The post Tokyo Urban Farm: Eat While Watching Your Food Grow first appeared on Dornob.

Commissioned by artisan café brand Colicci, architecture firm Mizzi Studio took inspiration from the verdant foliage of the Royal Parks, giving the kiosks a vaguely tree-like structure complete with curves and canopies.

This mimicry and appreciation of local environment are a common strategy for the studio. “We call our work ‘bio-architecture,’ said company founder Jonathan Mizzi in an interview with Architizer. This approach “characterize[s] our studio ethos, a philosophy that rests on bringing humans and nature closer together through thoughtful and innovative design solutions.”

“The architecture and design industry has seen a massive shift in practice towards trends that favor a nature-led approach,” he added. “Mizzi Studio has been focused on this philosophy since day one of our foundation. Our architecture holds the natural world as its greatest teacher and inspiration — this ethos is central to The Royal Parks project.”

The team started by spending months exploring the heritage of each park. After channeling “all of that research into a design strategy…driven by nature and the variety of tactile experiences it offers” (the firm’s own words), Mizzi Studio invented a fleet of kiosks, each “unique, tailored to the history, nuances, and demographics of its respective site within the parks.”

While each kiosk has a slightly different 360-degree organic profile and volume, they all share a tree-based sculptural outline, and an instantly recognizable silhouette from far away.

Set conspicuously at the entrances to Hyde Park, Green Park, and St. James’s Park, eight of the nine kiosks are covered in “steam-bent” wooden English oak timber, a sustainably sourced material, in addition to the stainless steel and copper used in the frames.

The ninth iteration — the flagship Horse Shoe Bend kiosk in St. James’s Park — got the royal treatment as it sits at the base of Buckingham Palace. While the shape follows the patterns of its siblings, this “kiosk is clad in tubular brass, mirroring the ornate precious metals of the nearby Sir Thomas Brock’s Queen Victoria Memorial,” Mizzi explains.

Each kiosk was constructed with the lowest impact to the environment in mind. Modular in design, all are freestanding and able to be transported in just two truckloads, cutting down on carbon emissions.

The timing of the kiosk project — on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic — made it especially impactful for visitors. “Aside from the spectacular landscape of the Parks, which directly influenced the design of the kiosks — our hope was that the fleet would stand as a new architectural structure and symbol of collective respite,” Mizzi says. “We believe in the power of public space to bring people together and restore them both physically and emotionally. The aftermath of the pandemic became the context for the completion of the Royal Parks fleet, and therefore we saw this as a moment where architecture could help restore mental well-being, bring people together, and offer surveillance and support at a time when the city’s inhabitants felt most vulnerable.”

The post London’s Royal Parks Kiosks Get Sustainable “Bio-Architecture” Update first appeared on Dornob.

The half-billion dollar yacht, designed to be the largest in the world at 417 feet, would have been too tall to clear the Koningshaven Bridge in the port city of Rotterdam on its way out to the ocean. Locally know as “De Hef,” meaning “the lift,” the bridge’s central span would need to be removed. That process would take about a day of work, according to city officials, and about a day to replace the section.

Once word spread to Dutch locals of the possible bridge dismantling, protestors took to social media to oppose the move. Some even advocated egging the boat to voice their disapproval.

“Calling all Rotterdammers: take a box of rotten eggs with you, and let’s throw them en masse at Jeff’s superyacht when it sails through the Hef in Rotterdam,” wrote event organizer Pablo Strörmann on Facebook.

Although the city council had initially okayed dissembling the top section of the bridge, they quickly backtracked after massive public outcry.

The 95-year-old De Hef was the first vertical lift bridge in the Netherlands (and all of Western Europe) when it was completed in 1927. Originally built as a connecting line for the Breda-Rotterdam Railway, it was the first structure to be rebuilt after the bombing of the seaside town during World War II. De Hef faced demolition in 1993 when the railway discontinued its use, but the bridge was already a major landmark in the area by that point, and protests resulted in the structure winning national protection as a Rijksmonument.

It’s no surprise that Rotterdam residents got their feathers ruffled at the mention of dismantling it for the sake a multi-billionaire’s new toy. In the wake of angry complaints, Oceano, the company building the superyacht, announced that it would no longer be applying for a permit to temporarily change De Hef.

“We’re happy it’s not happening,” said Marvin Biljoen, a city councilman for GroenLinks, the Dutch Green Party. “The bridge is a national monument, which shouldn’t be altered too much. That you could still do that with money anyway bothers us.”

But others feel like it is an opportunity wasted. Oceano and Bezos would have completely paid for the disassembly and repair of the bridge, and it would have been all over within two days.

