sustainable – Page 2 – DesignApplause

chicago architecture biennial. 20 > 26 december 2015.

Dec 19, 2015

[ 20 > 26 december calendar ] The Chicago Architecture Biennial is free and open to the general public at the Chicago Cultural Center and sites across the city. The event is supported by the City of Chicago and the Graham Foundation, with additional support from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Chicago Park District. All funding for the event is privately raised, with significant investments from BP and SC Johnson.

‘chicago: how do you see?’ by norman kelley created an exciting feature on the windows of the chicago culture centre. photography: steve hall, copyright hedrich blessing. courtesy chicago architecture biennial

marshmellow sofa | george nelson | herman miller / 1956

[ pop art design ] an exhibition organized by the vitra design museum, one of the preeminent furniture and design museums in the world, pairs iconic design objects with artworks from this celebrated era to show the cross-pollination between these creative worlds. this glimpse of art, chairs, sofas, lamps, and even architecture during the culturally ebullient 1960s and 1970s. artists such as andy warhol, roy lichtenstein, claes oldenburg and mel ramos alongside designers such as charles eames, george nelson, ettore sottsass, achille castiglioni, and robert venturi.

event> pop art design
venue> museum of contemporary | 220 east chicago avenue
dates> 19 december 2015 > 27 march 2016

For a complete list of exhibitions, public programs, supporters, media partners and program partners, visit [ Chicago Architecture Biennial ] which launched 3 October 2015, and will run through 3 January 3 2016. @chicagobiennial @GrahamFound @ChiCulturCenter

chicago architecture biennial. 6 > 12 december 2015.

Dec 5, 2015

[ 6 > 12 december calendar ] The Chicago Architecture Biennial is free and open to the general public at the Chicago Cultural Center and sites across the city. The event is supported by the City of Chicago and the Graham Foundation, with additional support from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Chicago Park District. All funding for the event is privately raised, with significant investments from BP and SC Johnson.

‘casa a’ by selgascano + helloeverything was placed in one of the two largest rooms of the centre, being one of the several full scale housing mock-ups at the show. photography: steve hall, copyright hedrich blessing. courtesy chicago architecture biennial.

can educational partners come together under one roof to create a new model for learning in chicago?

chicago architecture foundation (caf) posed this question through chidesign, an open international ideas competition. design proposals submitted to this competition are presented here with the jury-awarded winners highlighted below. these ideas draw attention to the importance of rethinking urban education and next generation cultural institutions. as cities search for solutions to complex issues around space and resource management, caf is committed to advancing this important community dialogue. see the [ winners ] installation thru 3 january 2016 | chicago architecture foundation | 224 south michigan avenue | #chidesigncaf

chicago architecture biennial. 22 > 28 november 2015.

Nov 22, 2015

[ 22 > 28 november calendar ] The Chicago Architecture Biennial is free and open to the general public at the Chicago Cultural Center and sites across the city. The event is supported by the City of Chicago and the Graham Foundation, with additional support from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Chicago Park District. All funding for the event is privately raised, with significant investments from BP and SC Johnson.

Color(ed) Theory’ by Amanda Williams is a project that sees the artist paint abandoned buildings in Chicago in bright colours. Photography: Steve Hall, copyright Hedrich Blessing. Courtesy Chicago Architecture Biennial.

the bamboo playhouse by eleena jamil architect. world architecture festival 2015.

