International architectural firm LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture) recently won a international design competition for the heart of Masdar, world’s first sustainable city, masterplanned by architects Foster + Partners.

Giant umbrellas, with a design based on the principles of sunflowers, will provide moveable shade in the day, store heat, then close and release the heat at night in the plaza of a new eco-city in the United Arab Emirates. The ‘sunflower umbrellas’ are one aspect of the winning design by the international practice LAVA for the city center for Masdar in the UAE – the world’s first zero carbon, zero waste city powered entirely by renewable energy sources.

Masdar is a planned city located 17 kilometers from Abu Dhabi. A government initiative, the city is being constructed over seven phases and is due to be completed by 2016.

The city center includes a plaza, five-star hotel, long stay hotel, a convention center and entertainment complex and retail facilities.

LAVA won the design in an international competition against several hundred entries and strong competition from some of the world’s most high profile architects.

Some other key innovations of the winning plan include:

• Building façade angles that can be altered to offset or optimize solar glare.
• Materials on wall surfaces respond to changing temperatures and contain minimal embedded energy.
• Water features can be stored underground during the day and at night trickle or flow strongly, triggered by passersby.
• Interactive light poles, inspired by the oasis fire, transform the plaza into a 3-dimensional interactive media installation.
• Interactive, heat sensitive technology activates lighting in response to pedestrian traffic and mobile phone usage.
• Roof gardens integrate food production, energy generation, water efficiency and the reuse of organic food waste.
Mr Wallisser said ‘the idea behind our concept is the use, inspiration, and adaptation of nature and our plans combine innovative design and sustainability’.

East and west are fused in the plaza design inspired by both the oasis, as the epicenter of Arabic nomadic life, and the iconic piazza of historical European cities. The organic forms created by the forces of natural erosion in geographical landmarks such as great canyons and wadis are the design inspiration behind the key buildings in the city center.

See a video about the LAVA’s Masdar project here.

BACKGROUND

MASDAR CITY
‘As part of the Masdar Initiative, a long term strategic commitment by the government of Abu Dhabi to accelerate the development and deployment of future energy solutions, Masdar City will take sustainable development and living to a new level and will lead the world in understanding how all future cities should be built.

Masdar City will be built over seven years at an investment in excess of US$20 Billion. The City will be built in seven carefully designed phases, incorporating the latest technological advances generated in its clean-tech cluster and globally. Masdar headquarters building under construction receives its power for construction from a vast PV array on its roof built ahead of the remaining structure – a world-first.

Strategically located at the heart of Abu Dhabi’s transport infrastructure, Masdar City will be linked to the center of Abu Dhabi and the international airport, by a network of existing road, and new rail and public transport routes. The City will be car free and pedestrian friendly. With a maximum distance of 200 meters to public transport and amenities, and complemented by an innovative personal rapid transport system, the compact network of streets will encourage pedestrians and community social life.’

CITY CENTER PROJECT
The International Design Competition for the provision of design services for Masdar Hotel & Conference Center (MHCC) Project Development. Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala) Located in the heart of the new city, the MHCC will become a focus for shopping, leisure and entertainment. The mixed-use development will consist of a five-star hotel, long term stay serviced apartment, a conference center, a themed entertainment center, cultural facility related to future energy and shopping center complete with a food court and cinema.

PROCESS
A global jury of world-renowned design and urban planning experts chose LAVA’s design from the finalists.

The jury included: Gerard Evenden, Foster + Partners; Gordon Gill, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architects; Professor Guy Chemla, Sorbonne University; and David Choi, David Choi Design.

Eighteen proposals were shortlisted from several hundred entries and in December 2008 Kohn Pedersen Fox and LAVA were both further shortlisted.

LAVA was announced as the winner in August 2009.

The brief included:

The Project is intended to be a world-class innovative landmark of sustainable architecture and engineering design, exceeding the current highest standards of green building energy and waste efficiency, material technologies, and integrated design thinking. MHCC Project Development will be one of the landmark structures of MASDAR City. It will exemplify the city’s commitment to the environment and the development of innovative and viable renewable technologies.

The highest standards of sustainable development will include zero emissions; zero waste; 100% power generation through renewable energy sources; energy efficiency; and a paperless document management system.

The criteria for selection included building functionality, water and wastewater efficiency, indoor environmental quality, zero carbon emission, carbon footprint reduction and firm experience.

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Invited as one of five pre-selected architect led teams, Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) was awarded first prize in an open international design competition which included 19 entrants amongst others Lord Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid.

