aitoa arkkitehtuuria

Entries categorized as ‘architecture’

Self-sustaining communities in China

November 13, 2009 · 1 Comment

Micro-communities

hakka-houses-5

War and conflict often bring about the destruction of architecture, however these forces can also result in new constructions that define a cultural identity and place.Stressed by China’s growing population, the Hakkapeople have been confronted with armed warfare for local resources since the 17th century. To remedy their situation the Hakka began building massive structures that could not only stave off intruders, but would also form amazing self-sustaining micro-communities complete with food storage, space for livestock, living quarters, temples, armories and more.

hakka-houses-12 hakka-houses-2

hakka-houses-1 hakka-houses-4

hakka-house-11 hakka-houses-6

more>www.inhabitat.com

Categories: architecture · autonomy · city · economy · energy · future · generative systems · guerilla action · health · housing · innovation · real estate · society · trends · urban planning
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Generate – fron algorithm to structure

October 27, 2009 · 1 Comment

Interesting seminar coming up in Oulu

generate generate-pic

…Scripts are made out of series of written commands which can be programmed to solve complex geometric problems. Scripts can also be used to generate new, unexpected outcomes as they have the ability to evaluate, process and build on the given commands…

Generate seminar on the 30th of October 2009 in Oulu, Finland.

Seminar website> www.generate.fi

Categories: architecture · art · biomimicry · design · digital · engineering · future · generative systems · innovation · technology · work
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New windturbine to the neighbours´liking

October 27, 2009 · 1 Comment

Windturbine that silences NIMBYs

wind ridgeblade

Rooftop solar panels are unlikely to elicit complaints from neighbors–they’re silent and relatively unobtrusive. But loud rooftop wind turbines? That’s where the virtually NIMBY-proof Ridgeblade turbine comes in. The turbine, designed by a former Rolls Royce turbine engineer at UK-based The Power Collective, boasts a sleek profile that is both powerful and visually pleasing.

continue> inhabitat.com

Categories: architecture · autonomy · business · city · development · economy · energy · engineering · environment · future · housing · innovation · real estate · technology · urban planning
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Helsinki the Design Capital 2012

July 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Helsinki and Eindhoven competing for becoming Design Capital 2012

UPDATE 25.11.2009> Helsinki will be the Design Capital 2012!

Two cities, Helsinki inFinland and Eindhoven in The Netherlands are competing about the prestigeous title of Design Capital 2012. The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design will choose the winner in November. The judges will visit the two cities in August.

If Helsinki is chosen there will be big opening and closing events and several festivals and happenings organised around Design and Architecture in the city during the two-year capitalship.

Will the establishment of Iittala, Marimekko, Fiskars, Aalto, Artek, Helsinki art nouveau- and modern architecture, and designers like Ilka Suppanen, Harri Koskinen, Valvomo bring the price home, or do the judges look for new design ideas of  non-commercialism, ecology, ethics and mysticism like Hel Looks, Globe HopeHollmen-Reuter-Sandman Architects, Marcus Copper, or -since the almost total death of free graffiti culture in the city-, the risign culture of guerilla gardening in Helsinki?

Marimekko

Marimekko

Alvar Aalto

Alvar Aalto

Jugend Architecture Helsinki

art nouveau architecture

Snowcrash Globlow lamp

Snowcrash Globlow lamp

Hel Looks: Colin (33)

Hel Looks: Colin (33)

Hollmen Reuter Sandman

Hollmen Reuter Sandman

Archangel of the seven seas - Marcus Copper

Archangel of the seven seas - Marcus Copper

Guerilla Gardening

Guerilla Gardening

Categories: Helsinki · architecture · art · blingbling · business · city · culture · design · development · economy · future · innovation · society · work
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Urban pattern

July 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Complex City

Urban pattern as inspiration for textile design

Urban pattern as inspiration for textile design

ComplexCity is an exploration to find a concealed aesthetic by using the pattern formed by the city’s roads, which have been growing and evolving randomly through time, thus composing the complex configuration we experience today.The project started in Seoul, Korea, where designer Lee Jang Sub was born and has grown up. Now it is expanding to other cities all over the world. Lee Jang Sub now lives in Barcelona, Spain, and explains: “I perceive the city’s patterns as living creatures that I recompose to form an urban image.”

Rome and Paris

Rome and Paris

The ComplexCity design concept is screen-printed on different materials, such as wood, textil, or paper, each giving the design a different feel. For the final product, the screen-printing effects of the design are implemented on one of the materials listed above.

