This Big City

2010 Skyscraper Competition Winners Announced

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:48:00 +0000

Yesterday, eVolo magazine announced the winners of their 2010 Skyscraper Competition, an award that aims to ‘discover young talents whose ideas will change the way we understand architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments.’

The nine jurors selected 3 prizes and 27 special mentions out of 430 entries from 42 countries, and considered factors such as globalisation, sustainability, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution when making their considerations.

The First Prize went to Malaysian Architecture students Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, and Beh Ssi Cze, for their prison in the sky, pictured above. Inmates would live in a free and productive society with farming and factories supporting the world below. It’s an interesting idea that seeks to totally re-imagine the prison system, and even though the logistics of creating such a system are pretty unfavourable, the judges considered this the strongest entry.

Second place went to a water purification tower from Indonesia, and third went to a skyscraper that changes form depending on climate, from Japan. Head over to eVolo’s competition page for more about the winners and special mentions.

Filling Potholes with Flowers

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:49:00 +0000

Filling Potholes with Flowers:

As the world urbanises and our love affair with the automobile continues, roads will carry more and more traffic, and continue to crumble under the pressure.

It seems that road maintenance isn’t an exciting enough topic to secure an election, which has left a metaphorical pothole in road infrastructure funding. Whilst some countries value road maintenance more highly than others (ever driven in Italy?), potholes are becoming an increasingly common sight across the western world.

Thankfully, Artist Pete Dungey has come up with a simple, beautiful but sadly thoroughly useless ‘solution’ for the pothole problem. His piece, ‘Pothole Gardens’, is pretty self explanatory, but he’s happy to admit it isn’t really viable:

If we planted one of those in every hole, it would be like a forest in the road.

And it would be a beautiful forest, until a car drove over it of course.

Shared on @ThisBigCity This Week

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:29:36 +0000

The above video follows David Shelper from IBM Research, giving a tour of their Zero Energy Home.

Urban Omnibus consider designing cities for food production.

With so many options on the market, this TreeHugger article asks what’s the greenest insulation?

It may surprise you to hear that 7 our of 10 American workers say their jobs are ideal.

Part 2 in the series ‘The Architect as Urbanist’ is published on the Design Observer Group.

Designboom explore the use of earth as a modern building material.

Shareable Cities ask: Can we design cities for happiness?

Missed out on these links? Follow @thisbigcity on Twitter to get more.

"We’re moving from a generation who gave little thought as to the built environment and..."

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:53:31 +0000

“We’re moving from a generation who gave little thought as to the built environment and accepted housing that was neither pleasant to look at, nor to live in or around, to a new century where there’s a real desire for housing that’s affordable, flexible, and places community at the heart of its thinking. For architects and the public it’s an enticing prospect.”

- Will Gompertz, BBC Arts Editor

How Small Can a Living Space Get?

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:32:29 +0000

As a nation obsessed with making things as small as possible, the Shinjuku Capsule Hotel in Tokyo seems a natural development for the Japanese. Instead of renting a room with a TV, en-suite and double bed, this hotel offers tiny capsules, measuring only 2 metres by 1.5 metres.

Each pod contains a light, a small TV with headphones, and basic linen. Any other possessions, such as clothing and toiletries, must be kept in an external locker.

These capsules were originally intended for businessmen who missed the last train home to crash for a night, but as Japan experiences it’s worst recession since World War II, their purpose has begun to evolve.

Many of the freshly unemployed have been forced to leave company housing, or are unable to pay their rent, inspiring the Shinjuku Hotel to offer discounts to those who choose to stay in their tiny hotel ‘rooms’ for a month or more. Now, 100 of their 300 capsules are rented by the month. The tiny living spaces can also be registered as a home address, making it easier to land job interviews.

This super-condensed urban living appears very similar to the future world explored in ‘The Fifth Element’, and it certainly makes you wonder how small a living space can get before it becomes unliveable.

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Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:48:00 +0000

IBM believe a smarter planet needs smarter buildings.

Tony Recsei argues that high density living causes more greenhouse gases than suburban sprawl.

A good week for articles on WorldChanging, as they attempt to define a carbon-neutral city, and the same subject with a particular focus on Seattle.

Some great photos over on Flook, showing how London has changed in the last 2 centuries.

The Behance Network unveil an awesome boardroom table made from Lego, and a video of its construction.

Wired UK reveal a new prototype for a car that splits in two.

What would happen if electricity was 20 times as expensive at it is now? IDEO have released a video exploring that exact topic.

Fast Company ask the question: Would you live in an abandoned mental hospital? as well as exploring IBM’s new attempt at solving the gridlock problem in our cities.

What’s a city without sound? ask the Polis Blog.

Missed out on these links? Follow @thisbigcity on Twitter to get more.

"How do we slow down what matters the most and speed up what benefits change and progress? We..."