“I talk to a lot of residents of Rotterdam,” said Dieke van Groningen, a Rotterdam councilwoman for VVD, the Dutch Liberal Party. “They’re incredibly proud that these kinds of ships sail through our city.”

Today, Rotterdam is the largest port in all of Europe and remains a major center of global shipbuilding.

“This is the Netherlands at its best,” Ms. van Groningen adds. “It’s about the image of the port, and you should be proud of that.”

Taking cover in the dark of night in early August, the still unfinished Bezos superyacht was towed out of the harbor to the friendlier dock of Greenport in Rotterdam, where it hopes to escape any lingering egg threats.

The post Jeff Bezos’ Unfinished Superyacht Slinks Away After Dutch Residents Won’t Let Him Dismantle Their Historic Bridge first appeared on Dornob.

Located on the border of Cypress Park and Glassell Park just north of downtown Los Angeles, the historic former rail yard was identified as an ideal opportunity for both river restoration and new public green space. It’s the largest undeveloped parcel on the river and also happens to be a strategic location where the riverbank could be naturalized, even with the rest of the concrete channel remaining as it is today. The parcel is part of the larger 250-acre Taylor Yard, currently owned by Union Pacific Railroad.

Mayor Eric Garcetti oversaw the purchase of the property for $60 million after the project was unanimously approved by the Los Angeles City Council. Plans for the parcel include one mile of direct riverfront access with views of the Griffith Observatory, downtown, and the iconic Hollywood sign. It will also unite the surrounding Rio de Los Angeles State Park and the state-owned G1 parcel, forming 100 acres of open space along the LA River.

“We’ve always considered G2 to be the crown jewel in our vision to revitalize the L.A. River, and that’s why I have been committed to fighting for the resources to finally return this land to the people of Los Angeles and the wildlife that call it home,” Mayor Garcetti said in a press release. “We got it done, and now this vast site can transform how Angelenos connect with the natural world — because it will allow for habitat restoration, and open more than a mile of direct access to the river for local communities that have been cut off from it for too long.”

The massive cost increase of the Taylor Yard G2 River Project mostly comes down to a single word: contamination. An updated study by the Bureau of Engineering found that cleaning and removing contaminated soil will cost about $231 million alone, in addition to the cost of the parcel itself, the infrastructure, and the expected operating costs of at least $6 million per year. The city will have to work with California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control to remediate the site. The good news for locals looking forward to the park’s completion is that it’s almost certainly still moving forward, despite the price tag.

Last month, a major milestone in the plan was achieved as the Taylor Yard Pedestrian Bridge was completed. Designed by SPF:architects, the bright orange bridge connects an area north of Dodger Stadium known as Elysian Valley to the neighboring Cypress Park district. It features a 400-foot box-trussed span referencing the area’s industrial heritage. Two cantilevered central viewing platforms form a “handshake” meant to symbolize peace between two neighborhoods once known for public fights and gang violence.

The post The Cost of LA’s “Crown Jewel” River Park Skyrockets to $1 Billion first appeared on Dornob.

International design office Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) has teamed up with Office for Living Architecture (OLA) and non-profit organization GAL Terre del Po to create “The Tree Path,” a dreamy route for cyclists and pedestrians that rests on two parallel rows of plants acting as pillars. The elevated path leads to Sabbioneta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Italy.

The Tree Path aims to explore sustainable mobility while “blending the natural and the artificial.” The use of a living supportive structure is one of the most remarkable parts of this project. OLA is one of the world’s leading experts in a technique called Baubotanik (“botanic construction” in German), which adapts living trees into architectural elements. The trees are incorporated into all kinds of structures, including full-scale buildings, contributing shade, natural cooling and air filtering, oxygen production, CO2 absorption, and a good habitat for local wildlife.

Roughly 1,000 trees will grow around a stainless steel platform and hand rail for this project, building and transforming the path structure over the course of several years. The path makes its ascent in three different levels, rising from the ground to a height of nearly 20 feet to bypass road traffic and waterways, entering Sabbioneta from an elevated perspective. Digital sensors will also be incorporated in the pathway to measure factors like air pollution and make sure all the living organisms along the path are capable of withstanding the structural load. This is envisioned as an “internet of trees,” connected by an artificial intelligence system provided by the Mindicity Urban Intelligence Platform.

“What if one day we could grow architecture like a tree? We are still very far from that future, but we can start exploring the convergence between the natural and the artificial. We can use trees as elements of construction, while leveraging the data from digital technologies to get a better understanding of the surrounding environment,” comments Carlo Ratti, founding partner at CRA and director of the Senseable City Lab at MIT.

