Architecture & Web Art

Archive for the ‘Utopia’ Category

Vincent Callebaut, the visionary behind Lilypad and Dragonfly, has recently created a whale-shaped floating garden designed to drift through the world’s rivers while purifying their waters. The Physalia is a self-sufficient ecosystem that generates all the power it needs from the sun and works to reduce water pollution through bio-filtration.

Callebaut’s designs are certainly fantastical, but it’s a treat to ponder them and hope that someday this type of utopian technology will actually exist. His newest vision is a floating environment filled with gardens and covered by both a green roof and thin-film solar panels. Hydro-turbines generate power from the moving water underneath the boat, thus, all of the boat’s energy is generated from renewable sources. A pretty neat concept I’d say.

Can you imagine a post-apocalyptic world populated with prefabricated buildings? Assembled on land from “memory metal” that can pop into shape when carried out to deep-ocean building sites. Frankly, it is not that far-fetched in this day and age – except that the architect behind these dreams is now 92 years old …

Utopian Prefabricated Architecture

Can live off the grid in sustainably-powered, self-sufficient homes, sea-steading … sounds like something perfectly suited as a response to emerging environmental issues. What were once the implausible Utopian ideals of a young architecture student have evolved into the Venus Project, which seeks to address urban design and home-building issues on an ever-more-populated planet and in a changing global climate.

Sea Cities of The Future

Yes these are completely new, so if you like how these guys design tables and desks you will love the following images.

You may have seen some of the cool bars and desks from MotoArt, the air craft parts rehabilitation specialists who use a wide variety of wing segments etc… to make innovative furniture. Here are some of the custom conference and meeting tables from MotoArt that are worth talking about. These conference tables are from the wings of retired B-727, C-119, DC-4, and C-130 aircraft and really make a statement that exudes success. Visit MotoArt.com for a look at the full collection of furniture, lighting, and sculptures from real renewable resources.

The challenge of Prefab 2020? Create a sensation – something more than just a working space to live. Ideas that will  inspire others, to be planted within the dizzyingly dense cores of the major city centers. Use design to show the incredible potential of prefabricated, modular and small-space apartments, condos and other housing types. The result? A series of fun, functional and futuristic dwelling designs from stackable bubble homes to fold-out, house-in-the-box architecture.

Think about it for a moment: how much of your interior living space is actually in continuous use, or even used most of the time? When we are eating we need a dining room table and chairs, cooking requires appliances and work surfaces, for sleeping we depend on a comfortable bed – but rarely do all of these activities overlap. This is the basis of the winning submission shown above, Ecomobi by Mobius, perhaps the ultimate convertible apartment or condo space.

Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts, © Tod Williams Billie Tsien

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects, a renowned practice with expertise in public/cultural buildings, just unveiled the details for the new Reva and David Logan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Chicago.

This new building will offer 170,000sqf for studios, rehearsal space, director’s cut screening rooms, state–of–the art acoustical theaters, lecture rooms and set–building shops, that will be shared by many departments including visual arts, theater, music, as well as cinema and media studies.

The project includes a 11-story tall tower, which will become a new landmark at the south of the campus. At the top of this tower we find the Performance Penthouse, a tall space for performances and rehearsals with an amazing view over the city (see render below).