Underground Chapel Built Out of Salt

TGIF!

Today's YEOW will take you to an underground chapel in a salt mine!

If opulent isn’t an adjective you’d immediately associate with the mining profession, then you’ve clearly never had a peek inside Poland’s Wieliczka Salt Mine. The subterranean marvel (and UNESCO World Heritage Site) has been operational since the first shafts were dug way back in the 13th century, but the decor has come a long, long way in the subsequent years. And now, thanks to Google, we can explore it from afar.

In addition to the more traditionally rugged excavation routes, Wieliczka's underground landmark is home to elaborate chapels, crystalized chandeliers, and art galleries, all carved out of common sodium chloride. The reverent treatment nods to a not-so-distant past where salt was a hot commodity, valued in a way that went way beyond a few casual sprinkles over dinner.

Visitors can take a hard-hat tour of the mine, but in lieu of an IRL visit (or for those who prefer to travel pants-less from the comfort of their own home), Wieliczka recently became the latest World Wonder to get the Google Street View treatment. It joins a veritable greatest hits of amazing spots around the globe being preserved in this incredibly accessible way. Quick click to an explorer’s hut in Antarctica abandoned since 1912? Heck Yeah. Scroll around the Cinque Terre villages that dot the Mediterranean sea? Yes please. Hold your breath at the unbelievable underwater views of the Great Barrier Reef? Go on.

Explore the Wieliczka Salt Mine here (and a few less polished pics below, via the official site), but please: Don’t lick your screen.

 

 

http://gizmodo.com/take-a-street-view-tour-of-an-underground-chapel-built-1280564042

Time + Mushrooms = Insulation

The creation of a Start Up from a RPI student is leading to a new building technology. 

The Green Island, NH, company has developed a renewable, high-performance, and cost-effective replacement for plastic foams. Ecovative uses mycelium (mushroom “roots”) to bond together agricultural byproducts like corn stalks into a material that can replace plastic foam.After selling the product as a packaging replacement for Styrofoam, Ecovative grew a tiny house from the material. "We see this as a proving ground for the $21 billion rigid board foam insulation market," the company says.

Check out the YouTube Link below to learn more about this company and how sustainable their project is.

Ecovative’s Mushroom Insulation is based on agricultural byproducts.

Keep an eye on this technology as it grows!  How long do you think until we will be detailing it in documents and writing specs???  Where will it go next???

The company is winning sustainable and technology competitions right and left.  the co-founder Eben Bayer is doing Ted Talks and becoming a spokesperson on the company.  The next time you here about Evocative  remember you heard it here first!

Have a great Friday!

Capturing the Sun's Energy

T.G.I.F.

This week's Y.E.O.W.: 

Capturing the Sun's Energy

Whether We Mean to or Not

Mosaic Inc., a California-based company has come up with a new business model to allow individuals to finance solar projects across the country, think "kickstarter" for green energy.   Projects include arrays atop affordable housing developments and schools, as well as a large project with the U.S. Military which is currently under way.  Individuals can invest in the projects for as little as $25.  Nearly $3 million has been invested in over a dozen projects nationwide.  These investments are structured like loans, as the projects generate electricity, and hence revenue, Mosaic repays the investment with interest.

One of Mosaic's projects from their website.

This seems like a great idea considering all the examples we have of the awesome power of the sun, including one that recently popped up in the U.K.

Earlier this month a partially completed skyscraper in London managed to melt a portion of a parked car and start a fire at a local barber shop.  The building - designed by internationally renowned architect Rafael Vinoly (website) - is a dramatic edifice with curved exterior walls.  Built at 20 Fenchurch Street in London's financial center, the 38-story skyscraper is known locally as "the Walkie-Talkie" for its unusual shape.

The apparent problem came to public attention when businessman Martin Lindsay told reporters that his Jaguar's mirror, panels and hood ornament had all melted from the concentrated sunlight reflected off the building.

The melted vehicle in question.

The developers are taking the concerns seriously and have indicated that the problem lasts about two hours a day and is expected to continue for another two weeks or so.

Just imagine if Mosaic set up a project across the street.

Possibly Mosaic should just follow Vinoly's  projects around the world as this is not the first case of hot and bothered neighbors.  Learn more about his "Vdara Death Ray" in Las Vegas that made news in 2010.  www.nbcnews.com/death-ray

Speaking of dangers, there are risks associated with the sorts of investments that Mosaic is offering.  The returns can be slow to roll in, not to mention panels can break.  This isn't an investment to make if you want big returns quickly.  That is, unless you've snagged a spot near a Vinoly.  