The new path will connect Sabbioneta to the existing VENTO Cycle Route, a 435-mile-long bicycle path that runs along the Po River in northern Italy, via the town of Casalmaggiore. For many centuries, the Po River was a major navigable river in Europe, transporting goods and people between Turin in the south and Venice in the north. The Romans even used it to move armies and carry out their conquests throughout Europe. Following the Po honors this cultural heritage and encourages both Italians and international visitors to ride bikes instead of driving. The Tree Path adds yet another destination to explore along the route.

If you’re wondering how living trees could possibly support the weight and strain of the path and its users, check out previous Baubotanik projects created by students at the University of Stuttgart. The Tree Path is similar to an elevated pathway they completed, wherein flexible, fast-growing trees like willows are pictured wrapping their trunks around metal structural elements for stability.

The post A Treetop Bike Path Winds Through the Picturesque Italian Countryside first appeared on Dornob.

Parking lots are already full of concrete or rubber parking blocks that keep cars from pulling up too far and bumping into each other. The Watt (Wireless Advanced Transportation Charging Tile) concept simply switches them out with a T-shaped wireless charging pad that extends under the front of the vehicle, adding a second function.

What’s even more brilliant about this idea is the fact that it addresses another common complaint of EV drivers: the way electric cars discharge their batteries while they’re parked in colder areas, just like the lithium-ion batteries in our smartphones tend to do. With Watt, the car receives a steady stream of power throughout the time it’s parked, keeping it fully topped off.

Designers Cheolhee Lee, Na Gyeong Lee, Junsik Oh, and Kyoung-Seo Park have also created an accompanying app that lets you turn off the charging if you want, check on its progress, pay, view your charging history, or find Watt stations in the first place. The app also initiates the charging cycle as soon as you park the car, so no worries about remembering to tap anything before you get out.

Currently, electric car drivers have to hunt down charging stations and manually plug in their cars. If the stations are all full, they might have to hover nearby and wait for someone to leave. Soon, that problem will be exacerbated as more people choose EVs over standard gas-powered cars. To make matters worse, existing charging stations are bulky, expensive, and easily vandalized. Clearly, new solutions will be needed to quickly expand the availability of chargers while also making them more affordable, and Watt is a great entry into that collection of innovations.

The fact that it saves space is a big plus, and it’s easy to implement, though obviously each one will have to be connected to a main hub that supplies the electricity. That part of the equation is left for future consideration.

New forms of EV chargers are definitely on the way, including wireless innovations. Those include wireless charging pads developed by Volvo, which are being tested in Sweden, wireless parking places designed by WiTricity, magnetic induction chargers by Qualcomm, and BMW’s own inductive charging systems consisting of a “Groundpad” and a “Carpad” that work together. If you’re looking for something that’s available today for use at home, check out the Plugless Model S, which uses two aligned magnetic coils to send power to your EV over an air gap between your vehicle and its wireless charging station.

The post Watt Wireless Charger Doubles as a Parking Stopper first appeared on Dornob.

In an interview with Business Insider, North Miami Beach commissioner Michael Joseph said the plan would alleviate a lot of traffic, and that commuters and visitors alike would benefit from a tunnel connecting the city center to the beach. The cost per mile would be “a fraction of what is seen in other types of mass transit projects proposed in South Florida, while the construction would not be disruptive to the local economy.”

If you’re wondering how, exactly, this would work, look to the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop as an example. Part of The Boring Company’s plan for an eventual 29-mile tunnel system which will connect Teslas to more than 50 stations across Las Vegas, this 1.7-mile tunnel network opened in April 2021 and has three stops. Built in about one year using the Godot Tunnel Boring Machine at a cost of $47 million, the tunnel is able to ferry thousands of visitors around the Las Vegas Convention Center area, reducing a 45-minute walk to about two minutes. The company says it will eventually enable large conventions with upwards of 100,000 attendees to occur without road closures or disruptions to street traffic. Even better, the trip is free for convention center visitors.

The Boring Company’s renderings for such tunnel projects once included 16-passenger public transit vehicles, but now, they’ve been replaced by Tesla Model 3 cars holding up to five people at a time. And while the company previously said the vehicles could go up to 155 miles per hour, the cars within the Las Vegas loop are only going about 50. The point seems to be using existing technology to make a difference now, with Musk claiming that incremental advances in technology could allow different types of vehicles or connections to subterranean Hyperloop rail systems. But Musk has a penchant for making big announcements and then changing his mind, so it’s unclear exactly how this project will evolve.

Skeptics have called these tunnels little more than brief Tesla test drives, and a bid to sell more of Musk’s cars. The tunnel proposals for various cities have also drawn a lot of criticism and controversy. Projects in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Baltimore seem to have faltered, and The Boring Company website no longer even mentions them. Civil engineering experts and tunneling industry veterans call into question Musk’s claims that his company can bore tunnels faster and cheaper than ever before. In Los Angeles in particular, the Boring Company dug a tunnel 40 feet beneath a low-income part of the county without even informing the local community.

