Your Story Alive: A Live Communications Blog

July 24, 2008 11:41 AM

Festival of Speed Sculpture

Posted byDarren Coon

Webs of Steel - Land Rover Festival of Speed Sculpture (GALLERY)

(TREND HUNTER) It took 3,415 parts, 4,890 bolts and over 100 tonnes of steel to construct this welded sculpture, contracted by Land Rover for the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend in England. Five luxury Land Rover… [More]

Very cool way for Land Rover to get attention.

Tags: Architecture, Cool Stuff, Exhibits, Special Events

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July 21, 2008 1:19 AM

Pop-up meets Prefab

Posted byLaura DeMeulemeester

We've seen green prefab. We've seen shipping container prefab. Now we have pop-up prefab. In a mere 90 seconds, this house opens and is ready to go.

"Cool Hunter notes, with the push of a button, the house opens in 90 seconds like a flower and transforms from a compact container into a fully furnished and functional space with a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, bedroom, living room and library. All materials used in the Biennale house were recyclable or recycled."

Shipping Container Houses (Follow Up) - The Illy House Blooms in 90 Seconds (GALLERY)

Tags: Architecture

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June 26, 2008 9:19 AM

Vertical Eco Farm - Las Vegas Goes Green

Posted byLaura DeMeulemeester

Vertical Eco Farm - Las Vegas 30 Storey Garden

The world's first vertical eco farm will be in Las Vegas, a $200 million project expected to open in 2010.

According to TrendHunter, the developers expect it will serve as another tourist destination, and that it will grow enough crops to feed 72,000 people for a year. It will grow around 100 different kinds of crops including fruits and vegetables, with ideal growing conditions created in individual tower sectors.

“The World currently uses about 80% of the available farm land and 60% of the earth’s population lives near or in an urban environment so the logical choice for farming is to go up for land where the environment can be controlled and where distribution is local,” NextEnergy News explained.

“Las Vegas is seen as the perfect location for this project by Nevada State officials who would like to demonstrate their sustainability and environmental awareness instead of projecting an image of waste and excess.”

$200 million may sound like a lot, but the builders anticipate it will bring in just as much cash as a new casino at a projected annual revenue of $40 million and only $6 million in operating expenses.

Tags: Architecture, Cool Stuff, Environmental Design, Green Design, Innovation

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June 12, 2008 10:22 AM

South African Prefab Provides High-Quality, Affordable Housing

Posted byLaura DeMeulemeester

African Prefab Houses - The Abod (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter) - Known as the Abod, BSB Design has developed a low-cost, high-quality, prefab house for South Africans. The entire home is shipped in one box and can be easily assembled in one day by four people, using only a supplied screwdriver and an awl. The home’s shape is the Catenary Arch, a curve frequently found in nature, that makes the 10’ x 12’ footprint seem larger. Approx. $1,500.

Tags: Architecture, Innovation

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May 23, 2008 12:18 PM

Shipping Container Condos Designed for Detroit

Posted byAngela Heiple

The only thing better about seeing cool things happening in Detroit, is telling other people about cool things happening in Detroit!

This innovative urban design article from the Free Press, best describes a new Detroit condo development project that upon city approval, will turn old, discarded shipping containers into homes-- large, loft-like $100,000+ homes with curb appeal. The project, designed by Detroit-based architect, Steven Flum, would stack empty containers four high, cut in windows and doors, install plumbing, stairways and heating, and add amenities such as balconies and landscaped patios.

For those of you who are skeptical or like me, lack the creative vision for such possibilities... below is a 4-story, 4,800 square foot structure completed in 2001 by different designers. Located in the heart of London's Docklands, it's the original "Container City" project. Check out their website for more project samples.

Tags: Architecture, Cool Stuff, Green Design

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May 14, 2008 9:37 AM

Stylish Green Living Takes Step Forward With Smart Home

Posted byMatt Hubbard

Day two of Gravity Free: 2008 started with a tour of the Smart Home, recently constructed on site at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. The modular, three story green home, designed by day one speaker Michelle Kaufmann and her firm MKD, featured an impressive aesthetic. A few of the exterior fabrication details could use refining, in my opinion, but overall the home lives up to the hype, and hope, that stylish green living is within reach. Check it out the next time you're in Chicago.

Smart Home at the Museum of Science & Industry

Tags: Architecture, Cool Stuff, Green Design, Innovation

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May 11, 2008 10:29 PM

Architecture and Experience Align at 08 Beijing Olympics

Posted byMatt Hubbard

Touring the Olympic Green in Beijing two weeks ago, it struck me how the architecture of the games has become so closely aligned with the experience of the games. There is no better example of this than the National Swimming Center. The design, called the "Water Cube," is a semi-transparent cube, with bubbles spread out all over its surfaces. The center will be a venue for swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water-polo during the games, and will become a water recreational center open to the public after the games. Seeing this venue in person is really awesome. I can only imagine what it will be like to experience the games in this facility.

Tags: Architecture, Cool Stuff, Creative Inspirations

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May 07, 2008 7:11 AM

A Building That Expresses Itself

Posted byLaura DeMeulemeester

Pretty cool stuff, seen by our friends at Trendhunter. "The FLARE is a building facade that allows the exterior of an edifice to "express" itself and interact with its environment, therefore acting as a living skin. The system consists of a series of tiltable metal flakes supplemented by pneumatic cylinders that can be controlled individually. Each computer-controlled metal flake reflects sunlight and when it is tilted downwards, its face is shaded from the light making it appear as a dark pixel formed by natural light. By reflecting ambient or direct sunlight, the individual flakes act like pixels formed by natural light. The system is controlled by a computer to form any kind of surface animation. Sensor systems inside and outside the building communicate the buildings activity directly to the FLARE system which acts as the buildings lateral line."

Tags: Architecture, Cool Stuff, Technology

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May 01, 2008 8:47 AM

Static Appeal

Posted byAngela Heiple

I was in Vegas a couple weeks ago for NAB2008, a tradeshow event produced by the National Association of Broadcasters. As you can imagine, the show floor is jampacked with multimedia presentations and product demonstrations, from control room monitoring, live animation and surround sound demos to HD projection, video production work stations, and on and on and on.

No surprise then, that a static image would be a rare and refreshing find.

Autodesk, who certainly had daily a/v presentations and multiple demo stations, also embraced the idea of static appeal. They took the childhood viewmaster concept and incorporated it into what was rumored to be a 100% recyclable exhibit (right down to the glue).

You found yourself drawn to this plain, plywood wall to peek through each and every single "viewing window", which revealed seemingly unrelated photographic images (perhaps showcasing the cool, crisp quality of their video product, frame by frame?). Whatever the purpose, it was simple, sophisticated, interactive... and completely unexpected.

Tags: Architecture, Cool Stuff, Exhibits

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April 23, 2008 12:52 AM

Eco Architecture - Green Floating Villages

Posted byLaura DeMeulemeester

Green Floating Villages - Eco Architecture in Northern England (GALLERY)

This is the winning design for an eco-friendly floating village that is planned for Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Nature Reserve in Preston, northern England. The winning concept, created by Adam Khan Architects, plans to use wood and other sustainable materials to build this floating village whic… [More]

Tags: Architecture, Environmental Design, Global Design, Green Design, Innovation, Retail Environments

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