The new National Library in Astana, named after the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, encompasses an estimated 33,000 sq m.

BIG’s design merges four forms – a circle, a rotunda, an arch and a yurt – into an ‘infinite loop’ with a single double-looping surface plane covering the entire building.

From the architects:

BIG to design Kazakhstan’s new National Library in Astana.

Invited as one of five pre-selected architect led teams, BIG was awarded first prize in an open international design competition which included 19 entrants among others Lord Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid.

The new National Library, named after the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, encompasses an estimated 33.000m2. The winning proposal was chosen by the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan K. Masimov together with Astana’s akim I. Tasmagambetov and a council of architects. The design was hailed as being both modern and rational and anchored in a classical vocabulary of traditional libraries. The circular organisation of the archive at its inner core combines the clarity of a linear organisation with the convenience of an infinite loop.

“The design of the National Library combines four universal archetypes across space and time into a new national symbol: the circle, the rotunda, the arch and the yurt are merged into the form of a Moebius strip. The clarity of the circle, the courtyard of the rotunda, the gateway of the arch and the soft silhouette of the yurt are combined to create a new national monument appearing local and universal, contemporary and timeless, unique and archetypal at the same time” – Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner on the Astana National Library 2009.

Nation Building

Being one of the future cornerstones of Kazakh nation building, and a leading institution representing the Kazakh national identity, designing the library went beyond a mere architectural challenge. The new National Library in Astana, Kazakhstan’s new capital since 1997, shall not only accumulate history but also provide a foundation for new futures for the nation and its new capital. It will serve as an intellectual, multifunctional and cultural center, with a primary goal of reflecting the establishment and development of a sovereign Kazakhstan, its political history, and the Head of the State’s activities and role in the development of the country.

The National Library will be the place where the citizens of Astana, the people of Kazakhstan as well as international visitors can come to explore the country’s history, its diverse cultures, its new capital and its first president. The Library will accommodate and communicate with all segments of the population: civil servants, politicians, researchers, students, museum historians and staff.

The Library is conceived as a symbiosis of urbanity and nature. Like Astana, which is located in the heart of the Kazakh mainland, it will be integrated into the heart of a re-created Kazakh landscape. The park around the library is designed like a living library of trees, plants, minerals and rocks allowing visitors to experience a cross section of Kazakhstan’s natural landscape, and personally experience the capital’s transition across the country from Almaty to Astana.

“What is a library but an efficient archive of books… and a path for the public to reach them” – Thomas Christoffersen, the Project Leader on the National Library

In the library they will be able to study the history of the Kazakh culture and language present in the massive collection of books, magazines, film and other media. The archive is organized as a circular loop of knowledge, surrounded by light and air on both sides. On the periphery a 360 degree panorama of Astana – at the heart of the building a contemplative courtyard domed by the heavenly light blue of the celestial vault. The simplicity and perfection of the infinite circle allows for a crystal clear and intuitive orientation in the vast and growing collection that will populate the shelves of the National Library.

The ideal addition to the perfect circle will be a series of public programs that simultaneously wraps the library on the outside as well as the inside, above as well as below. Twisting the public program into a continuous spiraling path tracing the library on all sides, creates an architectural organization that combines the virtues of all 4 complimenting models. Like a Möbius strip, the public programs move seamlessly from the inside to the outside and from ground to the sky providing spectacular views of the surrounding landscape and growing city skyline.

Möbius Strip

The 2 interlocking structures: the perfect circle and the public spiral, create a building that transforms from a horizontal organization where library museum and support functions are placed next to each other, to a vertical organization where they are stacked on top of each other through a diagonal organization combining vertical hierarchy, horizontal connectivity and diagonal view lines. By wrapping the transforming composition of spaces with a continuous skin we create a Möbius strip volume where the facades move from inside to outside and back again.

“The envelope of The National Library transcends the traditional architectural categories such as wall and roof. Like a yurt the wall becomes the roof, which becomes floor, which becomes the wall again” – Thomas Christoffersen, the Project Leader on the National Library.

ASTANA NATIONAL LIBRARY CREDIT LIST:

ARCHITECT: BIG
CLIENT: Kazakhstan Presidential Office
COLLABORATORS: ARUP AGU
SIZE: 33.000 M2
LOCATION: Astana, Kazakhstan
STATUS: 1st Prize

Partner-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels
Project Leader: Thomas Christoffersen
Team: Amy Campbell, Jakob Henke, Johan Cool, Jonas Barre, Daniel Sundlin

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In December 2008, architects Foster + Partners with car manufacturers Aston Martin won joint first prize in Transport for London’s competition to design a new Routemaster bus for the capital. The two iconic British brands worked together to challenge preconceptions of bus design with a vehicle that is environmentally sensitive, accessible, convivial and reinvents a much-loved symbol of London for the modern era.