In Florida, where the water table is much higher than average, one has to wonder just how safe the tunnels will be from flooding. It seems like there are a lot of kinks to be worked out in these plans, but as usual, Musk is simply boring straight ahead with his plans, apparently planning to figure it out as he goes.

The post Elon Musk Aims to Solve Miami Traffic Problems with a 6.2-Mile Tunnel first appeared on Dornob.

Shanghai based-firm 100 Architects were charged by the local government with “activat[ing] this pedestrian junction” in a brand new commercial and residential area of the port city. For maximum head-turning value, they decided to turn the entire park into a metaphorical volcanic eruption filled with bright, attention-grabbing reds, oranges, and yellows.

The 14,000-square-foot park uses small stairways to signal the beginnings of a figurative outpouring from the Earth’s crust. Tiered, overlapping shade structures throughout symbolize the infectious lava of fun venting upwards and spilling back down through a slide and over the wide steps.

The magma continues its inviting flow around a picnic table and stools. A ramp from an adjacent building is painted brilliant orange, pouring the excitement down towards a large playground. Visitors can follow fire-colored paths around the park and tackle climbing shapes, small hills, and a giant tic-tac-toe table along the way. A swing pergola, seesaws, more slides, punching bags, and tunnel tubes all beckon to passersby. LED rope lights trim the shade and play structures, and spotlights on the trees provide an enticing ambiance at night.

For less agile pedestrians, 100 Architects also included several seating and resting areas with sun-blocking canopies. A mahjong table and adult sized-swings complete the experience.

“The flow of magma creates an intense and vivid circuit of events and spaces arising by its side,” the designers explain. “Altogether the proposal creates an incandescent public space that acts as an urban attractor and entertainment hotspot.”

According to the company website, “100 Architects was born with the mission of improving our cities and the experience of citizens in the public realm.” They are known for their colorful and playful temporary street installations throughout China, and for their quirky landscape architecture in places like Hong Kong, Mexico City, and Santiago. Energetic colors and an abundance of geometric shapes are hallmarks of their designs. The Magma Flow project fits nicely into the firm’s overall niche, so-called “neighborhood interventions.”

The company adds “the main objective of this typology is to trigger a massive public interest to the place through a strong visual impact, usually of a permanent nature, encouraging the rise of high public affluence and establishing an urban landmark that can cultivate important human dynamics and boost commercial activity.”

Ningbo is the second most populous city in Zhejiang Province, China, and 100 Architects hopes that the Magma Flow project will be “of such magnitude and notoriety” that it’ll “impact not only the immediate surrounding urban environment, but rather the urban dynamics of a whole neighborhood, becoming an urban landmark and a local attractor of social interactions in a given neighborhood.”

While a real-life volcano might be more likely to inspire fear than fun, it’s hard not to get swept up in Magma Flow’s colorful currents.

The post China’s Magma Flow Park Takes Its Design Cues from Volcanoes first appeared on Dornob.

Located in the mountainous highlands near Lake Sevan, a close stretch to the capital city of Yerevan, Gagarin Valley is an innovative vision of a “future-proof landscape.” The architects and their partners imagine a patchwork of residences, gardens, a market hall, a center for the arts, a commercial center, and a sunken stadium for 4,500 visitors built around a spherical educational agriculture center that will serve as the heart of the valley.

The new homes will be stacked around the center to form vertical villages, while the valley’s existing farmhouses will be preserved or transformed into new buildings to reduce waste. Many of the new structures will be topped with green roofs featuring a rainbow of vibrant flowering plants, creating a patchwork effect when viewed from above.

“The area is named after Yuri Gagarin, who was the first human to orbit the earth; he saw the planet’s vulnerability, a house in need of extra care, as many other astronauts have since stressed,” says MVRDV founder Winy Maas. “I share that concern: stimulating biodiversity, improving water management, and the ecosystem is of great importance for the future of the Gagarin Valley and the world. The valley can be seen as a series of test fields for the 10,000 species that will soon flourish there, an enrichment that will give the area the appearance of a garden of Eden.”

“We designed a sphere that acts as a mini-planet, where the classrooms surround a spherical void and where all the species of the valley and beyond are shown and monitored,” Maas says of the agricultural center. “The sphere will be surrounded by a Central Park that contains all the species – a scientific arboretum, reflected in the mirroring sphere. Gagarin would have loved it, I think.”

The current mosaic of 10,000 plots and the roads that connect them will serve as the basis of the new masterplan. The boundaries between the plots will be lined with canals, public paths, and greenery to reduce evaporation and enhance water buffers and biodiversity. Walking and cycling paths will also weave through the valley, and the canal system will be connected to the Hrazdan River.

