Woonq Blog

2-B-2 architecture’s andrey bondarenko has designed the arctic mobile unit which accommodates life support for 3 people – who are researching in the north pole and arctic – for a duration of 15 days, operating between -40 to +10C and withstanding winds of up to 85 km/h. It is comprised of module parts which make up a washroom, work / rest area, galley and power engine-generator.

The arctic mobile unit is equipped with a solar battery, 5kW power generator and snow melter and is built from a steel frame, carbon panels and polyethylene, thermo-insulating membranes. Overall, it weights 1500 kg and measures 2000 x 1600 x 2300mm making it relatively easy to transport from location to location.

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Berlin Hauptbahnhof, or Berlin Central Station, is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany and the largest crossing station in Europe. It began full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is now Europe’s largest two-level railway station. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, and until it opened as a main line station, it was a stop on the Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway temporarily named Berlin Hauptbahnhof–Lehrter Bahnhof. The station is operated by DB Station&Service, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG, and is classified as a Category 1 station, one of 20 in Germany and three in Berlin, the others being Berlin Sudkreuz and Berlin Ostbahnhof.

On 26 May 2006 the station was ceremonially opened by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who arrived together with transport minister Wolfgang Tiefensee in a specially chartered InterCityExpress from Leipzig. A “Symphony of Light” was performed immediately following the dedication. Reamonn and BAP performed at Hauptbahnhof, and there were also events at the other new stations: Gesundbrunnen, Potsdamer Platz and Südkreuz. Berlin Hauptbahnhof officially went into operation on 28 May 2006.

Berlin HBF Panorama in Berlin: 360 Cities

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Many of you may be unaware that Dekalb County is home to a small replica of the White House. I say small, only because it is smaller than the real thing that is home to the President of the United States, but this home situated on Briarcliff Road is hardly small as it boasts 16,500 square feet of living space.

Unfortunately, recent reports suggested that the estate home would be sold on the steps of the Dekalb County Superior Court due to a delinquent $1.75 million loan. But I am happy to say that is no longer the case. Fred Milani, a builder of luxury homes in Atlanta and the owner of the Atlanta White House, was able to negotiate new terms to restructure the loan and avoid foreclosure. The house is still on the market with an asking price of $9.88 million.

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What will the city of the future look like? If MAD architects have anything to say about it, urban centres will no longer resemble the concrete jungles of the industrial revolution. MAD and their design friends have come together to create a conceptual model of the Huaxi city centre of Guiyang, China, that brings nature into every consideration when building with the most modern technologies of the 21st century.

Says MAD:

“The city is no longer determined by the leftover logic of the industrial revolution (speed, profit, efficiency) but instead follows the ‘fragile rules’ of nature.”

According to Dezeen architecture and design magazine, the urbanization of Chinese cities over the past 15 years has been marked by “high-density, high-speed and low-quality duplication” that renders urban spaces “meaningless, crowded and soulless.” The Huaxi project aims to reverse this trend, creating a new reality for urban centres that encourages a more seamless connection between humans and the surrounding natural world. With 200 to 400 new Chinese cities being built in the next 20 years, this sounds like a great idea!

Working with Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute, Studio 6, MAD developed a masterplan for Hauxi city. They invited ten other international young architectural firms to Huaxi for a three-day workshop to learn about the area’s natural and cultural features, then charged them with creating their own design for their assigned part of the plan.

“The city is no longer determined by the leftover logic of the industrial revolution (speed, profit, efficiency) but instead follows the ‘fragile rules’ of nature.”

According to Dezeen architecture and design magazine, the urbanization of Chinese cities over the past 15 years has been marked by “high-density, high-speed and low-quality duplication” that renders urban spaces “meaningless, crowded and soulless.” The Huaxi project aims to reverse this trend, creating a new reality for urban centres that encourages a more seamless connection between humans and the surrounding natural world. With 200 to 400 new Chinese cities being built in the next 20 years, this sounds like a great idea!

Working with Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute, Studio 6, MAD developed a masterplan for Hauxi city. They invited ten other international young architectural firms to Huaxi for a three-day workshop to learn about the area’s natural and cultural features, then charged them with creating their own design for their assigned part of the plan.

Design by MAD (China): 

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These Sky-Terra concept skyscrapers look like giant pieces of artwork shooting up from the ground, but they do more than just look pretty. The network of interconnected towers, one of the entries in the 2009 eVolo Skyscraper Competition, creates a new city layer in the sky made of parks, amphitheaters, fields, and other public spaces. Unlike traditional buildings that block city residents from ever seeing direct sunlight, the Sky-Terra towers allow people to get plenty of sun without dealing with the pollution below.

Designed by San Francisco architect Joanna Borek, the towers rise to 1,600 feet and expand into a flat plaza layer with ample green space, 4-foot-wide streets for electric cars and bikes, rainwater collection systems, and interconnected foot paths. An elevator is embedded in the core of each tower to bring people up to the skyscraper plaza.

There are a couple of problems with the skyscraper. The first is the lack of sunlight below–holes and spaces in the plaza’s fins supposedly let light onto street level, but it still seems like less sunlight would reach the ground than with traditional skyscrapers. Then there is the wind and weather factor when you’re up top. But the Sky-Terra buildings were designed for already-clogged cities like Tokyo, and for these cities, some green space, direct sunlight, and fresh air might be better than none at all.

The transportation system consists of interconnected foot paths, as well as 4 foot wide streets designated for bikes or small electric cars. The remaining is meant to be green space which will assist in reducing urban heat island effect. Rainwater collection will provide water for landscaping needs, and the towers’ building materials consist of modular parts that would be mass-produced to conserve resources and energy. The plaza levels are designed with holes and spaces between the fins that allow light to beam down. The idea seems all smart and huge but I cannot imagine being stuck in the air and living there! So for holidays we go to earth?

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