without heavy concrete foundations and will “touch the ground softly,” according to the introduction by Heatherwich.

Architects: Neil M. Denari Architects
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Project Team: Neil Denari and Duks Koschitz with Joe Willendra
Program: 2,000 sf conversion of residence
Client: Eric Alan and Rhonda Voo
Budget: US $700,000
Project year: 2007
Photographs: Benny Chan of Fotoworks

The clients for this house renovation / extension, a couple with three daughters, are a creative, democratic unit. The father directs film trailers, the mother is a graphic designer and illustrator, while the high school / middle school / elementary school aged daughters are all immersed in their own versions of their parents visual cultures. The family have asked that 1,000 sf be added to the site in addition to the existing 1,000 sf house.

Courtesy of Aristide Antonas

Once again, our friend Architect Aristide Antonas surprises us with a wonderful project, this time in London. The design is really interesting but also the way he work the infographics, all in black and with, very sober and austere.

Hope you enjoy as much as I did looking at the project and understanding it!

Cannon Design shared with us their latest mental health center for Pima County.  The project creates a “holistic healing campus” to serve various facets of behavioral medicine.  By integrating the architectural design with the raw beauty of the Sonora Desert, the project “balances the challenges of a complex interdisciplinary program, unique environmental conditions, and a lean construction budget.”

More about the health center and more images after the break.

In Cannon Design’s quest to create a healing campus, two interrelated buildings respond to the broadest range of patient needs.   The buildings are organized around a shared service court that provides a secure circulation zone for medical staff, law enforcement, courtroom personnel, and patient and material transfers.  The interiors provide private rooms that are naturally lit giving patients “privacy, security and dignity.”  The rooms are located close to shaded outdoor gardens to connect patients and staff directly to their surroundings.