Tag Archives: environmental design

Eco-sustainable pods can be a workspace in the middle of nature

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Having an enclosed space in the middle of a forest may be a dream come true for some people. I wouldn’t want to live there of course but it would be a good place to get away every once in a while and breathe in nature, literally. And if the said space is eco-sustainable and made from sustainable materials, that is definitely a plus, or rather a requirement. If you could bring said space outside of the forest to the concrete jungle, then that would be an ideal product.

Designer: Giancarlo Zema Design Group

Originally, the SEED Room was created to be part of the Trees Breathing Experience, located in a forest of Paulownia trees. The trees are connected to IoT sensors so they can track how these trees, which trap 50 tons of CO2 every year, have impacted the real world. The sensors send the data to machine-learning algorithms, arranged as digital avatars in blockchain, and then displayed in the pods where people can stay in the forest.

The eco-sustainable pods are made from the Paulownia trees that surround it, which can absorb 10 times more CO2 than most other trees. It is also shaped like a seed, hence the name. It is 25 square meters and also has 25 square meters of solar panels so it is self-sustaining. Even the furnishings inside of the SEED Room is made from recycled cardboard from Origami Furniture. Each unit is 98% recyclable and has internal micro-ventilation and cooling systems. This means they are considered low-consumption residential habitats.

You can make the pod a living space or a workspace and can be recreated for other places, whether in the middle of nature just like the Trees Breathing Experience or in eco-resorts or even in spaces where there is no nature around. But for its original purpose, they used special sensors connected to trees and the movement will create original music. They also created aromatherapy that’s inspired by the trees’ flowers, leaves, and bark.

This is not just an eco-sustainable space that you can use but it’s part of a climate initiative that will show the ecological and economic value of plants like the Paulownia trees. Well, that is if you still need more evidence that having more trees is important.

The post Eco-sustainable pods can be a workspace in the middle of nature first appeared on Yanko Design.

A conceptual boat marries sustainability, design, and technology to spread an environmental message

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Now that a lot of people are traveling again, “revenge travel” is the name of the game. But do we really think about the carbon footprint that going to different places brings? While the aviation industry has been accused of producing a huge amount of carbon emissions, the bigger culprit is actually maritime transport. Not only does it account for more CO2 emissions than planes, it also has brought damage to the marine ecosystem and has contributed to ocean acidification.

A concept boat called the MS Porrima is aiming to share the technology and innovation that the shipping industry can adopt in order to have a more sustainable kind of transport. The boat is actually meant for environmental research and its main philosophy is to show how sustainable technology can be used to lessen carbon emissions and reduce carbon footprint significantly. The ship is expected to traverse five continents and make more than a dozen stops ever since it launched back in December 2021. It’s targeting to go back to Japan where it first set sail by 2025 just in time for the World Expo.

Designer: Gunter Pauli / Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia

Of course, since environmental research and education is its main goal, the ship itself uses several sustainable practices and technology. There is a miniature farm that cultivates spirulina algae and mushrooms which can be eaten by the crew and guests aboard the ship. They also use air bubble nets that separate the fish by weight and can help prevent overfishing. The reproductive females, noted by their weight due to the eggs, are thrown back into the ocean. The ship is also largely powered by solar panels and will also get a filter that will convert nano plastics from seawater into hydrogen fuel.

But aside from these sustainable features, the ship’s design is also created to help in “promoting Porrima’s environmental message”. Since the ship itself is not as huge compared to others (it’s 118-foot long and 79-foot wide), they are also working with limited storage space. The VIP suite and the main hall draw inspiration from Russian matryoshka dolls, Japanese origami, and Swiss Army knives. This means their storage fit inside one another like the famous dolls and they have tables, seats, and shelves that can fold into walls like origami. The main hall is actually convertible into various functional rooms: classroom, library, exhibition space, and even dining room.

The ship will also be displaying various artworks including those of painter and theorist Michelangelo Pistolleto. He is the proponent of the idea of the “Third Paradise” which finds the balance between nature and technology. The Porrima’s journey will be all about educating the public, academics, industry leaders, and more importantly, students, about how the two can work together and the ship is a prime example of that.

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Sustainable modular acoustic panels are made from a unique blend of up-cycled textile and mycelium

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Foresta System is a modular acoustic panel design made from a unique blend of fungal mycelium and upcycled textile material.

Mycelium is like nature’s hidden superpower. Mushrooms can be used for anything from cooking, health and wellness, and even construction. Packed with industrial-level strength, mycelium is a natural fungi material that has recently been used as building materials for various construction projects.