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:00:00 +0000

“How do we slow down what matters the most and speed up what benefits change and progress? We don’t want to impede progress, but we are seeking reconnection to ourselves, to each other, and with the world.”

- John Maeda, President of the Rhode Island School of Design

Shipping Affordable Housing to the Masses, via Phoenix

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:39:00 +0000

Part 4 in the Series ‘Reimagining Shipping Containers’

By reusing shipping containers, Phoenix-based design firm Upcycle Living have created a modular housing system which costs 2/3 less than a traditionally built home, and with prices starting at $100,000, property ownership could become a more achievable goal for many.

Their 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom model is made up of four 40-foot shipping containers, and contains 1,280 square feet of space. Sustainability is a key factor in the design, with recycled flooring, bamboo cabinets, and energy efficient appliances all present in their first model. More advanced environmental features, such as solar panelling, will be introduced in later models.

As the above image shows, there is plenty of space inside, but the design is nothing spectacular. This is probably why, despite being suitable for mass housing and having already received some private orders, their primary focus is the provision of temporary buildings in disaster zones, and one off public buildings, like their proposed press box and locker room at Grand Canyon University.

Video courtesy of Angela Hardison on Vimeo.

Converting a Victorian House into a Bright Green Home

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Most Victorian terraces are known for being cold, draughty and expensive to heat, and as reducing the pollution generated by our homes becomes an increasing priority, these buildings are at serious risk.

With that in mind, Greentomato have set about improving the energy efficiency of this Victorian property in London. Their six month plan includes a loft conversion, super-insulating, triple-glazed windows, a green roof, rainwater harvesting, and some ‘major engineering works’, as well as making the building completely airtight.

Think that sounds a lot more than your average home improvement? Then you would be right. This epic conversion is a result of Greentomato’s goal to turn this property into a PassivHaus, an environmental standard which is difficult to achieve in a new build, let alone an historic property like this.

A PassivHaus uses less than 15kWh of energy to heat it per square metre per year, compared to a British average of 130kWh, which definitely applies to an old building like this. Once converted, the building will be home to Tom and Sophie Pakenham, who are both working on the project, and their baby Luke. They believe that:

Low-energy houses are not only much more comfortable living spaces than the old clunkers we live in now, but they also don’t have to look like a nuclear bunker.

Tom, Sophie, and the Greentomato team are hoping this build will show that the amount of work and cost involved in a PassivHaus conversion ‘is not all that much more than a normal whole-house renovation’, and other property owners will be inspired to improve the energy efficiency of their heritage homes.

Interested in following their progress? Check out the Greentomato blog which will be updated throughout the conversion.

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Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Fast Company ask: How Feasible is Large-Scale Urban Farming?

To ensure sustainability, we should all aim to have a little less, says John Assael.

A recent study suggests that Canada is losing its permafrost due to global warming, report Leader Post.

The new GOOD infographic explores how Americans commute to work.

Prospect believe that studying the development of slums can teach us about the future of urban development.

San Francisco looks set to change building legislation to ensure electric car charging points in every new home, report BusinessGreen.com.

Missed out on these links? Follow @thisbigcity on Twitter to get more.

"I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that’s my one fear: that..."

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:00:00 +0000

“I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that’s my one fear: that everything has happened; nothing exciting or new is ever going to happen again… The future is just going to be a vast, conforming suburb of the soul.”

- J. G. Ballard, Science fiction writer.

The third Brit Insurance Designs of the Year show has opened at...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:58:00 +0000

The third Brit Insurance Designs of the Year show has opened at London’s Design Museum, and it’s extensive shortlist is as eclectic as ever.

All designs were nominated by a selection of invited designers, and are split into the following categories: Architecture, Fashion, Furniture, Graphics, Interactive, Product and Transport.

An architecture nomination has never won the overall prize (last year was won by Barack Obama’s ‘Hope’ and ‘Change’ posters, and the year before was the One Laptop per Child project), but this year’s nominations are particularly strong, and it would hardly be a surprise if New York’s universally acclaimed High Line Park walked away with the main prize, which is announced on March 16th.

The Pedestrianisation of Cities

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:25:00 +0000

On February 11th 2010, Mayor Bloomberg of New York city announced that Times Square and Herald Square were to become permanently car free, after a successful trial period which began last spring. Of the change, Mayor Bloomberg said:

In this day and age if you go around the world, all the other great cities have already tried to reduce the number of cars on their streets and convert some of the open spaces into space for other people.

This notion of opening space for people is the main driving force behind the pedestrianisation of city centres, and the reason for Geneva’s plans to close 200 of their streets to cars, or as city council member Fabianne Fischer puts it:

It’s not really to close 200 roads or streets in the center of Geneva, but to open 200 streets to improved life in the neighbourhood.

