Zaha Hadid Wins Cairo Competition

The 1,530,000 sq ft Cairo Expo City near the airport will comprise a major international exhibition and conference centre with business hotel. A further office tower and a shopping centre are also proposed.

According to Hadid, the undulating design was inspired by the natural topography of the Nile Valley.

‘As the exhibition spaces require the greatest degree of flexibility, we wanted to ensure that all the public spaces and formal composition of Cairo Expo City relate to the surrounding Egyptian landscape.’ said Hadid. ‘Along the great rivers of the region, most particularly the Nile, there is a powerful dynamic - a constant flow between the water and the land - which extends to incorporate the neighboring buildings and landscapes. For the Cairo Expo City design, we worked to capture that seamlessness and fluidity in an urban architectural context.’

Work to start clearing the site will begin in October. Hadid will be working together with engineering consultants Buro Happold. - www.architectsjournal.co.uk/5203232.article

Though I think this is a very beautiful design, I am a little skeptical of it's feasibility structurally and financially. I think that Zaha has created, like she always does, another site intervention to stick out and proclaim her apparent greatness.

Images obtained from: www.architectsjournal.co.uk

The Reality of Building Integrated Wind

With the recent push to move away from our dependence on oil, and into an era of energy generated from clean and renewable sources and an added 30% tax credit for more incentive, many misconceptions have been generated about wind energy and turbines.

For starters though they are usually very beautiful when integrated well with the building design, they often do not produce as much power as advertised because they can't overcome the major problem of "turbulent airflow." For turbines to work optimally, they need strong "laminar winds," in which all the wind flows from one direction but on top of tall buildings, where they are often mounted, the winds come from many different directions. Bob Thresher, director of the National Wind Technology Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, explains that as wind flow comes over the edge of a roof or around a corner, it separates into many different streams.

Ron Stimmel, wind technology expert at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), added to this thought saying that, this turbulent flow confuses a wind turbine, affecting its performance. “Even if it feels really windy on top of a building, it’s probably more turbulent wind than steady wind,” he said.

Another issue is that of noise and vibration, contrary to common assumptions that turbines are generally quiet. The vertical-axis machines indeed are much more quiet than rotator blades but the vibration they cause on non-concrete buildings is generally detrimental to the general comfort of the occupants.

In one of the only extensive surveys of actual performance of building-integrated wind turbines the Warwick Wind Trials Project, the only turbines able to generate close to their projected electricity output were mounted on high-rise apartment buildings. And these wind turbines remained switched off throughout most of the test period because of complaints from the residents about noise. -www.buildinggreen.com, The-Folly of Building Integrated Wind

Another problem is that of the actual measured performance Vs the projected measured performance of the turbine. Manufacturers are constantly guilty of showing slightly elevated power curves for their products than what they can actually achieve which makes the process of figuring how much energy a set of turbines on our building is going to generate. The usually leaves designers and clients very disappointed in the end. For example, the vertical axis turbine (left) is nominally rated at 10kw but tests by Madison Gas and Electric showed that it has so far never produced more than 600 watts even though it is installed at a height that might be typical for a rooftop application.

So although they look nicer and sleeker as the years go by and they make a very bold and energy efficient statement for the building design, they do not help much practically for what they are meant to do. Of course if you are looking for a sculptural element to enhance a piece of your building, wind turbines do the job well and you might as well get something out of them but keep in mind that it will be minimal.




Images obtained from: www.buildinggreen.com
Article info obtained from: Alex Wilson's "The Folly of Building-Integrated Wind"

Cheese Grater Gets Built in Dubai

New York based reiser + umemoto has decided to really push the design envelope with their very unorthodox building, 0-14 which has just been topped out in Dubai. The skin of the building is of self-consolidating concrete cast over the perforated reinforced steel. Though this is one of the few buildings that is actually environmentally innovative, aesthetically, this is one design that seems like it would have been better off remaining on paper.

Structurally, the seemingly termite eaten facade acts as an exoskeleton allows the exterior of the building to practically column free, acts as a double-skin facade and uses the stack effect to channel the stifling hot air of Dubai up out of the cavities and at the same time cooling the walls and windows.

Dubai as we all know is the one place where you can find the most outrageous designs that have no consideration for the environment but though I think the facade is not in the least bit "easy on the eyes" I am pleased that this one does try to be aware that when you build vertically in places like Dubai, the higher you go, the more you begin to create micro climates within the building itself. This is a huge strain on HVAC equipment adjusting to the different temperatures. The perforated skin will allow more light and air into the building and at the same time provide some shading form direct sunlight.