Designer: Mogu

From home building to furnishing needs, mycelium provides an organic, yet durable construction material. Now used to create interior acoustic panels, the Foresta System designed by Italy-based Mogu takes a unique blend of mycelium and upcycled textile materials to create modular acoustic panels.

Constructed from a mix of mycelium panels, wood branches, and nodes, the timber frame that supports the different parts of Foresta can be mechanically fixed to the wall or vertical surface. Each node also carries integrated magnets that allow the acoustic panels to be mounted on the timber frame, allowing for easy removal and assembly.

The first of its kind to integrate mycelium into its build, Foresta has been granted the winning prize of the 2022 German Design Awards for its eco-conscious and innovative design. 100% circular by design, none of Mogu Acoustic products are made with synthetic material, nodding towards the company’s “extremely virtuous manufacturing cycle,” as the German Design jury suggests.

Made entirely from fungal mycelium and upcycled textile materials, Foresta is a collection of modular acoustic panels used to minimize the acoustic levels of noisy spaces like restaurants, offices, and retail businesses. Using the latest technologies in wood processing such as product parametric modeling, robotized production lines, and advanced manufacturing, Mogu was able to combine the refined aesthetics of wooden design with the cutting-edge nature of fungal mycelium to produce a truly innovative product.

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These floating bamboo bungalows make up an eco-tourist hotel that pays homage to the local turtles!

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Turtle Bay is an eco-tourist destination in Thailand’s Hua Hin on Khao Tao Reservoir that combines sustainable design with local building material to home in on the hotel’s commitment to preserving the ecosystem that surrounds it.

Hua Hin, a popular seaside town in Thailand, is no stranger to turtles. In Thai folklore, turtles are known for bringing good fortune and prosperity, positioning the animal and lucky icon as a generous source of inspiration for designers and architects alike.

Welding the good fortune of turtles with the lush landscape of coastal Thai towns, architect Sarawoot Jansaeng-Aram from Dersyn Studio Co., Ltd. designed and constructed Turtle Bay, an eco-tourist destination that floats atop the lotus-covered Khao Tao Reservoir.

Taking up almost an acre’s worth of land, Turtle Bay is comprised of five floating bungalows that connect to one another via wooden walking ways. In Thai, Khao translates to ‘mountain,’ and Tao translates to ‘turtle.’ Finding inspiration in the reservoir’s namesake, Jansaeng-Aram designed each bungalow to appear like oversized bamboo turtles.

Leaning into the shingle-like shell of turtles, Jansaeng-Aram topped each bungalow with shingled roofs to bring out the stone and gravel chipped texture. Moving from the roof to the bungalow’s facade, Jansaeng-Aram turned to locally sourced bamboo building material for its flexibility and easy assembly process that doesn’t require heavy machinery.

The interior of Turtle Bay bungalows finds temperate conditions from a local building secret. “Poon Tum” is a locally sourced and sustainable building method trusted for its ability to maintain a moderate interior temperature. Found in the construction of ancient temples around Thailand, “Poon Tum” provides ample ventilation and long-lasting durability.

Speaking on the creative direction behind the chosen building materials, Jansaeng-Aram notes, “These ways of designing offer sustainable architectural design aspect like natural ventilation, called “Stack Effect” and extending the roof to create sun shading. Solar cell equipment [is] also used on some [roofs] where possible. The electric power generated from natural light during the daytime will be used to light up the electric-bulb during the night-time.”

Designer: Sarawoot Jansaeng-Aram from Dersyn Studio Co., Ltd.

The post These floating bamboo bungalows make up an eco-tourist hotel that pays homage to the local turtles! first appeared on Yanko Design.

The world’s first hydrogen cargo bike is the future of transportation as it runs without batteries!

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The LAVO bike from StudioMOM is the world’s first hydrogen bike, requiring no heavy batteries, particulates, or CO2 emissions for operation.

Nowadays, it seems bikes are the preferred mode of transportation in crowded cities. Traffic is no joke and public transportation has seen some major changes since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, so people are hitting the streets with shiny electric and portable bicycles. While bikes are generally more environmentally friendly than cars and trucks, they come with their own list of setbacks. Becoming the world’s first hydrogen bike, the LAVO bike from StudioMOM is a small solution to a big problem.

Requiring no heavy batteries, particulates, or CO2 emissions, the LAVO bike was designed to bring us, as StudioMOM puts it, “one step closer to an emission-free society.” Acquiring hydrogen from water and solar energy, the LAVO bike is outfitted with small hydrogen tanks that power up the bike for operation.

