Tag Archives: urban architecture

Seoul Biennale Showcases Opportunities for Coexisting With Nature for a Sustainable Future

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In a world grappling with rapid urbanization and its environmental consequences, the Seoul Architecture and Urbanism Biennale has emerged as a beacon of hope, inspiring architects and urban planners to envision a future where cities are green, sustainable, and in harmony with nature. This year, the fourth edition of the biennale takes center stage in South Korea, and at the heart of it lies an exhibition that pushes the boundaries of architectural imagination. Italian studio Migliore+Servetto, led by Ico Migliore, a professor at the Politecnico di Milano, has brought together a group of talented students to present their visionary projects in an exhibition titled “FUTURABILITY: Timeless Utopias for Seoul.”

Designer: Migliore+Servetto

Since its inception in 2017, the Seoul Architecture and Urbanism Biennale has been a platform for addressing the urban and architectural challenges stemming from the staggering growth of South Korea’s capital. The city’s rapid urbanization, while a testament to its dynamism, has also posed considerable challenges. The Biennale has consistently championed the cause of making Seoul a human-centered and eco-friendly city.

The Biennale is structured around five key sections: a Thematic Exhibition, a Cities Exhibition, On-site Projects, Global Studios, and educational programs. These sections provide a comprehensive framework for engaging experts, institutions, and citizens in shaping Seoul’s future. In its fourth edition, the biennale builds upon previous themes such as “Imminent Commons,” “Collective City,” and “Resilient City” by focusing on “Land Urbanism and Seoul.”

FUTURABILITY: Timeless Utopias for Seoul – A Glimpse into the Future

From September 1 to October 29, 2023, the exhibition “FUTURABILITY: Timeless Utopias for Seoul” showcases the results of the New Interiors 2 Laboratory Course, guided by Ico Migliore at Politecnico di Milano. This master’s degree course encouraged students to contemplate Seoul’s future, imagining the city as a green and sustainable utopia that reintegrates its urban fabric with nature.

The exhibition unveils ten futuristic design scenarios for “inhabited bridges” spanning Seoul’s iconic Han River. These projects were chosen from an international pool of 40 submissions, including entries from esteemed institutions like the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Pratt Institute in New York, Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and Aalto University in Helsinki. Out of these, two groundbreaking proposals have been selected for a detailed presentation, complete with drawings, renders, sketches, videos, and a 3D-printed model.

BACK TO NATURE – A Bridge to a Sustainable Future

The first winning proposal, aptly named “BACK TO NATURE,” is a collaborative effort by students Ala Zhyvulka, Alice Bazzucco, Giuseppe Addati, and Lorenzo Sardella. Their vision of the Han River bridge is a skeletal marvel, consisting of 13 dodecahedron-shaped modules joined using magnetic fields, allowing the bridge to float gracefully on the river’s surface. These modules serve as the stages of food production: Growing, Distribution and Consumption, and Upcycling.

What sets this proposal apart is its commitment to sustainability. The bridge not only provides a platform for food cultivation but also ensures that no resources go to waste. Any uneaten or discarded food is collected and recycled in a transparent sphere, promoting a circular economy.

The central core of the bridge is made from bio-based materials sourced from recycled food, providing a sustainable and porous foundation for the growth of nature. This unique blend of architecture and ecology is a testament to the harmony that can be achieved between humans, artificial intelligence, and the natural world.

THE BREATHING BRIDGE – A Living Organism

The second winning proposal, “THE BREATHING BRIDGE,” is the brainchild of students Wanqing Yue, Veronica Piunti, Wen Wen Liu, and Yue Zhao. This modular structure reimagines the bridge as a living being that not only connects people but also absorbs and transforms the energy of the city and its inhabitants.

Inspired by the natural breathing process, the bridge adapts to its environment over time. Its design mimics the contours of South Korea’s landscape, encouraging free body movement, recreational activities, and communal gatherings. Inside, galleries provide a serene space for relaxation and interaction, while the membrane covering the modules filters pollutants and harnesses solar energy, ensuring sustainability and environmental harmony.

Migliore+Servetto – Cultivating Cultural Seeds in Seoul

Beyond their involvement in the Seoul Biennale, Migliore+Servetto continues to make a significant impact on the South Korean architectural landscape. They have been invited to participate in the KIA Convention & Exhibition 2023, focusing on the evolution of urban architecture. Here, they explore the concept of “Cultural Seeds,” a concept they have been refining for years. Cultural Seeds represent cultural spaces within cities that activate urban fabric and promote long-term evolution.