Images and article details obtained from: www.archiblog.com
and from Lynn Becker's "Dubai Swiss cheese grater becomes a reality."

4 Most Creative Cities In The World

Fast company has just released its list of the top 13 most creative and innovative cities in the world, most of which are within the United States which I must admit is a little surprising. In a statement, Fast company explained that criteria used was to determine and rank cities with "initiatives that can help our communities go greener, be safer, live smarter, and invest for the future."

No 1: Cleveland
From being a city scarred by urban blight and foreclosure, Cleveland, Ohio is putting together an impressive urban plan "to create acres of tree nurseries, oases of native plants, and community gardens." Also, empty lots within communities are to be used as mini solar farms to power homes in the community. "A solar array in a previously empty 3-acre lot, for example, will provide enough power for 200 homes."

No 2: San Francisco
This seems to be just about the "Bank on San Francisco" program, a public-private partnership established by the city and county of San Francisco and several other financial organizations. This program ensured that the 17 participating banks accepted not only United States issued IDs but Mexican and Guatemalan IDs as well to enable Latino immigrants working in the city to safely deposit their money in the bank and hang on to the 5% of their annual income they would have spent on check-cash services. Other than the banks having more money to lend, I'm not sure what good this has done.

No 3: Tucson
This comes due to the initiative to make the city as "healthy as possible." The program which started in 2003, has created "700 miles of bike ways and 72 miles of shared-use paths" with more than $80 million planned to be spent in the future. With all the new access and increased circulation within the city, the crime rate has greatly been reduced, more than 20% since 2006 and has seen a "45% reduction in crystal-methane availability since 2006."

No 4: Taipei
Taipei, Taiwan has been working hard over the years to achieve "zero landfill, total recycling" by 2010, 30 years ahead of the UN's trash targets. The city has managed to slash their garbage volume by almost 60% by introducing a new system of kitchen waste disposal that turns food waste into pig feed.




Article info obtained from: www.fastcompany.com/cities/2009

Zaha's New Shoes

London based architect Zaha Hadid is known for her very conceptual, unique and curvilinear designs with her new project being no exception. The project set to take off this July "explores futuristic vessels of movement in relation to the human body" ie she is designing a new pair of shoes!

Zaha is collaborating with French apparel company LACOSTE to produce this new prototype to feature unisex calf leather boots that wrap and "encapsulate" the foot from sole to ankle to leg in an continuous and fluid manner. The shoe design for lady's is more expressive of this apparent "leg wrapping" as it reaches up to the calf (top left) while the men's hugs the upper ankle. “The design expression behind the collaboration with LACOSTE footwear allows the evolution of dynamic fluid grids,” said Hadid, according to a official statement from LACOSTE. “When wrapped around the shape of a foot, these expand and contract to negotiate and adapt to the body ergonomically. In doing so a landscape emerges, undulating and radiating as it merges seamlessly with the body.”

The limited edition of only 850 pairs of Zaha's new LACOSTE shoes will be available this July in high end boutiques in Paris London and Milan in black and purple for women and black and navy blue for men.

Contrary to my initial assumptions, this is not Zaha's first crack at the fashion world as she has already designed a pair of "Eco-friendly" rubber shoes with Brazilian label MELISSA in the summer of 2008 but this has not been very successful to date. These were overpriced at about $500 a pair and extremely horrid to look at but she seems to have done better with her new designs which according to sources came from exploring "digitized interpretations” of the LACOSTE crocodile logo. I'm not sure what these cost but it will be safe to say that will not be in the window of your neighborhood Macy's any time soon.





Article info and images obtained from: blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/2517
For more info on Zaha's MELISSA's designs, check: www.inhabitat.com/2008/08/06/zaha-hadid-turns-shoe-designer-teams-up-with-melissa/

Ghery Officially Off Barclay Center Designs

The Barclay Center, which is to be the Nets new basketball arena had originally intended to be the main focal point and anchor of Frank Ghery's sprawling 22-acre Atlantic Yards complex located in central Brooklyn. Now it seems that though Ghery will be master planner for the site, the "starchitects" firm had been replaced by Ellerbe Becket as designer of the arena itself.

One reason that seems very likely is that Ghery's proposal as usual would end up being way to pricey and indeed Forest City Ratner, the developers said in the statement. “The current economic climate is not right for this design, and with Frank’s understanding, the arena is undergoing a redesign that will make it more limited in scope.” So what happened to his magic "Digital Project" software? According to the Times, the arena is now expected to cost $800 million, down from a projected $1 billion.