LAVO’s proprietary energy storage system converts electricity from solar panels using an electrolyzer that divides water into its hydrogen and oxygen components, relocating them to a long-term storage system that contains a metal alloy to produce hydrogen.

Only requiring around ten minutes for charging, the LAVO bike runs for a range of about 150km before recharging. Constructed using lightweight material, the LAVO bike keeps a cargo build to cater to the basic weight that comes with a hydrogen-based system.

Describing the choice to make LAVO a cargo bike, StudioMOM notes, “Long-range cargo solutions, in particular, require a lot of energy. Then an extra hydrogen tank of 1.2 kg is surely preferable to an extra battery that weighs 6 kg.” From its modular assembly system to its ergonomic build, the LAVO bike was designed as less of a traditional cargo bike and more of an innovative mode of transport–LAVO was designed for change.

Designer: StudioMOM

This 40sqm sustainable tiny home built using repurposed materials features a 30-degree solar-paneled roof!

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Built with an angled roof, the galvanized clad tiny home accommodates travelers near and far who want to get closer to rural Australia.

The tourism industry has seen some major changes in sustainability in recent years. Hospitality companies like Airbnb and homeowners alike work together to progress tourism into an industry that doesn’t disrupt pre-existing landscapes and cultures but embraces them. Gawthorne’s Hut in New South Wales, a tiny home in Australia available on Airbnb, is one example of sustainable hospitality. Designed by architect Cameron Anderson, the two-person, off-grid tiny home was built to engage with the history and context of the farmland on which it’s located.

Gawthorne’s Hut is stationed on an expansive plot of Wilgowrah’s farmland, right beside a small, quaint pond. The tiny home was born out of Wilgowrah’s desire to introduce the possibilities of alternative income sources for farmworkers. Designed in a similar form to other farmland structures like hay sheds and outbuildings, Gawthorne’s Hut’s 30-degree roof hosts an array of north-facing solar panels to provide the farmhouse with internal and external power.

Since the project aimed to create a sustainable, off-grid tiny home, Anderson needed to get the solar panels’ orientations facing a direction where the greatest output could be stored for use. The solar panel roof angles at 30-degree and faces the north to acquire the most solar output. With the solar panels facing the farm’s north side, double glazed timber windows and doors direct the views to the farm’s south end and offer natural ventilation on hot days as well as insulation for the colder nights.

Architect Cameron Anderson took to the farm’s preexisting and surrounding material to curate the array of building material for Gawthorne’s Hut. In addition to the solar panels, the home keeps a 6.6-kilowatt off-grid solar system containing 12 kilowatts of battery storage behind a large opening panel that remains hidden from view when closed. Rainwater storage systems also collect 40,000 liters worth of rainwater, 20,000 of which are allotted for firefighting.

Leaning on sustainable energy practices like the use of solar panels, passive solar shading, and even the thermal mass that comes from the floor’s polished concrete slabs, each work together to position Gawthorne’s Hut as an eco-friendly tourist destination with views of Australia you can’t get anywhere else.

Inside, rich and textured timber panels stretch over the walls and ceilings, giving Gawthorne’s Hut a cozy, nesting atmosphere. Gawthorne’s Hut’s micro floor plan of 40m2 feels larger than its measurements thanks to an open floor plan that extends throughout the home, with the one exception being the WC. Throughout the tiny home’s interior, repurposed bricks and rich timber panels line the walls, ceiling, and furnishings. The king-sized bed’s head post, for example, was handcrafted from recycled brick leftover from the lot’s previous building.

Stationed beside a small pond, the tiny home is as quaint as it gets. Repurposed brick from previous farm structures divide the different spaces inside Gawthorne’s Hut – the bed’s headboard doubles as a wall for the basin. Simple, unique, and cozy – this tiny home grows beyond its tiny design.

Designer: Wilgowrah, Cameron Anderson, & Callander Constructions

The design of Gawthorne’s Hut is meant to be intuitive, so the kitchen was kept small and filled with only the essentials.

A wood-burning fireplace welcomes guests into the tiny home and immediately fills the home with a cozy ambiance.

The toilet room is the only section inside of Gawthorne’s Hut that incorporates a door and dividing wall.

Polished concrete slabs line the floor and walls of the shower and bath areas.

The solar-paneled roof provides the home with enough energy to power up the minimal appliances needed to enjoy a stay in NSW’s back country.

Hidden away inside the home’s exterior side-opening panel, a solar system and battery pack insure the home with stored power.