To learn more about Mosaic visit their website: 

https://joinmosaic.com/

or read the following articles:

Solar Mosaic aims to raise crowdsourced funding for solar panels on military base

My Latest Investment: The Sun

Pictures provided by:

komonews.com

news.yahoo.com

Worlds Best Airport Plans - It Gets Even Better than Before

World’s best airport plans to get even better

Plans for Singapore's swanky new addition were designed by Moshe Safdie, the architect behind Marina Bay Sands.

Singapore announces mega expansion plans for Changi Airport to increase passenger capacity - and enjoyment

Just when you thought Singapore's Changi Airport couldn't rub its global supremacy in any deeper, the "world's best airport" announces plans to add another impressive facility that will improve passenger experiences and boost capacity.

Code-named “Project Jewel,” the mixed-use architectural looker will take over a 3.5-hectare plot of land and will feature shops, restaurants and a huge indoor garden with its own waterfall when it opens in 2018.

A statement from Changi says terminal 1, which will lose a car park in the redevelopment, will also be expanded to allow more space for the arrival hall, baggage claim areas and taxi bays.

All the other airports might as well give up now. Being stuck in transist can't possibly get any better than this.

Project Jewel was designed by a consortium of architects led by Moshe Safdie, the man behind another Singapore icon - Marina Bay Sands. It will serve as a link to connect terminals 1, 2 and 3.

"When completed, Project Jewel, together with terminal 4, will boost Changi Airport's handling capacity to 85 million passenger movements a year, to cater for Changi's growth into the next decade," an airport spokesman said.

In 2012, Changi Airport handled 51 million passengers a year, an increase of 10% over 2011. It currently has a capacity of 66 million per year.

Construction is set to go ahead on terminal 4 by the end of the year on the old Budget Terminal site and due to open in 2017. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ?announced during his annual National Day rally speech over the weekend that planning is underway for a new terminal 5, which would double Changi Airport’s current capacity when it opens in the mid-2020s.

Airport officials confirmed a T5 project is in the works, but would not release further details.

Why all the accolades?

Crowned the best airport in the world at the 2013 Skytrax World Airport Awards in Geneva in April, Changi has gained a reputation for its attentive passenger experience and wide selection of entertainment services.

The airport offers free city tours to all travelers on a stopover of five hours or more, while facilities include an onsite swimming pool, gardens, nature trail and cinemas.

For more information see link below:

http://www.worldarchitecture.org/authors-links/pgnzf/worlds-best-airport-plans-to-get-even-better.html

Going back to Green!

Finland Embassy, Washingtong DC 

Happy Friday Everyone :)

In 2010, the Embassy became the first green embassy in the United States, designed by Heikkinen – Komonen Architects.^[2][3] It celebrated their LEED Gold Certification, with a party co-hosted by DC's Pink Line Project. The party featured art and musical entertainment.  - wiki


^Jeff Tabaco- flickr/cc license

The Embassy of Finland in Washington D.C. was designed by Heikkinen-Komonen Architects in 1994. It's immediately what you would expect out of Finland: clean minimalism and greenery.

The daylighting of Alvar Aalto is evident as light penetrates through the tall reception space and other strategic areas. The visitor greets blocky geometric forms and a variety of transparencies. Once inside, the visitor peers through metal and glass out into the planted forests of the site. There is a close connection to nature and a value for well-lighted, large work spaces.

Spherical shapes inside, such as the curved staircase, bring more complexity, also suggesting an exchange of cultures at this important site inside the United States capital. Compare with D.C's Swiss Embassy. - architecturerevived


^Jeff Tabaco- flickr/cc license

^Jeff Tabaco- flickr/cc license


http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/01/20/finnish_embassy_awarded_for_going_green

Go Back to School Before you Go Back to School!

Go Back to School Before you Go Back to School!