So as the situation stands right now, Ghery's initial design (topmost) will be replaced with the Ellerbe Becket design (below) which bears a close resemblance to their Conseco Fieldhouse, arena of the Indiana Pacers.

I am a little disappointed that in light of the current economy, Mr Ghery was not able to find a way to create a design that is a little more affordable to the city.I guess he hasn't been using his own software he tauted could help him come in under budget for any project.
Still, I know as architects we don't particularly like to downgrade a design to make it cheaper but what was a no-no a few years ago is workable today if you want to have work.




Images obtained from: archpaper.com/e-board
For more info check: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/nyregion/05gehry.html?_r=1&hp

Final Design Chosen For Black History Museum

Yesterday, April the 15th, a winning design was finally selected for long-awaited National Museum of African American History and Culture to be located across the street from the Washington Monument. The firms of Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup were selected as the winners despite much public sentiment that the Moody Nolan/Predock design was by far the most dynamic and aesthetically pleasing of all submissions. The 5 acre, $500 million project is now set to break ground mid 2012 and be completed in 2015.

"Their vision and spirit of collaboration moved all members of the design competition jury," said the museum's founding director, Lonnie G. Bunch III. "I am confident that they will give us a building that will be an important addition to the National Mall and to the architecture of the city."

Bunch has repeatedly stated that the core theme to be followed by each firm was the African American experience in the United States through slavery and emancipation, to politics, music, sports and spirituality.

The wining design concept was about "celebration and praise" said Adjaye, 42, a Tanzanian-born, London-based architect. "We are celebrating an incredible journey and looking to the future." The 105 foot design shows a square building, held by four columns with an open first floor. Two superstructures, which are shaped like crowns and inspired by an African headdress, top the entry-level porch. Above crowns, that Adjaye described as "Coronas" and where designed to hold most of the exhibition galleries, is a roof garden. The four-story design has several key vantage points and view ports to take advantage of the iconic and historic sights along the Mall.

The entrances are on Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive, on the Mall side, bringing all visitors into the open first floor. On the Constitution side is a canal, representing the Washington Channel, where slaves and supplies were transported.

In my march 30th post I briefly talked about the six designs that were under consideration at the time which included, Foster and Partners/URS, a joint venture, with the Foster firm as architect and URS handling the engineering design. Other teams are: Devrouax & Purnell, I.M. Pei, Moshe Safdie and Associates, Moody Nolan/Predock and of course Freelon Adjaye Bond. At the time, the design by Moody Nolan/Predock was considered by many to be the better design that is why the selection of Freelon Adjaye Bond by the Smithsonian came as such a surprise. I am quite disappointed with this choice as the design seems to be the least interesting of the six but I guess its location does not not exactly allow for very organic forms.




Details of article obtained from Jaqueline Trescott's "Designer chosen for Black History Museum"
Images obtained from: www.washigntonpost.com

Gehry To Design Eisenhower Memorial

Regardless of whatever problems "star architect" Frank Gehry might be having with the Beekman Tower project and constant issues of being over budget, his brand is something that many cities seem to seek out. Washington has recently been added to that list as Gehry was selected from a short list of firms, that included Ron Krueck of Krueck & Sexton, Rob Rogers and Jonathan Marvel of Rogers Marvel Architects, and Peter Walker of PWP Landscape Architecture, to design a memorial to US president Dwight Eisenhower.

The site for the memorial, which will be Gehry's first project in Washington, is a four acre parcel between 4th and 6th Streets along Independence Avenue right by the Smithsonian air and space museum. At a projected budget of $90-120m, the project will consist of a civic plaza that will serve as both memorial to the 34th president and gathering ground for the public.

The 12-member commission, which selected Gehry, was created by Congress in 1999 and includes David Eisenhower, grandson of the president, and its chairman is lawyer Rocco C. Siciliano who who earned a Bronze Star in World War II and was an assistant to Eisenhower in the White House. Siciliano stated last week that, "We were looking for creativity and looking for ingenuity. We wanted a firm that knows how to bring in the public, with an emphasis on young people. We know it wouldn't be a massive facility."He also added that, "It's appropriate to have one of today's most outstanding architects design a memorial for one of our country's greatest leaders."

The use of the land has been approved by Congress, the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission. The project is also being sponsored by the National Park Service, which will maintain and manage the site.

Though I am very excited about all the development going on around the area which includes the proposed Black History museum and would like to see how it all comes together, I'm not sure that Gehry is quite the right choice for Washington. Being true to himself and the way he designs, Frank Gehry finds it hard to relate to site context and the Washington mall area is not the kind of location where you just plop down anything. I fear the memorial will have little to do with Eisenhower and more to do with Gehry trying to put his signature mark on Washington.





