When it came to Virgin launching the world’s first commercial space line, it made sense to have someone design some cutting edge architecture for the venture’s base.
The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space building in New Mexico is certainly that and was designed by Foster + Partners with URS Corporation and local architects SMPC. Opened this week in the presence of 800 guests, the 120,000 sq ft dome-like structure has been designed to meet LEED Gold requirements.
It houses a sunken….
As someone who went to school in a massive, grey former boarding school from the 1930s that came complete with massive Greek pillars, porticoes, sweeping staircases, ancient iron grille radiators and a palpable air of doom and gloom, this building in south Los Angeles is as far away from a school as one could get. But, a school it is.
It might look like the kids put it together but this striking, architecturally led building - now nicknamed ‘The Rainbow School’ – is South Region Elementary School Number 2 (SRES 2). The colours of blue, red, green and orange on the outside reflect the multi-cultural neighbourhood it sits in, while still managing to be energy and resource efficient.
A tight budget didn’t stop the designers from producing a hugely fun looking building that serves to inspire the kids from a tough neighbourhood to be more creative. I wish my school had looked like this.
More photos after the jump.
From one giant of design to another, architecture’s Norman Foster paid tribute to Steve Jobs (1955-2011), the Apple co-founder who passed away recently after a prolonged battle with cancer.
Foster, who is famous around the world for some his iconic buildings – including London’s Gherkin, Wembley Stadium, Berlin’s Reichstag and the world’s tallest bridge, the Millau Viaduct, said that “like so many millions our lives have been profoundly and positively influenced by the innovations pioneered by Steve and Apple, names which are inseparable”.
Foster and his company are currently designing the new Apple Campus in Cupertino, California, which will be completed in 2015.
He went on to say:
The last time many of you would have seen the Louisiana Superdome was when it was filled with tens of thousands of refugees from the Hurricane Katrina storms that tore apart New Orleans in 2005.
It took quite a beating itself and although folk from New Orleans feel like the world forgot them when the media vans rolled back out of town, it’s good to see that they have been busy bringing their landmark back to life with a shiny new makeover.
The older panel system, which required neighboring panels to be removed in order to fix damaged ones, has been completely replaced with a custom-metal system that will allow individual panels to be replaced with no additional work. It also had to be built to resist another hurricane and, if possible, look good while doing so.
The result is a big giant UFO-like structure that mixes some very clever design with very high levels of practicality.
More photos after the jump.
[Source]
The London Design Festival 2011 is underway and there’s something both very cute and functional about this LEGO Greenhouse.
Comprised of 100,000 see through Lego blocks, the greenhouse boasts gaps for air and an irrigation system to water the plants inside, which include hydrangeas and sunflowers. Already it’s one of the most popular attractions.
Award-winning designer Sebastian Bergne is the man who LEGO tasked with coming up with something special, and, that he has.
Situated in Covent Garden, London, the greenhouse is already a real crowd pleaser.
“It’s been a pleasure to be involved with this project for LEGO UK and Covent Garden,” Bergne said. “What instinctively appealed to me, was that I would finally have the chance to live out a childhood dream and build something huge and usable out of LEGO bricks.”
Now if only I could figure out a way to build me a giant LEGO treehouse. Some more shots after the jump.
Welcome to the Solar Decathlon 2011.
With energy now becoming an integral, if not central part, of many designs, the Solar Decathlon is one of the most interesting showcases for the best solar energy/design projects going on in the country today. And this year – although the event is still ongoing – it looks like Tennessee is leading the pack [see video above].
The Solar Decathlon brings 20 competing college teams from around the world together in Washington DC, where they will build their homes – all of which are attempting to be the most livable, attractive and functional solar-powered single family home. The competition is sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy.
Right now, Tennessee is out in front with its Living Light House, which uses solar energy [obviously], insulated windows and a remote control iPad in its drive for a sleek, stylish and sustainable lifestyle.
There are videos from the other competitors over at Planet Forward. Go see what works for you and let us know what’s your favorite.
Ten years since the tragic events of 9/11, which saw the death of almost 3,000 people and the destruction of the iconic Twin Towers, the memorial for the victims will open in New York this weekend.
The National September 11 Memorial at Ground Zero is without doubt one of the most sensitive architectural projects undertaken in the United States and its restrained design has been generally praised. The well reported in-fighting, political squabbles and delays to the overall WTC rejuvenation project may have been embarrassing but the memorial manages to rise above all of that.
The memorial boasts giant, twin reflecting pools that measure almost an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America. They sit within the footprints of where the Twin Towers once stood. Designed by architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker, the Memorial’s pools feature….
You might live in a beautifully restored old building, a chic modern block of white concrete and glass or a simple colonial wooden clapboard house but, the fact brought home in the past week, is that you can never be too prepared for a hurricane.
The tragic loss of life and home in Vermont [see photo] and New York State, courtesy of Hurricane Irene, continues to unfold with hundreds of homes, roads and infrastructure severely damaged. At Funktion we cover the best in design and architecture but, it would be wrong of us not to highlight some of the best resources out there for helping you protect the home you’ve worked so hard for.
There’s really not much you can do if you’re caught right in the path of something like that but there are things you can do to help reduce the impact and possible save your home and belongings.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has compiled a list of 18 detailed documents and guides for helping home owners and businesses prepare for disasters and recover from them afterwards.
One of those most relevant about what’s happening now is Hurricane Preparedness: Are You Ready? (North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources).
Even if you are lucky enough to have weathered the worst of it, you may learn something that can help someone else.
OK, we know that the London Olympics are still a year away but already, the architectural and design plans are underway for the 2016 Olympics in sunny Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Nothing like a little forward planning, eh?
Would you like to see how things are shaping up? Just watch the video above to get a flavour of what is being planned by recently revealed winning firm, AECOM, which designed the Olympic Master Plan for next year’s London Olympics too.
Be warned however that the video editing is choppy, fast and may make your nauseous as it flits about the screen but you get some idea when it slows down in the second minute about what it all might look like. And it does look impressive.
According to ArchDaily, …
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai might be the world’s tallest building today but it had better be looking over its shoulder as the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah is on its heels.
The planned 1-kilometer tall – yes, in fact, just over 1,000 meters – tower, designed by Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture is not just going to edge out the Burj Khalifa by a few feet, but blast it out of the record books by a stunning 173 meters (approx: 600-feet).
Ironically, Smith will be beating his own design as it was he, while at a different firm, that designed Dubai’s record breaker.
Kingdom Tower will be built over the next 5 years and form the focal point for Kingdom City, a massive $20 billion development planned for the 5.3 million-square-meter site in northern Jeddah. The tower itself will house a Four Seasons hotel and serviced apartments, luxury condos, office space and ,the now obligatory, ‘world’s highest observatory’.
You can catch Smith talking about the world-beating project in a video after the jump.
Questions?Want to talk? Let us call you. We'll respond to your question in 5 minutes.