By offering the amenities of city life enhanced by gorgeous natural scenery, beautifully planted parks, and many opportunities to walk, bike, and ride horses, MVRDV and DAR Foundation hope to attract not just millions of eco-tourists each year, but also young people who want to live in the valley full-time. Work is expected to begin on the project sometime later in 2022.

The post Named After an Astronaut, MVRDV’s Gagarin Valley Masterplan is a Future-Proof Paradise first appeared on Dornob.

“We designed an umbrella-shaped eastern house and toilet that resonate with the shape of Mt. Fuji in the observation park on the hillside of the Kintaro Fujimi Line, which is famous as a sanctuary for hikers,” the company website explains.

Located in Oath Hill Park, a rest area on the oustskirts of Oyama, Japan, the “eastern house” is a pair of cone-shaped structures with interlocking roofs that provide shade and a bench to weary hikers at the observation deck. The wooden columns that hold up the house are held together with a ring-shaped iron plate, and the whole configuration is left exposed for visitors to touch and admire. The tented roofs were informed by the ridgeline of Mt. Fuji, with one topped by a translucent material and the other covered in an opaque white covering treated with fluorine to make it weatherproof.

“By combining the flexibility of wood, the strength of iron, and the lightness of the film, a warm and open eastern house was realized,” the studio says, adding that “At night the silhouette of the wooden structure emerges in the woods.”

The toilet building sits adjacent to the eastern house, itself wrapped in thick, white cylindrical walls. The roofs of the two connected spaces are also interlinked and covered in the same opaque material as the shade structure.

With their white-capped roofs and conical forms, the buildings become mini versions of Mt. Fuji. The imposing mountain can even be perfectly centered between them at a certain angle for a stunning picture-perfect vista. The new toilets were officially opened to the public in October 2021.

These aren’t the only nature-blending toilets Kengo Kuma has created. A few months earlier, in June 2021, the firm unveiled a “toilet village” in Shoto Park. Camouflaged by cedar board louvers, the structures’ randomly-skewed lines of wood create a fun forest feel.

“The plans, equipment, and interiors of each toilet that makes up the village are different to meet various needs (child-rearing, grooming, wheelchairs, etc.),” the Kengo Kuma website explains. “By splitting the various private rooms into separate buildings, a well-ventilated, walk-through ‘public toilet village’ was created in the park, which was suitable for the post-corona era. The era of diversity and the era of forests have arrived for toilets.”

The Shoto Park toilets were Kengo Kuma’s contribution to the Nippon Foundation’s Tokyo Toilet Project, an initiative to bring 17 updated and design-minded public restrooms to the city ahead of the 2020 Olympics. The architecture company also designed the cedar-planked Japan National Stadium for the Games.

Kengo Kuma & Associates was established by Kuma in 1990, himself known for his eye for “architecture that opens up a new relationship between nature, technology, and humans.” The studio currently has projects underway in 30 countries, including one in France to add a contemporary, sculptural stone entrance to an ancient gothic cathedral.

The post Kengo Kuma’s Umbrella-Shaped Japanese Toilets Mimic Mt. Fuji first appeared on Dornob.

But what Cruz, Carlson and others are conveniently ignoring is the fact that many of America’s highways were built during the height of segregation and repeatedly used to separate predominantly minority neighborhoods from white communities. The new highways created hard, often impassible barriers between these communities, sometimes separating neighborhoods from their churches, schools, and businesses. These lines were often drawn in a direct response to requests by white community members, who didn’t want the highways disrupting their own neighborhoods. Many homes in the path of a proposed highway, typically owned by Black and brown people, were seized by eminent domain.

Bloomberg offers one striking example in the form of St. Paul, Minnesota’s Rondo neighborhood, writing: “In the first half of the 20th century it was home to most of St. Paul’s African American residents. The neighborhood’s center was Rondo Avenue, a thriving corridor for Black-owned business and wealth. Grocery stores, barber shops, drug stores, tailors, carpenters, and car shops lined Rondo Avenue, providing spaces to do business, meet, shop, and socialize during segregation and the Jim Crow era.”

By the 60s, that business core was gone, replaced by the new Interstate 94. Homes that used to be a short walk from the shops were now up against the busy six-lane highway, and the neighborhood was split in two. A nonprofit called Reconnect Rondo aims to fix that with a land bridge that reconnects both sides while creating up to 22 acres of commercial, residential, and park space. This example illustrates how the funds from the new public works program, called “Reconnecting Communities,” can help reconnect other neighborhoods cut off by historic investments.