The artist Lee Jang Sub

The artist Lee Jang Sub

More> Complex City by Lee Jang Sub

From> www.dailytonic.com

http://www.gdcomplexcity.com/

Categories: architecture · art · city · culture · design · generative systems · urban planning
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Barn architecture two

February 12, 2009 · 6 Comments

Dairy barn transformed

With a love for spaces in decay reused and delicately transformed, we like the plan for the old dairy barn transformed into a home by architect Charlotte Scene Cataling from Skene Catling de la Peña Architects .

dairyfarm1

dairyfarm

3952_shouse

dairyfarmslats_rev3

3944_diaryhouse_image

More> www.egodesign.ca

Categories: architecture · design · housing · real estate · sensory architecture
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Rolling hills of housing

January 19, 2009 · 6 Comments

Green building in Gothenburg, Sweden

Kjellgren Kaminsky Architects New Heden project transforms a vacant city block is a self-contained sustainable city interspersed with cycling paths and walkways. Envisioned as a “green lung” for Gothenburg, Sweden, the development will introduce a beautiful expanse of fresh green space to an area currently consumed by parking lots and football fields.

LINK> Inhabitat

Kjellgren Kaminsky Architects

Categories: architecture · city · design · development · energy · engineering · environment · future · health · housing · innovation · nature · real estate · sensory architecture · society · technology
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Cement that eats CO2

January 1, 2009 · 2 Comments

Revealed: The cement that eats carbon dioxide

Tuomo Siitonen Architects plan for apartments in downtown Helsinki

Tuomo Siitonen Architects´ plan for apartments in downtown Helsinki

Cement accounts for 5% of the world’s CO2 emissions – more than aviation. Now British engineers have discovered a new form of cement that instead reduces CO2 emissions. Cement is the key ingredient in concrete. In Finland, concrete is the most common material for building bearing structures of high-rise apartment houses.  Scientists predict, that worldwide, the demand for cement will grow by 50% in the years to come.

Cement, a vast source of planet-warming carbon dioxide, could be transformed into a means of stripping the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, thanks to an innovation from British engineers.

Making traditional cement results in greenhouse gas emissions from two sources: it requires intense heat, and so a lot of energy to heat up the ovens that cook the raw material, such as limestone. That then releases further CO2 as it burns. But, until now, noone has found a large-scale way to tackle this fundamental problem.

The new cement, based on magnesium silicates, not only requires much less heating, it also absorbs large amounts of CO2 as it hardens, making it carbon negative. Set up by chief scientist at Novacem, Nikolaos Vlasopoulos and his colleagues at Imperial College London, the innovation has already attracted the attention of major construction companies and investors.

VIA > The Guardian

Categories: architecture · business · development · economy · energy · engineering · environment · future · housing · innovation · technology
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How would a butterfly inspire your next design?

November 28, 2008 · 2 Comments

Biomimicry

Butterflies exhibit vibrant colors and stay clean using nano-scale structures on their wings. Designers and engineers have emulated this strategy to create self-cleaning coatings, fabrics and paints, and electronic display screens.

What is Biomimicry?

Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a design discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf.  The core idea is that Nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with: energy, food production, climate control, non-toxic chemistry, transportation, packaging, and a whole lot more.

Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have found what works, what is appropriate, and most importantly, what lasts here on Earth. Instead of harvesting organisms, or domesticating them to accomplish a function for us, biomimicry differs from other “bio-approaches” by consulting organisms and ecosystems and applying the underlying design principles to our innovations. This approach introduces an entirely new realm for entrepreneurship that can contribute not only innovative designs and solutions to our problems but also to awakening people to the importance of conserving the biodiversity on Earth that has so much yet to teach us.

> Ask Nature

> Morphotex

Categories: architecture · business · design · development · economy · environment · future · generative systems · innovation · nature · technology · work
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Finnish architecture in Latvia

November 7, 2008 · 1 Comment

JKMM -Art Nouveau now

jkmm-riga

The Finnish architecture office “JKMM” is planning an apartment building for Riga, Latvia. The project is a result of an international architecture competition for the building, that will be located in the famous art nuveau-district in Riga. The building could be categorized as nouveau art nouveau, new-jugend – still keeping it very contemporary.

Link> The project /JKMM

jkmm-riga-julkkari1

Categories: architecture · housing
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