The plan is yet to be enacted, and is already facing some opposition from large businesses, but if it becomes a reality, Geneva will become one of the world’s most pedestrian friendly cities. Fischer believes that closing these 200 streets to cars will create a highly liveable micro-city that benefits residents and the environment:

200 places for pedestrian life or relationships corresponds to 200 schools, kindergartens, or even every type of people at home. The idea is to concentrate these pedestrian zones near these places in order to protect the more fragile people, older people, younger people.

Another city that recently became car free was Washington DC, though this wasn’t because of legislation. Instead, record snowfalls experienced by the city caused the roads to become unsafe, and DC became accidentally pedestrianised. This only lasted a couple of days, but for that time, the city was transformed, with streets full of people as cars sat empty and still:

With clear benefits to residents, and growing support from government organisations, it is safe to assume that as the world becomes more urban, cities will become more pedestrianised. Judging by Mayor Bloomberg’s stance, this might happen sooner rather than later for New York city:

There are other parts of the city where we’re getting lots of calls from merchants who want the same thing.

And if we see more cities like Geneva develop ambitious pedestrianisation plans, the car might one day become a rare sight in urban environments.

Image courtesy of Jason L. Park on flickr

Hollywood Sign Makeovers

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:19:00 +0000

Hollywood Sign Makeovers:

America’s Trust for Public Land is attempting to raise funds for the purchase of the land surrounding the Hollywood sign to protect the area from development and restore the historic sign.

To publicise the fundraising effort, the sign is being temporarily changed to say ‘Save the Peak’, and the above photo shows the work in progress. Head over to the Los Angeles Times website for a great slideshow of previous changes to the Hollywood sign, some legal, some not.

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Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:54:00 +0000

Better Place open their first ever demonstration centre in Israel.

Wired build the Superbowl Stadium out of 50 different types of junk food.

Treehugger report on Energy Australia’s plans to give away an energy and water efficient home rent free for 12 months, and also consider different approaches to hosting the Olympic games.

The continued growth of suburban America is explored over at Business Week.

Polis believe the airport is an expression of a city’s aspirations.

Interesting developments over in San Francisco, with a new project reclaiming urban space for its citizens, reported by Streetsblog, and an innovative loans scheme for green retrofits, reported by Inhabitat.

Melbourne’s ClarkeHopkinsClarke have an architectural plan for Apple’s new iPad, report Archinect.

People in the poorest countries like Haiti need new cities with different rules, say Prospect.

Inhabitat report on UBC’s plans to build the ‘Greenest building in North America’.

Fast Company ask ‘If you ran the world, what would you do?’, as well as reporting on Holyoke’s planned transformation into a ‘smart city’.

Live in Portland and have an iPhone? App Shopper report on the Citizen Reports App, created by the City of Portland.

Want an urban garden but don’t have the time, space or money? Check out the Bagsac, reported by Designboom.

New York’s pedestrianisation experiment becomes permanent, via New York Times.

GOOD explore how mobile technology is changing the way we interact with cities, Vermont’s plans for solar rooftops on 10 million American homes, and a new traffic sign that asks road users to consider others.

Missed out on these links? Follow @thisbigcity or Become a Fan on Facebook to get more.

"Our beds are empty two-thirds of the time. Our living rooms are empty seven-eighths of the time. Our..."

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:00:00 +0000

“Our beds are empty two-thirds of the time. Our living rooms are empty seven-eighths of the time. Our office buildings are empty one-half of the time. It’s time we gave this some thought.”

- R. Buckminster Fuller

Cut Emissions with the Collapsible Shipping Container

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:53:00 +0000

Part 3 in the Series ‘Reimagining Shipping Containers’

Over 90% of all non-bulk cargo carried worldwide gets transported in shipping containers, which have to be one of the world’s most successful pieces of design. However, there is one obvious flaw - most get sent back empty, resulting in thousands of boxes of air being transported across the globe on CO2 emitting boats.

It was this flaw that inspired Cargoshell, proclaimed by it’s Dutch creators as ‘The Greatest Container Innovation Since 1957’. Put simply, this is a standard sized shipping container which collapses to one-quarter of its size when empty. Because of this, more empty containers can be fitted on boats, meaning less trips and less carbon emissions. Made from composite materials instead of steel, the Cargoshell weighs 25% less than a standard shipping container, further reducing carbon emissions. Because of its collapsible design, the door rolls upwards instead of opening outwards, meaning containers can be stacked closer together, increasing capacity and further improving the environmental efficiency of the product.

According to the Cargoshell website:

If all steel containers will be replaced by Cargoshells, the amount of transport kilometers will decrease by 75%. In the area of the Port of Rotterdam alone, this will result in reduction of 10,000 transportations on a yearly base. This means 250 trucks less on the road during rush hours every day.

And these environmental benefits also translate into financial savings, with less travel kilometers equalling less expense for shipping firms.