The £25,000 first prize was jointly awarded to Aston Martin and Foster + Partners, and bus, coach and truck design company Capoco Design.

Runners up included Héctor Serrano Studio in the UK, and Miñarro García and Javier Esteban from Spain with their design ‘Welcome Back’, and Jamie Martin from the UK with a design called ‘The London Navigator’.

The winning designs and ideas will be developed into final designs by bus manufacturers. The first prototype of the new bus will be on the streets of London in 2011.

The competition, run by Transport for London, received around 700 entries. Winners are divided into two categories- ‘design’ and ‘imagine’, which included also entries from children.

Description of entry

‘Two emblematic British brands– Aston Martin and Foster + Partners– worked together to challenge preconceptions of bus design. Gathering first-hand research and canvassing passengers, drivers and conductors, the team worked from the inside– out.
Designed in response to the needs of its users, the new bus is zero emissions ready, accessible for all and will set new standards for sustainable vehicles. The bus will reinvent a much-loved London icon for a new era and re-establish the city as a world leader in the design of public transport.’

Read more about the competition entries and the winning companies: www.london.gov.uk.

The following is the statement from Foster + Partners website:

‘Designed in collaboration with Aston Martin in response to Transport for London’s competition to design a new bus for the capital, the joint first prize winning design challenges preconceptions with a vehicle that is environmentally sensitive, accessible and reinvents a much-loved symbol of London for the modern era. After an intense period of research which included canvassing opinion from passengers, drivers and conductors, the team worked to design a new bus from the inside-out. In doing so, consideration was given to a wide range of issues including layout, use of materials, motive power, passenger experience and the impact of the bus on the environment of the city.

The bus is designed to navigate the dense and varied streets of London, employing innovative technologies to allow for greater manoeuvrability and energy conservation. Optimising safety, the driver’s cabin provides panoramic views as well as incorporating screens to supervise CCTV images and radio communications with the on-board conductor. Much like a car or a building, the design evolved in response to the needs of its users. The layout, lighting and wooden floors are conceived to encourage a spirit of warmth and community. The arrangement of the decks is driven by comfort and particular consideration is given to the selection of reconstituted leather upholstery to create a tactile ‘living room’ feel, especially in the saloon-like lower deck.

The new bus is zero emissions ready, accessible for all and will set new standards for sustainable public service vehicles. Passengers benefit from views from the top of the deck through a glazed roof which incorporates solar cells to absorb sunlight and generate energy. By filtering daylight the internal temperature is well controlled. The bus design re-introduces the rear open access platform that made London’s Routemaster bus so popular up until its withdrawal from general service. This is supplemented by a side door to facilitate access for those with impaired mobility as well as families with young children.’

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The RIBA recently announced the winners of an ideas competition which is being organized to mark the 800th anniversary of the opening of the first London Bridge in 1209AD. The competition called ‘London Bridge 800: Design an Inhabited Bridge’ received an exceptional response with a total of 73 entries from architects and students of architecture from all over the world. Submissions came from the UK, Europe and as far afield as the USA, Argentina, China, Hong Kong and South Africa.

Old London Bridge was an inhabited bridge and the competition asks today’s designers to imagine a new version of the inhabited bridge, based on the present structure (which for the purpose of the competition is to be deemed strong enough to carry buildings on its deck).

1st Prize – Laurie Chetwood, Chetwoods, London

2nd Prize – Lawrence Friesen, GenGeo, Ilona Hay, London

3rd Prize – Ryszard Rychlicki, student, Poznan, Poland

The judging panel, which included Richard Saxon CBE, journalist Peter Murray, Colette O’Shea of Land Securities, and Ian Head, Master of the WCCA, described Laurie Chetwood‘s scheme as ‘beautifully presented, wildly imaginative and a unanimous first choice’.

Here are some more ‘London Bridge 800′ competition entries:

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Croatian design student Elvis Tomljenovic has won a car design competition with MOY, a concept that allows users to download their own surface designs for their vehicles.

The car features a polycarbonate shell embedded with LEDs and LCDs that produce static or animated patterns on the vehicle’s surface.

A range of ready made designs are available to download for users without the required design skills.