The king-sized bed is located closer to the tiny home’s vertex to enhance an already intimate sleeping experience.

Sustainable design in architecture award-winning primary school will be Denmark’s first Ecolabel School this 2022!

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Renowned architecture firm Henning Larsen has commenced construction on their landmark primary school project in Sundby, Copenhagen. Contributing to the country’s agenda for sustainable educational facility architecture, the New School in Sundby ensures high sustainability parameters as well as integration with the school’s surrounding, local community. Opening its doors to 580 new students by the end of summer 2022, the New School is nature-oriented and built to merge the classroom with the environment.

Henning Larsen is an architecture firm driven to create structures that double as agents for sustainable change, first looking at what their designs can do for people and local communities. Built with the same driving ambition, their New School in Sundby supports and achieves the UN’s Sustainable Development goals from the ground up through sustainable structural design and the promise to enact a curriculum that coincides with the UN’s environmental efforts. In order to incorporate nature into the school’s curriculum, architects envisioned the surrounding environment as alternative classrooms by literally merging the school with the ground below it.

Located miles away from the burgeoning city centers of Copenhagen, The New School nestles itself in the winding hills of Denmark’s countryside. The New School in Sundby features a living roof that slopes into the grassland below it, ascending into a semi-circle that positions itself just above the ground below. Geometric windows and modules give the New School a progressive whimsy that balances the practical and unadorned integration of the natural environment. Rewarding architectural strides in sustainability factors, like low-greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and waste, as well as health factors like ventilation, natural light, noise, and chemical exposure, the New School in Sundby will be Denmark’s first primary school to be awarded the Nordic Ecolabel.

Designer: Henning Larsen

The New School in Sundby follows a circular structure, forming a semi-circle upon completion.

Henning Larsen architecture firm has broken down on new sustainable primary school in Denmark.

Geometric windows and facades line the interior facade of the New School in Sundby.

Inside, natural wood and concrete finishes give rise to multiple levels.

Henning Larsen team.

This sustainable office building uses passive energy practices and promotes biodiversity with their green roof!

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CABI is an international nonprofit committed to solving problems related to agriculture and the environment through fact-based scientific expertise, improving the lives of people across the globe– those who work for CABI needed an office that reflected their mission. Taking on the project, Scott Brownrigg designed a sustainable headquarters based in the UK that features a rolling green roof and encourages biodiversity through highly energy-efficient building practices.

CABI’s new headquarters in Wallingford hones in on passive sustainability as its main focus. The building’s location and orientation were specifically chosen to minimize solar gains, allowing for shade in the warmer months and plenty of sunshine during the colder months. To achieve natural air ventilation, the building dons a perforated facade, allowing cool air to flow throughout the interior day and night, and then heat recovery ventilation pre-warms fresh air during the winter months. While this means for maintaining natural airflow is energy-efficient and passively sustainable, it also works to keep office workers comfortable in the age of COVID-19, allowing for fresh air to enter the building throughout the day. While all the energy-efficient practices take place inside the building, CABI headquarters’s exterior promotes biodiversity through a living roof, attracting insects and birds to its sprawling green hills.

Scott Brownrigg firm director Ed Hayden describes a sort of symbiotic relationship between the building and its occupants that was achieved through, “A traffic light system [which] alerts users when the building gets too hot or doesn’t have enough fresh air. It will prompt occupants to open their windows and increase the levels of fresh air in the building.” CABI has come a long way since its conception in 1910, hosting close to 180 members inside its new, sustainable headquarters.

Designer: Scott Brownrigg

From the outside, CABI’s new headquarters appear as two rolling hills.

CABI HQ is filled out with floor-to-ceiling windows that dissolve the barrier between the outside and inside, bringing its occupants even closer to the environment.

Inside, office workers enjoy natural air ventilation through the building’s perforated facades.

Scott Brownrigg designed CABI’s new headquarters to merge seamlessly with its surrounding environment.

Situated in the middle of a manicured lawn, CABI’s location was specifically chosen to minimize solar gains.

A perforated facade allows fresh air to flow into the building throughout the day.

A traffic light system was put in place to indicate when the office could use some fresh air, signaling workers to open their windows.

Constructed like LEGO, these modular shoes are made entirely from compostable materials!

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You either already own a lot of shoes or you regularly buy a lot of new pairs of shoes. I fall in the latter category. I probably hold onto my shoes longer than recommended, maybe purchasing a new casual pair of shoes to wear every day, every year and a half. In the United States alone, around 300 million pairs of shoes are thrown away each year and end up in landfills where they take up to 40 years to decompose. That means by the time I turn 64, my pair of Adidas sneakers will finally be broken down. Noticing the environmental impact that shoe waste has on the earth, Laura Muth created ‘Shoes with an Expiration Date,’ a prototype of modular sneakers made entirely from compostable material.