However, despite all its innovations, environmental benefits, and potential financial savings, the Cargoshell doesn’t make complete business sense. At around three times the cost of a standard shipping container, and in an industry that has seen little innovation ‘since 1957’, it may struggle to achieve mass adoption.

Successfully improving the sustainability of old buildings...

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:35:00 +0000

Successfully improving the sustainability of old buildings quickly and cheaply may sound like a pipe dream, but the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) thinks they have a solution.

This video shows their plans to re-skin Sydney’s UTS tower, built in the 1960s, effectively creating a cooling microclimate around it. The skin would be made from a mesh-type textile, which could collect rainwater, house solar panels and also act as a media facade, containing information such as train times and advertising, or contemporary light shows.

LAVA’s Director, Chris Bosse believes:

A re-skinned UTS Tower could be an example of sustainability, innovation, cutting edge design and creative education, without demolishing and rebuilding the 1960s icon. The reskinning technology could be easily applied to other buildings in need of a facelift such as the Colliers Wood Building and the Barbican Centre in London, and the postindustrial abandoned buildings across Hong Kong. We can quickly and cheaply enhance their performance and aesthetics through this minimal intervention.

Unfortunately, re-skinning buildings completely transforms their facade, which raises a lot of questions. These buildings may be environmentally inefficient, but are we prepared to lose their visual contribution to our skylines? Should we consider retrofitting from within before wrapping, and totally changing, iconic buildings such as London’s Barbican? Or does the simplicity, lower cost and environmental benefits of re-skinning justify this radical change?

Is Product Placement the Future of Sustainable Architecture?

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:10:00 +0000

Most buildings have a long lifespan, and in this age of environmental uncertainty it is more important than ever that the buildings we design are sustainable. However, many believe this change isn’t happening quickly enough. Enter Free Green, an American sustainable housing design firm, with an innovative solution which could speed up the transition to sustainable residential architecture.

Whilst many consider the role of the architect to be key in building design becoming more sustainable, the reality is that only 5% of homes have an architect involved in their design. But with 30% of homes built coming from stock plans, many of which are years old, Free Green believe that for housing design to become more sustainable, newer, greener stock plans will have a more positive impact than architects ever could.

In order to reach the biggest audience possible, and to provide the company with a unique selling point, Free Green decided to give away their sustainable stock plans at no cost. To generate income from their idea, product placement, a method normally used in film and TV, was integrated in all their plans.

Essentially, companies that produce sustainable products for housing construction can pay Free Green to have their designs featured with the hope that a percentage of those who use the plans will buy their goods. In order to qualify for a place on Free Green’s plans, all product must pass a selection of third party sustainability tests, as well as meet the company’s approval.

David Wax and Ben Uyeda, the company’s founders, believe:

Design isn’t a product or service, it’s a medium, and no one has ever looked at the house plan as a form of media.

Users can modify house plans online, with changes presented in a way that is easy understand. For example, improve a building’s insulation and you could see that the expense will increase mortgage repayments by $50 a month, but save $100 a month in energy bills, a method of presentation that Wax and Uyeda believe will encourage uptake of green housing improvements.

Since launching, over 44,000 plans have been downloaded and Free Green have become the world’s largest provider of house stock plans. Is product placement the future of sustainable architecture? It’s certainly worked for Free Green.

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Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:35:00 +0000

Struggle to visualise the amount of rubbish generated in one hour? Design boom report on the ‘one hour tower’ by New York based architecture organisation, Terreform.

A great week over a Treehugger, with articles exploring the use of bark on buildings, and 7 green themes on display in the Season 6 premier of ABC’s Lost.

Hewlett-Packard have started a project called a ‘Central Nervous System for the Earth’, report the New York Times, who also covered the mixed reaction received by New York’s recent pedestrianisation efforts, and how we aren’t using urban space well enough.

The Nature Conservancy ponder the effect of urbanisation on nature.

Mexico City’s finest contemporary architecture is the theme of this slideshow over at Business Week.

Why should genetic modification apply only to food? Scientific American consider the role of Genetically Modified forests.

Next American City analyse the recent financial collapse of New York’s Peter Cooper Village.

A whopping 15% of city centres are vacant or abandoned, leading to some imaginative use of empty urban space, report Governing.

Jetson Green preview the HGTV Green Home of 2010, and Aerogel, a super-thin and efficient new form of insulation.

What will Britain’s capital city look like in 20 year’s time? The Guardian make their predictions.

The Independent believe Eastern architecture is increasingly influencing British developers.

Urban Australia is more expensive than both London and New York, report The Age.

GOOD answer the question: who uses the most energy per capita?

After years of stress on New York’s electricity grid, Metropolis Magazine believe it’s time to build a smart grid in the Big Apple.

This is just a selection! Follow @thisbigcity or Become a Fan on Facebook to get more.