Nov 20, 2015

click on image to engage lightbox | photo © marc tey | eight images

the bamboo playhouse project was shortlisted in the ‘small projects’ category at the world architecture festival 2015 held in singapore. kuala lumpur-based studio eleena jamil architect was approached by the local city hall to design a public pavilion out of bamboo in the capital city’s oldest and most picturesque park — the perdana botanical gardens. [ eleena jamil architect ]

[ small projects shortlist ]
klein dytham architecture, soma city home for all, kitaiibuchi, soma-shi, fukushima
department of architecture co., the flow’ – a multipurpose pavilion, thailand
cheshire architect, rore kahu – marsden cross heritage centre, northland, new zealand
eleena jamil architect, the bamboo playhouse, kuala lumpur, malaysia
fmd architects surgeons rooms, melbourne, australia
wilkinson eyre architects, maggie’s centre, oxford, uk
partisans, grotto sauna, georgian bay, usa
produce workshop, wild rocket restaurant, singapore
proarh, hiza, kumrovec, croatia
marc koehler architects, dune house, terschelling, the netherlands
fiona winzar architects, dreamcatcher, south melbourne, australia
monk mackenzie architects, canada street bridge, auckland, new zealand
cox, box office, melbourne, australia
dinelljohansson, little bird nest football stadium, lidingövallen, lidingö, sweden
gustavo penna arquiteto & associados, brt station, minas gerais, brazil

2015 chicago architecture biennial events 15>21 november.

Nov 14, 2015

[ 15 > 21 november calendar ] The Chicago Architecture Biennial is free and open to the general public at the Chicago Cultural Center and sites across the city. The event is supported by the City of Chicago and the Graham Foundation, with additional support from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Chicago Park District. All funding for the event is privately raised, with significant investments from BP and SC Johnson.

‘makeshift’ by studio albori was another of the several site-specific installations commissioned by the biennial. photography: tom harris, copyright hedrich blessing. courtesy chicago architecture biennial

[ outlying exhibits ] Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin gives his spin on the architecture biennial’s outlying exhibits offering evidence of the power of design. Theaster Gates Stoney Island Bank is just one. (below)

the refurbished stony island arts bank at 68th street and stony island avenue houses the magazine and book collection of john h. johnson, founder of ebony and jet magazines. the brainchild of artist and urban planner theaster gates, the arts bank is vision of culture as an urban change agent / photo courtesy chicago tribune/ phil velasquez

antonio o’connell + pepsi + liter of light. design week mexico 2015.

Oct 21, 2015

Mexico City hosts Design Week Mexico. One of the exhibitions is called ‘Light in the Darkness’- where Mexican artist Antonio O’Connell contemplates the idea of living without light. He has partnered with Pepsi and Liter of Light to bring “Ignite the Light” – a program that fuses art, philanthropy and social commentary and action.

Pepsi, through their Pepsi Challenge, a worldwide initiative bringing attention to communities that lack access to electricity and basic lighting solutions. Liter of Light, using empty recycled plastic bottles, innovative designs and simple circuitry, builds solar lights for day and night with zero carbon emissions.

“Light in the Darkness” is a a large scale, mixed media art installation that mirrors Liter of Light’s core work, the use of recycled plastic bottles to transform colors and lights in unexpected ways, illuminating an otherwise ordinary space and shedding light on the millions of people who live without it on a daily basis.

We talk to the artist.

[DesignApplause] Antonio, please tell us about the concept behind ‘Light in the Darkness’.
[Antonio O’Connell] We live in a world of great social contrasts where imagination is a luxury for some but a necessity for others. Many of us take for granted that we open a faucet and we have running water or turn a switch and have light. I thought of the idea of living without light and remembered a quote by Gaston Bachelard in his book “Poetics of Space”: “The house we were born in is more than an embodiment of home, it is also an embodiment of dreams”.

So “Light in the Darkness”” alludes to the ephemeral construction of “favelas” and shanty towns but with a vision of hope when light is provided to homes with Pepsi® PET bottles by the “Liter of Light” Foundation. Light transforms a dark place into a place of fantasy where new forms and colors are possible and the hope to dream farther.

[DA] What has this particular project taught you?
[AO] I wasn’t aware of the “Liter of Light” foundation and their simple but innovative way to bring light into communities that have none. By participating in this Pepsi® global initiative I was inspired by the wonderful job their doing and felt motivated to be a part of it.