Some article information has been obtained from: www.guardian.co.uk and www.washingtonpost.com

Tiger Woods' New Golf Resort

The world's best golfer just unveiled plans for the $100 million Punta Brava (which means “wild point”) golf resort set to open late in 2011. The project located just south of Ensenada, Mexico will be composed of villas, casitas and a private club all enhanced by a scenic, 264-acre coastal setting that includes a 1,200-foot peak and ragged sea cliffs.

Mr. Woods brought together for this project three notable Mexican firms: project architects Legorreta + Legorreta, ABAX Architecture, and A5 arquitectura. Alejandro Bernardi, an architect with the firm A5, stated that one design consideration was to blend some details of heritage Mexican architecture with a more contemporary environment.

The complex includes 39 estate lots ranging from 3/4 to 3 acres, 99 villa residences from 4,500 to 7,000 square feet, and 14 club casitas for the guests of residents. Residences are perched on the vertical terrain of the site, appearing to slide out of the hillsides in layers. With stonework that matches existing rock and landscaping with native plants, the designs are intended to ease the transition from natural to man-made environments.- www.archpaper.com, "Swinging Design"

Not to be forgotten is the golf course designed by Tiger himself with each hole of the 70 par course giving players a clear view of the ocean including eight shots that require driving the ball over the bay, which I'm sure he threw in just to be mean.

“The merger of traditional Mexican craftsmanship or ‘artesania’ as we call it, with the modern needs of architectural function, has an amazing result,” Bernardi said. This look, he added, is achieved by transposing materials like traditional terra cotta with more contemporary exposed concrete, and recreating traditional Mexican wood details like lattice, shades, and shutters with modern lines.

Another feature of the overall design was to enhance the views and the experience of the occupants by having a seamless transition between indoors and outdoors by blurring interior and exterior boundaries. Showers open to the outdoors, walls seemingly disappear to provide occupants with unobstructed views to the ocean and rooftops planted with indigenous plants provide residents with usable green terraces.

The project also boasts sustainable strategies: thick stone walls to help with thermal massing and tap into passive solar opportunities due to the warmer climate. Also, Punta Brava has been designed to be completely independent from the Ensenada water grid, using an on-site desalinization plant and reusing all wastewater.

I am very pleased with Mr Woods' plans and actually appreciate his decision to have a team of the best local architects who are better able to understand the complexity of the environment and how best to work with it. Also, I'm glad that even though this development is not located in the United States, plans to make it as energy efficient as possible were integrated into the overall scope especially as energy codes are less stringent in Mexico.





Image obtained from: www.archpaper.com
Article details obtained from: Alissa Walker's "Swinging Design"

World's First Flying Hotel!

Modeled on the Soviet Mil V-12, the largest helicopter ever built, this double deck Airbus A380 idea has seemingly set the bar high for luxury accommodation. The Russian Hotelicopter Company purchased one of these prototypes from the Mikhail Leontyevich Mil helicopter plant in Panki-Tomilino, Russia in 2004 and claim to have been working out the kinks in the design ever since.

This contraption boasts 18 luxury rooms, each soundproofed and furnished with a queen-sized bed, fine linens, a mini-bar, coffee machine, wireless Internet access, and all the trimmings one would expect to find in a flying hotel with room service offered half and hour before and after take off.

"The original Mil V-12 was an amazingly large helicopter which absolutely dwarfs any heavy lift Helicopter in use today. Each rotor had a diameter of nearly 115 ft (35m), mounted at the end of a large wing, making the distance from the tips of each rotor blade wider than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. The two Soviet built V-12s did fly and still hold the helicopter heavy lift world record of 44,205 kg (88,636 lb) at a height of 2,255m (7,398 feet) set on August 6th 1969 but were simply too big and difficult to maneuver to be practical so never reached production." - Gizmag, 3/30

Although the company, Hotelicopter has shown very imaginative and innovative images of this design as well as a flight tour, just from the above dimentions and weight, I have my doubts about just how practical these claims might be. For starters, the specified Maximum Takeoff Weight is given at 232,870 lb, the same as the original Mil V-12 helicopter even though three stories of rooms have been added and this really doesn't sound feasible. So although a flight tour has been released, starting June 26th, I think these plans are pretty spurious especially considering that yesterday was April fool's.







Images obtained from: www.likecool.com
Article details obtained from: www.gizmag.com