Tomljenovic is a student of the Zagreb School of Design.

The vehicle is powered by electric motors housed in the wheels and is controlled by drive-by-wire technology.

Some details from Tomljenovic:

About the concept

MOY concept is made for generation who uses technology as a means to express themselves and communicate with others. The idea behind MOY concept is that everyone can design their own car on their own computer and then apply the design to the vehicle using wireless data transfer or share it with other people through web-site, forum, e-mail etc. To those who lack the necessary skills or time to create their own design, we offer the option of downloading ready made designs.

The vehicles are interconnected, so the change is possible in motion. Movement recognition technology enables us to draw on the car in real time. Since MOY can display both static images and videos, it can be used as a new medium of promotion.

The vehicle is powered by batteries that charge electromotors set in wheels and controlled by drive-by-wire technology. The body of the car is made of outer and inner polycarbonate layers, with layers of liquid crystals, LED diodes and electrochromic foil in between.

About the author

Elvis Tomljenovic is finishing student of the Zagreb School of Design. He is currently looking for sponsors/scholarships to continue education in field of automotive design at postgraduate level.

About the conference

auto(r) is the biggest automotive design conference in Europe in 2009 and the first ever held in South East Europe (SEE). The conference theme: Professional automotive designers from SEE, born or originated. This is the first time ever that this subject has been taken to the public. The title auto(r) has been chosen because it combines two words – automobile and author. Our mission is to present designers as authors of automobile designs.

More: www.tomljenovic.carbonmade.com.

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The American Institute of Architecture Students and the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF) announce the top winners of the fourth student design competition.

Sponsored by the ICPF and administered by the AIAS, the program will challenge students, working individually or in teams, to explore a variety of issues related to the use of corrugated board (a non-traditional building material) in design and construction and production.

Additionally, the competition introduces students to the dynamic corrugated industry. This industry offers a breadth of career opportunities to students graduating in architecture and design. For more information on careers in the corrugated packaging industry, please visit http://www.careersincorrugated.org.

In mid-March, a jury selected the top six winners and five merit awards (another chair was chosen as an alternate in case one of the top six cannot continue in the competition). These chairs will be displayed and winners honored in the AIAS Student Lounge and Gallery at the 2009 AIA National Convention and Design Exposition in San Francisco, California on April 29 – May 2, 2009. The final jury will take place on April 29, 2009 in San Francisco.

The Tier One Jury included, Oscar Fitzgerald, Corcoran School of Art and Design; William Hooper, AIA, LEED AP, Gensler; Don Pruitt, AIA, Quinn Evans; and Professor Isaac Williams, University of Maryland.

The shown chairs will be considered for the top honors. The names and host schools will not be provided until after the final jury.

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This cardboard case by Francesco Biasci, Martina Becattini is a proposal for the Greener Gadgets Design Competition.

| Description

‘Most computer equipment becomes outdated anywhere from one to five years after its purchase. This puts a burden on consumers, disposing of old equipment that lays around the house.

Many of the larger computer and electronics companies have begun offering recycling programs. We propose to rethink the problem from the very beginning, and solve it by replacing some computer components with recycled cardboard. ‘Cardboardcase’ is made just with folded cardboard, and it’s completely recyclable. It’s easy to assemble and very cheap. It is plain and elegant at the same time. It’s made all with ecological materials, and it does not contribute to environment pollution. But the ‘Cardboardcase’ allows you to develop your creativity as well! You can customize your computer case in order to fit with your taste, your home furniture and your office.’

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This is the proposal by Hermann Eske for the Greener Gadgets Design Competition.

| Description

‘sunLight represents a unique type of product. It embodies all aspects, such as generation, storage and consumption of electrical energy in one unit. sunLight reduces rubbish. It is designed for a long lifecycle without the need to remove or change any elements. In the case of malfunction, parts can be replaced easily, decreasing costs for service. All that sunLight needs to work is solar energy – you simply unfold it so that solar cell film is exposed to the sun and the enegry will recharge the batteries. Received power can be used in different ways, as a flashlight or for loading up connected gadgets (mobile phones or music players, for example).

sunLight is scaleable. The standard configuration embeds 6 modules, each of which consists of an LED unit and 2 AAAA rechargeable batteries. Furthermore, one of modules holds a charge controller. For more or less luminance/capacity, the size of solar cell film and with it the number of LED-battery modules can be varied proportionally. A low number of components reduces the production costs; production of different sizes requires just one new tool for the base material. Except for the batteries, all parts could be made of recyclable polymers.’