[DA] You’re both an architect and an artist. Tell us what each discipline means to you and how they play off the other for you.
[AO] For me it’s hard to tell them apart because I see my work as it is. I guess it depends on the context you view the work it can be experimental Architecture or Installation Art. You can think its Art but then again isn’t Architecture a form of Art? I left my “conventional” architectural work since 2006 and began to focus on more conceptual and/or experimental work.

[DA] What’s the process of concept to the finished piece in your Architecture or Art? Do you use the computer or old school methods?
[AO] The concept is always embedded in the finished piece, even during the process, which is usually hand crafted from sketching to modeling to building. I don’t use computers because my work is very intuitive and hands on, besides it alludes to the self building in marginalized communities as well as the hand craft of the traditional construction workers in Mexico.

[DA] Who has inspired and influenced you in both Architecture and Art?
[[AO] Influence and inspiration comes from everywhere not just Architecture and Art, but to name a few, in Architecture it has been Enric Miralles which I had the chance to meet and study a small course, the Deconstructive movement as well as the Russian Constructivists, Vladimir Tatlin, Peter Eisenman, Archigram, Lebbeus Woods, Thom Mayne, Rem Koolhaas, Coop Himmelblau, Samuel Mockbee, Hundertwasser, Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, the Mexican architects Luis Barragán and Juan O’Gorman. In Art there are many as well but usually artists trained as architects or their work related to Architecture: Gordon Matta-Clark, Kurt Schwitters, Situationist International, Bauhaus, Tadashi Kawamata, Ai Wei Wei, Richard Serra, Joseph Beuys, Francis Alÿs, González Gortázar, Mathias Goeritz, the Mexican Muralist Movement, Gabriel Orozco, to name a few.

[DA] Design Week Mexico goes back to 2009. Have you been involved with this event before? Can you tell us about the evolution over the past seven years and how the city and world responds to a design week?
[AO] This is the first time that I’ve been involved with Design Week Mexico. I don’t really know about the evolution of Design Week Mexico during these years, I just know it has grown a lot. People are more aware about design and interested to see what’s being done. This makes it a great opportunity to present this project with Pepsi® that blends design, art and architecture with a social cause benefit program.

[DA] What other architecture & design events have been able to attend?
[AO] I was invited to a work for Kartell Loves Mexico design event.

[DA] Anything else you wish to say that we haven’t talked about?
[AO] I am very happy to take part in such an important initiative like Pepsi Challenge and be able to support the efforts of “Liter of Light” to bring attention to important matters like access to basic services for those in need.

the 5 most common myths about alternatively-fueled vehicles.

Sep 13, 2015

the 5 most common myths about alternatively-fueled vehicles. myth: a hybrid always saves you money. via chicago trib [RK]

swa helps to create nation’s largest planned net-zero energy community.

Sep 11, 2015

click on image > lightbox navigation

International landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm SWA provided key planning and landscape strategies for the nation’s largest planned Zero-Net Energy (ZNE) community for the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). A unique public-private partnership between UC Davis and developer West Village Community Partnership (WVCP) made the project possible.

Initially conceived as an “environmentally responsible campus housing project,” the 225-acre neighborhood West Village project ultimately transformed into a ZNE community, which uses “zero net electricity from the grid, measured on an annual basis.” SWA provided master planning, site planning, and landscape strategies to help realize the ambitious vision.

SWA’s sustainable initiatives support the project’s core principles of housing affordability, environmental responsiveness, and quality of place. The new campus neighborhood will provide housing for 3,000 students and 500 staff/faculty families within a network of parks, storm water ponds and corridors, bicycle and pedestrian trails, a community college, and retail and recreational services.

UC Davis launched the West Village Energy Initiative (WVEI) in cooperation with WVCP in 2003, to study energy efficiency measures, with an initial target of 50 percent reduction in consumption compared to the California Energy Efficiency Building Code. By 2008, the WVEI proposed that West Village could become a ZNE community without sacrificing quality, and at no increased cost to developer or consumer.