Finally, Migliore+Servetto will take center stage at High Street Italy, a multifunctional space in South Korea promoting “Made in Italy” design. Their installation and remarkable performance, accompanied by participation in an international conference, underscore their commitment to fostering Italian-Korean synergies.

In a world where the future of our cities is increasingly uncertain, the Seoul Biennale 2023 and Migliore+Servetto’s visionary contributions remind us that the power of design and innovation can shape a more sustainable, harmonious, and beautiful urban future. As Seoul continues its journey towards becoming a green and sustainable utopia, these timeless utopias showcased at the biennale may become a reality, inspiring cities worldwide to follow suit.

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Stackable prefabricated modules are here to create futuristic LEGO-inspired buildings

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PolyBloc is a prefabricated, modular housing solution designed to confront the demands of rapid urbanization and globalized lifestyles.

As the ways we work and live evolve, so do the ways we confront architecture. In direct response to rapid urbanization and the fall of the nuclear family, city architecture, in particular, is seeing major changes. In collaboration with pioneering companies who share their goal of “reimagining today’s habitat,” Paris-based architecture studio Cutwork developed PolyBloc. Designed as a prefabricated building system that implements industrial production and modular construction, PolyBlock is a “means [of] confronting the rising housing crisis.”

Designer: Cutwork

Noting the world’s inevitable pull towards shared spaces and mobile lifestyles, the creatives behind PolyBloc set out with the aim of revolutionizing urban architecture. Initially conceived as PolyRoom, a prefabricated single-room, 21-square-meter (226-square-foot) unit defined by its flexibility and multi-use nature, PolyBloc marks the studio’s larger-scale progression.

Focusing on the reproduction value and modularity of PolyRoom, Cutwork went about developing PolyBloc as a means of “creating adaptive, flexible housing solutions in different contexts, from urban to rural.” Adaptive and flexible in its very purpose, each PolyRoom is outfitted with concealed, multi-use pieces of furniture that save and create space for growing needs.

Designed to be a centralized room without an established purpose, PolyRoom takes cues from Japanese design concepts like ‘washitsu’ and ‘tatami room,’ design modes that reconfigure spaces to accommodate residents’ needs. With this in mind, each module comes stocked with multifunctional furniture like disappearing beds, foldable storage cabinets, and telescopic rail systems that transition partitions and doors to create more floor space.

To further each module’s appeal to cohabitation and multi-usability, PolyRoom is outfitted with living roofs and facades that utilize automatic irrigation systems to embrace different cities’ unique biodiversity. Finding flexibility and multifunctionality in a modular building method, PolyBloc is composed of modules that stack together like LEGO building blocks.

The PolyRoom units from Cutwork essentially can be constructed in bulk and stacked together to form full-sized residential complexes in different cities much quicker than traditional building methods allow. Forward-thinking in their creative process and mission, Cutwork explains, “It’s not only about building objects and spaces; it’s about crafting the systems to build [objects and spaces]–systems to help solve the challenges ahead.”

The post Stackable prefabricated modules are here to create futuristic LEGO-inspired buildings first appeared on Yanko Design.

This self-sufficient architecture outfitted with smart technology provides a solution for our future cities!

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Ripple is a smart urban structure with integrated technology and self-sufficiency systems to offer a solution for the cities of tomorrow.

Taking place in Wuppertal, Germany, 2021’s Solar Decathalon Europe (SDE21) focuses on urbanization and the development of urban areas through technical and sustainable innovation. Contestant designs spanned ten categories, from social awareness to architecture. One student team from the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands, VIRTUe designed a self-sufficient housing model called Ripple.

Competing against 17 different teams, VIRTUe developed Ripple as one possible “[solution] for the cities of tomorrow,” 2021’s theme for SDE. The solutions produced for this year’s SDE range everywhere from renovations for pre-existing buildings in Wuppertal, standalone structures built to fill the gaps of urban fabrics, and building extensions that service to sustainably increase urban density.

Falling into the final category, Ripple is a self-sufficient apartment structure made from repurposed wood and outfitted with a solar roof that supplies power for the structure’s integrated smart technology. Modular by design, the solar roof can change orientations depending on the best angle to capture the most amount of sunlight. Designed with integrated walking space along the perimeter of the roof, the photovoltaic panels capture sunlight to create a microclimate that sustains a small collection of the region’s biodiversity.