Generally, fast-fashion uses carbon-intensive, nonrenewable resources like petrochemical textiles to construct items like shoes, making the industry one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in circulation today. While Muth’s ‘Shoes with an Expiration Date’ prototype is not market-ready and still in the mock-up phase, the designer aims to create a pair of shoes whose expiration date is far shorter than that of the shoes made from nonrenewable resources like plastic currently on the market. Ditching toxic glue for an isolable, modular structure, the individual parts of ‘Shoes with an Expiration Date’ are tied together with a compostable shoestring.

‘Shoes with an Expiration Date’ are handmade by Laura Muth from locally sourced, compostable materials. The sole of the shoe is molded with comfort and support in mind from latex extract derived from dandelion root, straw, sawdust, and natural dyes. The string and side support that holds the shoe together are made from cellulose felt and woven hemp. As the shoes are currently constructed, the bottom sole is soft and supportive but does not seem as long-lasting and heavy-duty as the plastic ones currently available on the market. As ‘Shoes with an Expiration Date’ is still in the prototype phase, rest assured that fine-tuning in shape, structure, and support is on the way.

Designer: Laura Muth

The shoestrings are made from woven hemp, while the frame is made from cellulose felt, and the shoe’s sole from dandelion root extract.

Coming in three different parts, the prototype is isolable.

Constructed using a building blocks method, the sole’s imprint leaves a layer for the cellulose felt support to rest atop.

During initial mock-up phases, Muth aimed to reduce the shoe to its essential elements.

Muth used an old sneaker and plastering to form the shape of the prototype’s sole.

With future development, Muth hopes to bridge sustainability with aesthetics and support.

Inspired by the building method of LEGOS, Muth designed isolable, modular shoes constructed from compostable materials.

Shenzhen’s Maritime Museum is a hub of educational experiences that resemble a cluster of glass icebergs!

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Oh, how I miss museums – those architectural hubs of knowledge that take you through decades-long history lessons, bring you up close to works of art, and introduce you to hidden parts of the world, all in a matter of a couple of hours. Some cities still have the doors of their museums locked to the general public due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but designers are still drawing up plans for the museums of tomorrow. OPEN Architecture recently revealed the visual concept that made them finalists in the International Architecture Design Competition for the Shenzhen Maritime Museum.

OPEN Architecture’s competition entry showcases six glass structures shaped to resemble icebergs stationed in Shenzhen Bay, which house curatorial rooms including the lobby, theater, library, and children’s education wing. Considering today’s global climate crisis, the designers behind the plan for the future Shenzhen Maritime Museum hope to bridge the urgency of climate change with an accessible means of learning more about it. The familiar sight of icebergs will bring the faraway, harsh reality face-to-face with residents of China, igniting awareness of the global rise in sea-levels and oceanic temperatures.

To make the space for the cluster of iceberg-shaped glass structures, OPEN Architecture plans to form a sea dike between two layers of seawalls positioned at different heights, implementing a protective barrier of mangrove wetlands behind it, to also function as a reserve for migrating birds and habitat for marine life. The water surrounding the iceberg structure rises to the horizon, in the style of an infinity pool, to help minimize the impact of seasonal typhoons while also helping to maintain the building’s overall heat load and indoor temperatures.

The Shenzhen Maritime Museum International Architecture Design Competition indicates the beginning of a larger design project, making the Maritime Museum the first of Shenzhen’s ‘ten new major cultural facilities’ currently in the works. The final chosen design will stand as a prominent landmark amidst Shenzhen’s developing coastal region, which aspires to one day become the city’s global maritime center.

Designer: OPEN Architecture

The design’s main event takes place as one of the five ‘icebergs’ drift away into Shenzhen Bay as guests watch an educational video in the iceberg’s theater.

Five icebergs stay stationed in place behind the Maritime Museum’s main iceberg, where events and viewings will be held.

Connecting each individual iceberg are dry pathways for guests to walk through with the waters of Shenzhen Bay surrounding them.

At night, the icebergs light up with brilliant white light to resemble icebergs found in the world’s Arctic region.

Inside each iceberg, guests will find the traditional museum layout familiar and educational.

With mangrove wetlands working as a protective barrier for the museum, they will also provide plenty of space and protection for the area’s natural marine life and bird populations.