Other places where highways were built right through historically Black and brown communities include Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, and Detroit, among many more. When communities were walled off by highways, they had fewer access to resources, jobs, and desirable community amenities like green spaces that were still enjoyed by the white neighborhoods on the other side of the highways. The impact was devastating, especially to once-vibrant neighborhoods that previously enjoyed economic and cultural prosperity.

Many of these highways built in the 1950s and 60s are nearing the end of their lifespans. The Biden Administration has proposed tearing down viaducts and replacing them with boulevards, burying highways beneath new tracts of affordable housing, or elevating new highways above neighborhoods for minimal disruption.

No action taken today can redress the historic harm that was done to these communities (though direct financial compensation would be a start). And, inevitably, figuring out exactly how to rebuild these highways without negatively impacting new communities will be tricky. But dismantling highways built with racist intent can be one small, crucial part of the process of dismantling systemic racism in this country.

The post Will Biden’s Infrastructure Help Remedy America’s Racist Highways? first appeared on Dornob.

So what does this bustling medieval city have to do with the dynamic and foward-thinking Zaha Hadid Architects? While Tallinn itself remains beautifully preserved, its layout has been described by some as somewhat problematic for being isolated from its own very important port.

Enter the Tallin Port Masterplan 2030: a design competition aimed at better connecting Tallinn to its port, improving under-built areas, creating better opportunities to utilize existing resources, and bringing the whole town into the modern age.

And who better to complete this ambitious project than Zaha Hadid Architects? The firm has long been known for its futuristic bend and geometric shapes that often seem to defy the laws of physics. Among the firm’s most famous recent projects is the Zugló City Centre in Budapest, a mixed-use development that connects green spaces with urban residential and commercial areas, seamlessly blending the two into a oasis that’s both sustainable and synchronistic. That project, announced in 2017, is set for completion in 2029, according to the firm’s website.

Much like the Budapest City Centre project, the focus for the Tallinn Port seems to hinge on connectivity. “Our vision for the harbor redevelopment master plan is to create a new recognizable and distinct gateway to the city of Tallinn, a new city fabric interconnected with the adjacent city districts,” ZHA recently said in an official statement.

The new area will consist of mixed-use structures including residential, commercial, and leisure-focused properties meant to revitalize the Old Town area, though none of the oldest buildings will themselves be changed. Dubbed “Streamcity” by ZHA, the area will, like many of their other projects, also contain a green space, this time in the form of a public park.

According to reports, the famed architectural firm plans to work with several other firms to bring the project to fruition, including landscape design consultant Tyrens UK and Latvian firm RemPro. Also working closely with the Port of Tallinn, ZHA will transform the Baltic Sea port and the surrounding area into a modern, dynamic space that will most certainly bring the UNESCO World Heritage Site into the 21st century while still maintaining its medieval charm and character. While there have been no recent updates for the city’s Masterplan 2030, we can most likely expect this dynamic project to be completed sometime in 2029 or 2030 — yet another feather in the Zaha Hadid’s world-renowned cap.

The post Zaha Hadid Architects Wins Contest to Modernize One of Europe’s Oldest Ports first appeared on Dornob.

Petr Janda of Brainwork Studio is the principal architect of the three-phase project, which starts with the renovation of 20 vaults set into the Rašín and Hořejší embankments in the area known as Náplavka. These hollowed-out spaces are referred to by the Czech government as “dungeons,” and in the past likely served as storage spaces for ice and goods arriving and departing in ships along the river. Now, they’ve been converted into shops, galleries, cafés, workshops, and public restroom facilities with curving walls and ceilings made of sandblasted concrete.

Six of the vaults have the stunning 5.5-meter (18-foot) pivoting windows in place of doors, which open at an offset angle and allow customers to step within their plastered minimalist interiors. Stepped stone details at the base of each arched doorway disguise elements like air conditioning ducts and flood prevention features. The rest of the vaults on the Hořejší embankment boast sculptural blackened steel doors. Each one has a multipurpose freestanding furniture unit that can function as a reception desk or bar counter, and the individual businesses occupying them are free to customize them as they like. At night, when the glass-fronted vaults are aglow, they draw in curious passersby who come to the area for farmers’ markets, exhibitions, concerts, and theater performances.

The next two phases of the restoration project, also spearheaded by Brainwork Studio, will include a floating pool (echoing the historical placement of swimming pools along the Vltava embankment) and a terminal for cruise ships. The floating pool facility is supported by a structural system of steel ribs, and the deck “appears boundless, thanks to its infinite water surface,” with a variety of depths suitable for different users and types of swimming. Floating restroom facilities that visually complement the pool will also be included in the design, accessible directly from the riverbank promenade.

The terminal will function as an amphibious intersection between the bank and the river, its appearance drawing from the visual character and traditional shapes of shipbuilding.