Connecting two apartments together, a communal space functions as the structure’s stationary technical core. There, residents will find the living room and kitchen along with a digital interface that controls all of the structure’s integrated smart technology. While the technical stationary core works as the structure’s main hub, residents can configure the different room modules to fit their needs. In addition to its modular structure, Ripple saves space through furniture with built-in hidden storage compartments that free up the home’s available living space.

Elsewhere, the home’s self-sufficiency systems provide solar power for a hot water system, heat pump, ventilation mechanics, and the main smart home system EQUI. Ensuring the energy is aptly used and spread out throughout the day, EQUI uses weather forecast statistics to approximate how much energy needs to be stored for the system to operate soundly. Finally, an accompanying app Recapp connects similar smart homes with urban facilities via digital maps.

Designer: VIRTUe

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These wooden urban architecture sculptures in Venice are calling for climate action!

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Climate change has inspired a lot of designs and installations over recent years, but there is something poetically ironic about Issori’s ‘A Line of Water’  which was unveiled during Dutch Design Week 2021. It is a sculptural gesture and call to climate action designed to live in Venice, one of the cities that will face the wrath of rising sea levels faster than others. The wooden installation spreads awareness about the water levels while also giving the community a space to relax in – didn’t I say poetically ironic?

The series of wooden installations enable its inhabitants to be fully immersed in the city’s lagoon landscape. The urban architecture proposal includes benches, platforms, and pier-like extensions that would be partially immersed during high tide and fully accessible during low tide. The aim of the project is to foster more awareness of the shifting sea levels, which are increasing the frequency of high tides in the city. At the same time, Issori wanted to create a place to relax and be together. She describes it as an “urban living room”.

“The phenomenon of high and low tide is unique,” says Issori. “It is part of the everyday life of locals, as well as an attraction for tourists. Related to atmospheric events and climate change, the raising of the tide is more and more frequent not only in this area but also in other parts of the world. In the research, I wanted to explore a way to embrace the water and connect with nature, while taking the time to be fully immersed in the lagoon landscape.”

Building on the area’s historical blueprint, Issori imagines the contemporary interventions in the gardens of Sant’Elena in the Castello district. The district was an uninhabited lagoon until the 1920’s when the land was reclaimed and a new residential area was built. The series of platforms extend outward from the water’s edge as well as multiple circular designs with tiered seating for people to gather.

Issori imagines the platforms being made from oak and larch wood, the same materials used to create the piles on which Venice’s foundation is built. These types of wood are used because of their density, strength, and water resistance. “The construction system involved is the same one used to build Venice. The wooden poles are planted in the clayey soil where the oxygen is not present so that the deterioration process doesn’t take place. The part of the pole which is in contact with water will slowly be damaged and would need to be replaced with the passing of years,” she explains.

There are also several installations on land for people to interact with specifically during high tide, which include sloped platforms and a curved bench. ​​Italian squares and the rounded shape of Sicilian amphitheaters were reference points when opting for rounded forms, as well as a desire to make users feel protected. The circular shape is a kind of hug and invites people to sit together, share, walk on them or lay down – either way, you will be fully immersed in the landscape and closer to water.

Designer: Margherita Issori

The post These wooden urban architecture sculptures in Venice are calling for climate action! first appeared on Yanko Design.

This concrete bench collects rainwater for plants that are a part of the seating!

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Concrete jungle is not just something Alicia Keys sang once, cities are becoming more paved with every passing day leaving scarce patches of greenery. Having concrete structures everywhere is not appealing to the eye but at the same time makes it harder for cities to use rainwater because they don’t have surfaces to absorb it. This makes it harder for them to maintain natural public spaces and green starts turning to gray. To solve this problem, Barbara Standaert made the Waterbench – it is exactly what you think. The design combines a bench, a rainwater barrel, and a planter into one to restore some greenery into the urban landscape.

Rainwater is used in public spaces to create self-sufficient green. The permanent water supply always guarantees a dry seat, even in rainy weather, requires hardly any maintenance, and ensures a permanent green touch in the city.

The rainwater naturally seeps through the porous concrete cover and is collected in a water-tight concrete reservoir where the plants find their water and food. The water is naturally absorbed and transported to the plants by a nylon cord. The Waterbench Rainwater buffer + water reservoir for plants Cover made of permeable concrete Collection trough in architectonic concrete water reservoir: +/- 280 liters.

Length 250 cm, Width 174 cm, Height 45 cm Weight: +/- 1,300 kg for the collection tray, +/- 1,100 kg for the cover. It is available in grey, other shades possible upon request. Overflow, allowing water to escape if the tank is full. The element rests on rubber stands, allowing excess water to run off. Another advantage of the Waterbench is the option to ‘plant’ the bench with little prior effort, in line with the particular needs of the environment.