For furtner information visit: www.core77.com.

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The Power-Hog is a proposal for the Greener Gadget Design Competition 2009.

| Description

‘Power-Hog is a power consumption metering piggy bank designed to sensitize kids to energy cost associated with running electronics devices. Plug the tail into the outlet and the device into the snout; feed a coin to meter 30 minutes of use.

It’s designed to capture the interest of parents and kids alike and serve the wider environmental cause. Power-Hog visually and symbolically associates power conservation with savings by using the iconic piggy bank as a visual reference. Kids can use their allowance to turn on the TV or video game by feeding the Power-Hog with loose change. The Power-Hog meters consumption and blinks red when time is running out. It also helps parents meter the amount of time spent watching the tube.

The Power-Hog is made out of Xenoy iQ1103-U grade resin from Sabic. Their upcycling process using recycled PET allows good performance at a cost similar to less friendly materials. It is 100% recyclable and its packaging has been developed following the sustainable coalition packaging guidelines.’

Designer:  Mathieu Zastawny, Mansour Ourasanah, Tom Dooley, Peter Byar, Elysa Soffer, Mathieu Turpault

The Railway Procurement Agency is pleased to announce that the winners of the competition to design the Metro West–Liffey Valley Bridge are Buro Happold and Explorations Architecture.

The RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) administered the competition on behalf of the competition promoters, the Railway Procurement Agency.

On announcing the winning entry, Frank Allen, Chief Executive of the Railway Procurement Agency said; “The conclusion of this competition represents a significant milestone in the ongoing design and development of the Metro West scheme. RPA is committed to developing infrastructure that meets transport needs but is also attractive and sympathetic to its environment. The competition entries were of exceptionally high standard and sought to develop proposals that meet these requirements. The jury concluded that the winning design excelled in meeting the challenges of the brief and in the view of RPA is the most appropriate design for Metro West to cross the Liffey Valley. RPA looks forward to pursuing this design to successful implementation as part of the delivery of Metro West.”

This two stage competition for the design of a new bridge to cross the Liffey Valley needed to address a number of issues particular to the project. Competitors were asked to consider the opportunity presented by the Liffey Valley setting to offer unique views of the area to both those on the Metro and those on foot/cycle. Throughout the competition submissions were made that proposed designs that took traditional and recognisable bridge characteristics but enhanced them to meet the specific requirements of the brief, proposed solutions that were particularly sensitive to the rural-type environment in the valley floor, including the river and its wider surroundings and demonstrated potential to become iconic structures in their own right and were likely to add to the overall amenity of the area.

Adam Allegri, bridge engineer at Buro Happold, said:  “Buro Happold collaborated with Explorations Architecture to develop the concept of a bridge, driven by a desire to minimise the visual impact of the bridge across the Liffey Valley. With the bridge sited in a naturally delicate and sensitive area, the design team developed an innovative, low-rise slender suspended bridge which is subtle yet expressive. The optimum combination of structural efficiency and visual subtlety has been achieved by allowing the suspension cable to cross the deck in elevation and provide support from below. As the cable crosses the deck users will be able to walk safely down an extraordinary promenade that follows the cable profile of the bridge. The team has delivered a winning design that will be the first significant suspension bridge in Ireland and a pioneering development in medium-span railroad suspension bridges.”

The jury had selected five entries from 24 to go forward to Stage Two of the competition. At Stage Two the assessors were most impressed with the high quality of those five submissions. In the main the candidates sought to address the concerns and issues raised by the assessment team in the initial stages and the five shortlisted designs presented the jury with a challenging but rewarding task in considering their relative merits. In the final analysis the assessors came to the unanimous view that the design proposed by Buro Happold Consultants Ltd./Explorations Architecture was to be the winning entry.

This entrant was deemed by the assessors as having best responded to the objectives of the brief. The design tailors a recognisable bridge design to best suit the local conditions using an innovative yet proven structural concept. The design is considered wholly in keeping with the receiving environment and addresses fully the requirement to minimise impact on the Liffey Valley whilst simultaneously offering users the opportunity to experience the setting. The assessors consider this solution iconic yet understated and look forward to experiencing its vista from a crossing Metro service.

Further shortlisted entries were submitted by Foster + Partners / Flint + Neill, Aedas Architects Ltd / Alan Baxter Structural Engineers, Scott Wilson Scotland Ltd. /B+M Architecture, and Heneghan Peng Architects / Arup.

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