“Its predominant feature is the balance between the (in)visibility of the terminal and its strong architectural design derived from the nautical morphology, as well as the visual mimicry connecting the terminal with its native environment,” says Janda. “Thanks to the optical effect created by the deck edges tapering into cutting edges, it dematerializes more on both sides, which is emphasized by the reflection of the water and sky on both surfaces of the terminal wings. The basic shape is based on the spatial rotation of three propeller blades, which was further shaped with regard to the functional arrangement of the building.”

The post Prague’s Vltava River Vaults Feature Giant Pivoting Hobbit Doors first appeared on Dornob.

The structure is a distinctly New York addition to the surrounding area, adding to the surrounding Hudson River Park and the now-booming stretch of other little “islands” along the Chelsea piers. Rising from the ashes of the defunct Pier 54 (damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012), Little Island is less a phoenix than an ebullient homage to unique public spaces: what they are, and what they have the potential to be.

This enigmatic space cost approximately $260 million to build and is the brainchild of British designer Thomas Heatherwick, known to New Yorkers for the Vessel at Hudson Yards, itself a beehive-esque construction that’s architecturally artful, edgy, and vertigo-inducing. That 150-foot tall structure recently re-opened with new safety measures in place after being criticized for its safety protocols.

Heatherwick, known for design strategies that aim to create immersive experiences for visitors that merge form, shape, and ambition, has here created a more approachable and visitor-friendly structure that, instead of being imposing, is welcoming and quite lovely.

Funding for the Little Island came mainly from billionaire Barry Diller, who, in partnership with the Hudson River Park Trust, set out to reimagine Pier 54 in 2013 and create a public space that embraced nature, art, and design. Enter Heatherwick, and the vision for the present-day parklet was born.

The first sight of Little Island is enough to make anyone gasp in delight. White concrete structures rise out of the murky Hudson, dazzling the eyes and sparking the imagination. Visitors will feel as if they’re approaching a whimsical world, either floating lazily on the water or emerging from it as if birthed from its depths fully formed. Initially it resembles a setting in Super Mario World (Mushroom Kingdom, anyone?) or an elaborately constructed mini-golf course.

Either way, it’s certainly imposing and instantly captivating, and the designs on the island continue the theme with a beautifully landscaped space that somehow manages to be a natural haven while still feeling like a distinctive part of the city and its environs.

Part of the reason for that is that one can’t really escape a view of the city from here. It’s in the background, looming and distant, but still a major player in the proceedings. But it’s the details that make Little Island truly special: the paths are winding and broken up by little asides that truly recreate a fairy tale experience, hidden secrets among the landscape that emerge as a trail of bread crumbs leading into each new twist and turn.

Tactile and truly immersive, Heatherwick’s design pairs beautifully with the landscape architecture of New York design alum Signe Nielsen, who herself has an eye for merging natural elements with the surrounding architecture. This combo complements and enhances Little Island’s curves and rises, bringing to life all its rich views and secrets.

Upon arrival at Little Island, visitors may feel as if they are a part of something larger; namely, the interconnecting network of piers and attractions that now dot the landscape throughout Hudson River Park. But once on board, it’s all too easy to get lost in the dreaminess of the design and the simple fantasy of this magical green space so removed from the city (and yet somehow an integral part of it).

The post New York’s “Little Island” Uses Cutting-Edge Designs to Create a Natural Retreat first appeared on Dornob.

It was the early days of the pandemic that inspired the Green Block project. The firm’s designers and architects marveled at how peaceful cities felt as traffic all but disappeared, the skies cleared, and the haze of pollution lifted. Suddenly, city residents were waking up to the sounds of birds and could hear subtle sounds of nature like the rustling of leaves. The firm hopes we won’t forget what that felt like, even as life returns to normal post-COVID. Led by John Goldwyn, WATG’s master planner and landscape architect, Green Block challenged the firm’s designers to use the lessons they learned from the pandemic to imagine a better future.

“Our cities have long been overdue for transformation and, as some people flee for greener landscapes in the wake of COVID-19, Green Block proves that you don’t need to sacrifice one for the other – we actually can, in fact, have both the urban and the green lifestyle,” says Goldwyn.

Green Block isn’t just a series of cool animations, either. It’s an actual solution that can see these transformations realized in the real world. This maintenance-free modular concept consists of 100-percent recyclable living building materials impregnated with native wildflower seeds and an integrated irrigation reservoir. A single module can be used throughout the city in all kinds of applications, including sidewalk mini-parks, ecological corridors, green walls, and more. Essentially, it’s an answer to the question that often comes up when you see architecture concepts full of living vegetation: how will it actually be supported and maintained?