Starting with the design question “How can we restore natural processes and give back some green to our urbanized landscape?” – I started researching what is being done today to direct rainwater to nature. Porous rainwater pipes were one example. The material fascinated me. I brought it to the surface to show what it did to the audience. After this, the function to combine the material and water storage with greenery was quickly made. During my studies I made the prototype all by myself. I carved out the some mold by using my football shoes. I filled the mold in cooperation with a concrete manufacturer and transported the (way too heavy) concrete block in a rented van. One day before the jury, I still had to apply the porous top layer… After I graduated I found a manufacturer who is now producing the market suitable Waterbench.

Designer: Barbara Standaert

This wind-powered street light is peak sustainable technology for urban architecture!

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We are going through a climate crisis and a large part of it is due to energy consumption. As the population increases, more and more energy is consumed which leads to the planet getting warm faster. To help combat the problem, Berlin-based designer and student, Tobias Trübenbacher, created Papilio – a street light that is powered by wind and conserves energy thereby reducing CO2 emissions on a large scale if implemented.

Papilio was designed to combat light pollution and growing energy consumption that has a big impact on our planet. It is an insect-friendly street light that generates energy from wind. The climate-neutral energy generation becomes an aesthetic play at all times. It has an integrated Savonius wind rotor for which the wind direction is irrelevant so it can be installed anywhere. The street light has been designed with an insect-friendly light spectrum and gets automatically activated only when needed. Cities become more windy as we build them up higher and Papilio is a sustainable solution that will let us light up streets while reducing the impact on the environment!

“Would be nice if the excess energy can be given back to the grid. Imagine every light pole having this. It would create a ton of almost free energy.”

Designer: Tobias Trübenbacher

This air purifying bus stop reduces pollution, kills viruses & can be integrated with urban architecture!

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This design is basically a giant air purifier that meets a bus stop and BOOM, we have a chance at cleaner, greener cities. CAPS 2.0 is a smart bus shelter that filters polluted air, rids it of airborne allergens while killing viruses, bacteria, and fungi within seconds. Designed by Charis NG in collaboration with Sino Inno Lab and Arup, this city air purification system can be swiftly integrated into our new normal. It has been proven to reduce pollution exposure by half, remove 99.95% of PM0.1 airborne allergens, and kill viruses, bacteria, and fungi within seconds!

The first prototype was made in 2015 and then the second-generation system (patented) is now on a mission to protect the city folk with advanced spatial filtration and sanitization technologies. The improvement in air quality will have a direct impact on the health if the city’s residents while also encouraging more people to use public transport because of increased cleanliness around the entire experience. CAPS 2.0 is essentially a purifier that takes the form of a bus shelter so that it can draw in large quantities of surrounding polluted air to work with. It creates an air curtain from the underside of the canopy which shields the people while simultaneously generating air currents within that space to purify the air. The polluted air is internally purified thanks to its dual protection technology, Plascide air sanitizer, and multi-HEPA filters that all work together to removing harmful suspended particles and eliminates coronaviruses.

CAPS 2.0 is a smart city solution that aesthetically fits with urban architecture. It incorporates all the technological innovations in a modern and sleek design like multiple air purification and sanitization systems, real-time display panels, solar panels, and more while also serving as a bus shelter. CAPS 2.0 is a testament to how connecting like-minded partners, designers and developers can accelerate innovative solutions for real-life challenges!

Designer: Charis NG

This skyscraper concept uses genetically modified trees to grow into a living architectural structure

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The Living Skyscraper was chosen among 492 submissions that were received for the annual eVolo competition that has been running since 2006. One of the main goals of the project is to grow a living skyscraper on the principle of sustainable architecture. The ambitious architectural project has been envisioned for Manhattan and proposes using genetically modified trees to shape them into literal living skyscrapers.

The building will function as a green habitable space in the middle of the concrete metropolis. By analyzing the active process of urbanization and a decrease in the percentage of green spaces, the Living Skyscraper is looking to solve a number of environmental and urban issues. “We believe that by integrating genetically modified trees during the stage of their growth and development into architecture, we can restore the balance between the digitalized megacities and the Earth’s resources, which are gradually depleted,” says the Ukraine-based design team.

Think of it as a skyscraper tree, it is a separate living organism with its own root system, irrigation, maintenance mechanisms, and features focused on how it can be adapted in the traditional architecture-heavy city. The structure is formed with unique fast-growing and tall hardwood deciduous trees that are planted in groups in specially prepared soil. As these trees grow they also form a one-of-a-kind shape for the skyscraper while providing architectural volume.