Phase 1A of the West Village development is now complete, housing 1,944 students at 99 percent occupancy. Phase 1A also comprises 42,500 square feet of retail/office space and a leasing/recreation center, centered on Village Square, an open, communal space. The ground floors of mixed-use Village Square buildings comprise the university’s first “uHub,” or innovation center, which includes the Plug-In Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center and the Western Cooling Efficiency Center.

Robert Segar, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Campus Planning and Community Resources at UC Davis, states: “All parties saw tremendous value in reaching the goals. If one path toward Zero Net Energy didn’t work, we were willing to try another path. The phrase ‘Zero Net Energy’ was central to this; its absolute clarity became our guiding principle.”

SWA’s site planning and landscape strategies for the West Village development encompassed three major areas: Energy Systems, Community-wide Connectivity, and High-performance Landscape.

Within Energy Systems, SWA worked to integrate energy conservation and on-site energy generation in a functional and aesthetic manner, in harmony with local environmental conditions. SWA conducted analyses at regional, site, and building/garden scales in order to maximize opportunities for passive cooling, proposing to arrange buildings in loose clusters that allow breezes from the Bay Delta to filter through the site. SWA also proposed the planting of shade-giving deciduous trees, reducing the need for air conditioning.

In considering Community-wide Connectivity, SWA posited the bicycle as the site’s primary mode of transportation, based on the well-established bike culture of Davis, in combination with the site’s flat topography. SWA developed a five-mile network of bicycle trails, offering access to both community destinations and the main campus. This network also connects to other transit, fulfilling the objective of locating each residence no more than a quarter mile from the campus bus line.

To achieve a High-Performance Landscape, SWA integrated drainage into the site’s system of parks, sports fields, trails, and gardens. Storm water drains to the site’s large northern ponds, where it is purified by native wetland planting in a series of basins. The slopes of the site’s ponds incorporate native shrubs and trees, selected in cooperation with UC Davis’ horticulturists, botanical garden curators, and ground and maintenance pewrsonnel, to provide a sustainable habitat for migratory birds, while also providing a visually appealing natural landscape for residents year-round.

Robert Segar adds: “SWA was the one point of continuity in the design and implementation process. They met both the university’s goals of working successfully across scales, from community-scale natural drainage and landscape strategies to plant selection and coordination with our horticulture experts, as well as big-picture ZNE goals.”

UC Davis’ internal monitoring shows that the West Village ZNE community achieved an exceptional 87 percent of initial ZNE goals in its first year. In 2013, West Village received the ULI Global Award of Excellence, which honors outstanding development in both the private and public sectors, with an emphasis on responsible land use.

[ swa ] images courtesy of swa / photo credits > david llyod/swa & jonnu singleton

scapes "oyster-tecture" project wins 2014 fuller challenge.

Dec 8, 2014

living breakwaters, a project submitted by scape / landscape architecture pllc based in new york has won the 2014 fuller challenge. the award offered by the the buckminster fuller institute (bfi) is considered “socially responsible design’s highest award”.

“living breakwaters is about dissipating and working with natural energy rather than fighting it. it is on the one hand an engineering and infrastructure-related intervention, but it also has a unique biological function as well. the project team understand that you cannot keep back coastal flooding in the context of climate change, but what you can do is ameliorate the force and impact of 100 and 500 year storm surges to diminish the damage through ecological interventions, while simultaneously catalyzing dialog to nurture future stewards of the built environment,” said bill browning of terrapin bright green, a 2014 senior advisor and jury member.

besides addressing storm surge issues, “oyster-tecture” will improve coastal resiliency and the restoration of livelihoods traditional to the community of tottenville in staten island. living breakwaters uses natural forces working with nature to create a natural barrier reef. criticism of “eco projects” has been commerce vs. nature, this project regenerates waterfront communities and social systems, while enhancing threatened ecosystems.