The GIF images show Green Block in action. In New York, the iconic Flatiron district goes from its current overly hardscaped reality to a lush paradise full of vines, trees, vertical greenery, and a grassy pedestrian boulevard. The transformation aims to reduce the impact of cars, provide homes for bees, filter the air, and increase the amount of space residents enjoy for exercise and leisure. Restaurants and retail get new outdoor spaces to grow plants or offer outdoor seating and shopping, and everyone gets an enhanced connection to nature.

In London, we watch as the greenery is literally rolled out like carpets, invigorating virtually every aspect of one of the city’s most traffic-congested streets. Fleet Street comes alive in a whole new way with cycle routes, new walkable vegetated connections to the city’s parks, urban garden allotments, and even camouflage panels for construction sites. “This idea claws back space from the roads and returns it to the people of London,” Goldwyn explains.

In Honolulu, WATG pays homage to its origins as a pioneer of hospitality design with a vision of what’s possible for the tourist-laden Kalakaua Avenue on the Diamond Head side of Waikiki. The palm trees already present along the avenue are augmented by flowering native species, larger grassy areas to lounge and picnic on, and luxuriant plant life spilling over the balconies of neighboring high-rise hotels.

Goldwyn adds that “on a global level, the goal of Green Block is to facilitate and encourage further discussions around sustainable living, and how that can be incrementally and practically achieved in urban areas. This project reinforces WATG’s founding principles: designing resilient destinations and spaces where people thrive, using sustainable and resilient materials and techniques, championing and preserving the environments and communities that we touch, and delivering exceptional design solutions.”

The post Guerrilla Greening: GIFs Present Lushly Vegetated Visions of Major Cities first appeared on Dornob.

Hundreds of decorative drinking fountains – or “pyaus,” as they’re called in Hindi – were erected in the middle of markets and along tram routes by wealthy Indian philanthropists during the British colonial era. Many of these were donated to their surrounding communities as gifts and often constructed as tributes to the patron’s family members.

At the time the fountains were built, water would flow freely and continuously from the city’s underground pipes. However, Mumbai’s 20th-century population explosion taxed the available water supply so much that by the 1960s, fountain use was restricted to just a few hours a day. The inconsistency and lack of upgrades even caused some of them to dry up completely.

As indoor plumbing started to become standard for middle and upper-class residents, public reservoirs were further strained. Bottled water also gained popularity as a drinking option. Subsequently, most of the pyaus have been forgotten and fallen into disrepair.

As access to water remains a constant problem for Indian’s poorer residents, city officials and activists are currently leading an effort to restore the public fountains. Back in 2008, BMC, Mumbai’s municipal corporation, commissioned architecture firm Vaastu Vidhaan, led by architect Rahul Chemburkar, to restore two pyaus, including the Keshavji Nayak fountain, named in honor of its original sponsor from the 1870s. It’s a grand edifice to be sure, towering over the market square with its 30-foot columns and ornately carved canopy. The base is adorned with statues of sacred Hindu bulls, which point visitors up to stone pots containing the life-giving liquid (which today comes from a municipal connection installed in 2015).

“It’s like a cultural oasis,” Chemburkar told NPR in an interview, estimating that about 50 people an hour come to the fountains for a drink. And most importantly, the water is available to anyone, no matter their religion or caste.

“In wide contrast, all over the country you see a lot of discrimination over the ownership of water,” he adds, pointing out examples of minority Muslims and Dalits being physically attacked for trying to drink from public wells. He says these pyaus come with an implicit understanding, though, that they are open to all.

Greater access is needed more now than ever, with the pandemic intensifying water inequalities among Mumbai’s 18.4 million residents. A November 2020 study from the NGO Committee for the Right to Water found that the city’s poorest residents were spending more on the essential liquid than they were before COVID hit, as their normal sources (places like schools and workplaces) were locked down. Today, many of those low-income inhabitants are forced to pool their money just to pay for water from private tanker-trucks.

“Even as public service announcements were issued reminding people to wash their hands regularly with soap, at least 2 million people in Mumbai wondered how to follow such recommendations without regular, adequate, and affordable water access,” the study adds.

Even though Mumbai has installed many water ATMs at railway stations as a means of making it more affordable, they still charge a fee. That’s why one of the study’s biggest recommendations was to build more pyaus, even if they are less ornate, to provide totally free H2O.

The BMC has also identified 30 existing pyaus to be restored over the next few years as part of a sweeping public works project. “[The decorative elements] give a lot of dignity to the simple act of drinking water,” says Chemburkar. “Today we … miss aesthetics in public architecture.”

The post Mumbai’s Historical Fountains Get a Revamp, Giving Indians More Access to Free Water first appeared on Dornob.