Opera House in Oslo

Studio Lynn-Robotic Architecture

I came across these two videos, take a look, it pretty cool.







Some very interesting concepts, however it seemed that the students for some reason paid hardly any attention to any of the interior, how it would be used by the USER , who the buildings are designed for....aren't they??

Inflatable Aluminum

A really good video of inflatable aluminum. Last year when visiting Zurich we were given an opportunity to visit ETH where Professor yevs showed us some students that had been experimenting with inflating aluminum and soft metals.


Inflated Metal Chair from aram bartholl on Vimeo.

I will be contacting professor yeves to see if he can help be conduct some experiments of my own in inflatable aluminum.

"how insulation today" by onnetworks.com

This video is Very informative for consumers. It's been made by a new digital television (ONnetworks) which promoting ideas for going green in matters related to building practices and sustainable living suggestions.

Today newer, more efficient, and greener alternatives are widely available in order to insulate a building. Alex walks us through these alternatives: new types of batting (such as recycled denim), foam, and loose-fill (recycled paper cellulose). Alex talks to the providers of these alternatives to get the specifics on R factors, cost, durability and environmental impact. He also explores how insulation today can enhance air quality, seal the thermal envelope, and even add rigidity to a structure.

It's nice to see that a company provides visual representation on the subject.

this video is excellent and well executed.

Wind Generator by Bil Becker

Professor Bil Becker worked with Buckminster Fuller and has developed helical turbines which use centrifugal force to efficiently harness the power of the wind.

These compact turbines can be located on top of buildings, or attached to other parts of large structures like bridges.
Reasonably sized and modestly priced, the turbines may be used in urban locations. For many years, a fellow named Bil Becker has been hard at work developing his Aerotecture turbines. The turbines are elegant devices which incorporate both Savonius and Darrieus styles into one turbine.

There is no reason a city with its ample wind and sunshine, couldn’t generate all of its own power, helping people unplug from its addiction to nuclear power.

The advantages of these kinds of turbines are numerous. They are much more bird-friendly than typical bladed wind turbines. The bladed turbines become "invisible" to birds once they reach speeds of about 400 RPMs. At these speeds, the blades blur, and birds cannot see them. Becker's Aerotecture turbines are always visible, even at their highest speeds, which literally cannot exceed about 250 RPMs.

Solar cells facade of a Manchester skyscraper

The facade of this Manchester skyscraper (owned by CIS, an insurance company) was original covered with small mosaic tiles, but after only six months, they began to detach and fall.

A solution was needed, and a company called solarcentury came up with a clever idea replacing the failing tiles with solar cells. Not only do the solar cells provide a weatherproof barrier, they also generate about 390kW of power for the building. In total, 7,244 Sharp 80W modules are used to cover the entire service tower (but apparently only 4898 of these modules are "live" the others are "dummy modules" — strange). The building also has 24 wind turbines on the roof, which provide 10% of the total power used by the building. (from MetaEfficient.com)

There’s even a peregrine falcon nesting box up on top with a camera installed to keep an eye on the birds’ comings and goings – this isn’t just a normal office block, this tower could soon be an ecotourism hotspot!

ZERO ENERGY MEDIA WALL

GreenPix designed by Simone Giostra & Parners and the Arup engineering corporation is a groundbreaking project applying sustainable and digital media technology to the curtain wall of Xicui entertainment complex in Beijing, near the site of the 2008 Olympic Games. Featuring the largest color LED display worldwide and the first photovoltaic system integrated into a glass curtain wall in China, the building performs as a self-sufficient organic system, harvesting solar energy by day and using it to illuminate the screen after dark, mirroring a day’s climatic cycle

The wall’s low-resolution will emphasize the abstracted image of the work that will be shown. This spectacular screen which offers stunning projections will release no carbon into the atmosphere thanks to the sustainable technology, which corresponds directly with China’s political wish to appear ecological.

Schueco and SunWays, Giostra and Arup developed a new technology for laminating photovoltaic cells in a glass curtain wall and oversaw the production of the first glass solar panels by Chinese manufacturer SunTech.

The polycrystalline photovoltaic cells are laminated within the glass of the curtain wall and placed with changing density on the entire building’s skin. The density pattern increases building’s performance, allowing natural light when required by interior program, while reducing heat gain and transforming excessive solar radiation into energy for the media wall. This giant screen of 2,200 m² absorbs energy during the day and generates light from the power during the evening.

Bio Liberty: Energy is Freedom

sustainable development