The plant absorbs water and nutrients, which are distributed from root to tip. At the same time, the growth of the trunk circumference will gradually increase the strength of the wood structure and improve its self-supporting properties.

During development, the branches of nearby trees will be grafted at different levels and form a network structure – a kind of conjugation that will strengthen the structure and continue its growth. The branches of hybrid “trees of the future” will form the structure of a living skyscraper, form even, separate biomorphic structures, and feed on soil, water, and sun resources, forming an ecosystem that is essential for large agglomerations. As it grows, a living skyscraper can connect with nearby buildings and form green overhanging communications over a block. The functional purpose of skyscrapers can vary depending on the need. Our skyscraper in the center of New York City will serve as a lookout tower with its own flora and fauna, as well as ecological communication between office buildings with a green recreation center.

Living Skyscraper won first place in eVolo’s 2021 Skyscraper Competition.

Designers: Andrii Lesiuk, Mykhaylo Kohut, Sofiia Shkoliar, Kateryna Ivashchuk, Nazarii Duda, Mariia Shkolnyk, Oksana-Daryna Kytsiuk, and Andrii Honcharenko

The world’s first floating island city can help coastal communities survive climate change

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Coastal communities are one of the first to be impacted by the rising sea levels due to the ongoing climate crisis. A lot of architects are coming up with innovative solutions to protect the coastal communities and we might just see the first fully floating island city in the Maldives! The government officials of the island nation officially announced plans to build this ambitious yet sustainable urban project which could be a blueprint (or an experiment!) that could be replicated on a global scale.

According to NASA, Maldives is arguable the lowest-lying country with an average elevation of just 3.3 feet above sea level which means the island republic will soon have to rely on sustainable housing alternatives. The archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean has a total of 1190 islands and 1000 would be submerged at the current rate of sea-level rise. This project is called Maldives Floating City (MFC) and will be constructed just minutes away from Male which is the capital. The team comes from a Netherlands-based studio Dutch Docklands which happens to be a world-renowned leader in floating infrastructure. MFC’s shape will be series of honeycomb-like hexagonal maze rows inspired by the Brain

The system of floating rows is anchored to a ring of islands that form the base and also the stabilizing breaker wall for all the structures—the primary reason for placing MFC in an ideally suited small lagoon. More from the press release:

While MFC floats up top, island barriers around the lagoon will serve as breakers down below. This ingenious configuration lessens the impact of lagoon waves while stabilizing the structures and complexes on the surface.
The whole city is about three-quarters of a square mile, or 200 hectares, with low-slung residential buildings and commercial amenities built on separate structures. The designers say the MFC complex hearkens back to the history of seafaring culture and local architecture in the Maldives.

Thousands of homes will float on the hexagonal coral clusters, starting at $250,000 for about 1,000 square feet, plus a roof terrace. While that price point isn’t laughably low, it’s perfectly reasonable for the context of an island vacation wonderland.

It’s easy to imagine these units filling up as people’s winter homes, but hopefully, there will be some locals in the mix as well. In the press release touting MFC, the designers say their goal is to have local traditional fishing families live in the floating city. It’s not clear if the $250,000 price point is realistic for these families, or if there will be subsidized housing.

If the idea of a modular floating city makes you think of, say, Waterworld, you’re not alone. There are also traditional floating cities scattered around the world, and the Maldiveans are careful to say theirs is the first to combine the housing and other structures in this particular way, surrounded by a barrier lagoon and with an array of amenities.

The floating city will break, uh, sea in 2022. Eventually, the complex will include those thousands of homes, plenty of commercial space for stores and necessaries, and a hospital and school for locals to use. While the complex is anchored to the barrier islands, this will likely be a modular connection that can be extended as the sea level rises—perhaps even submerging the barrier islands in the future.

If MFC succeeds, the officials are likely right that it will be influential around the world. While inland territories have a lot more time to avoid the most literal effects of the rising sea level, the Maldives’ peer island nations like Nauru or Micronesia will have to act quickly to preserve their territories and cultures.

Designer: Dutch Docklands

A Green Oasis amidst Urban Chaos

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While technology certainly has changed the way we live our lives, progress has come at the cost of degrading environment.

It is no secret anymore that our fast paced lives are strongly correlated with depleted natural resources and reduction in the percentage of green cover. With that in mind, Netherlands-based artist ...
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