Do Enjoy Y.our E.nvironment O.f the W.eek

The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 announce CODA (Caroline O’Donnell, Ithaca, NY) as the winner of the annual Young Architects Program (YAP) in New York. Now in its 14th edition, the Young Architects Program at MoMA and MoMA PS1 is committed to offering emerging architectural talent the opportunity to design and present innovative projects, challenging each year’s winners to develop creative designs for a temporary, outdoor installation at MoMA PS1 that provides shade, seating, and water. The architects must also work within guidelines that address environmental issues, including sustainability and recycling. CODA, drawn from among five finalists, will design a temporary urban landscape for the 2013 Warm Up summer music series in MoMA PS1’s outdoor courtyard.

The winning project, Party Wall, opening at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City in late June, is a pavilion and flexible experimental space that uses its large-scale, linear form to provide shade for the Warm Up crowds, in addition to other functions.

The porous façade is affixed to a tall self-supporting steel frame that is balanced in place with large fabric containers filled with water, and clad with a screen of interlocking wooden elements donated by Comet, an Ithaca-based manufacturer of eco-friendly skateboards.

 The lower portion of the Party Wall’s façade is capable of shedding its “exterior,” as 120 panels can be detached from the structure and used as benches and communal tables during Warm Up and other diverse events and programs such as lectures, classes, performances, and film screenings.

 A shallow stage of reclaimed wood weaves around Party Wall’s base to create a series of micro-stages for performances of varying types and scales. At various locations under the structure, pools of water serve as refreshing cooling stations that can also be covered to provide additional staging space or a shaded area from the direct sunlight.

Party Wall’s steel-angle structure is ballasted by water-filled “pillows” made of polyester base fabric that will be lit at night to produce a luminous effect. Party Wall acts as an aqueduct by carrying a stream of water along the top of the structure. The water is projected from the structure, via a pressure-tank, into a fountain that feeds a misting station and a series of pools.

The other finalists for this year’s MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program were Leong Architects (New York, NY, Dominic Leong, Chris Leong); Moorhead & Moorhead (New York, NY, Granger Moorhead, Robert Moorehead); TempAgency (Charlottesville, VA, and Brooklyn, NY, Leena Cho, Rychlee Espinosa, Matthew Jull, Seth McDowell); and French 2D (Boston, MA, and Syracuse, NY, Anda French, Jenny French).

For more information and picture credits:

http://momaps1.org/yap/view/16

http://www.designboom.com/architecture/codas-party-wall-debuts-at-moma-ps1/

Microalgae Facade? Really!

The following is an article about The BIQ house which will become the world’s first pilot project to showcase a bioreactive façade.  Why? I'm glad you asked.  Reportedly, the microalgae harvests solar thermal heat and algae  in a closed loop to be stored and then fermented to generate hot water.  How would you push this technology further??  

The world’s first full-scale bioreactive façade at the BIQ house in Germany is going ‘live’ as microalgae are fed into the system for the first time.

The tiny green algae will play a huge role in determining the future potential of this technology, which aims to provide shade and a renewable fuel source for the experimental apartment.

The BIQ house was built as part of this year’s International Building Exhibition (IBA) in Hamburg. With 200m² of integrated photo-bioreactors, this innovative passive-energy house generates microalgae biomass and heat as renewable energy resources. At the same time, the system integrates additional functionalities such as dynamic shading, thermal insulation and noise abatement, highlighting the full potential of this technology.

The microalgae used in the facades are cultivated in flat panel glass bioreactors measuring 2,5m x 0,7m. In total, 129 bioreactors have been installed on the south west and south east faces of the four-storey residential building. The heart of the system is the fully automated energy management centre where solar thermal heat and algae are harvested in a closed loop to be stored and then fermented to generate hot water.

Known as "SolarLeaf", this innovative façade system is the result of three years of research and development by Colt International based on a bio-reactor concept developed by SSC Ltd and design work led by the international design consultant and engineering firm, Arup. Funding support came from the German Government’s “ZukunftBau” research initiative.

“We’ve done the research. We’ve got the units in place. Now as we add the microalgae we will see for the first time how the bioreactor façade operates in a real life situation. It is a test for the technology, but it also represents a huge step forward. If we can demonstrate that microalgae biofaçades can become a viable new source of sustainable energy production, we can transform the urban environment, as well as providing architects with a new source of inspiration.”

—Jan Wurm, Arup’s Europe Research Leader

The microalgae biofaçade goes live on 25 April 2013 when the technology will be presented in detail to the media and the team will publish comprehensive documentation on the system.

This new system is going to be distributed through Colt International.

http://www.arup.com/News/2013_04_April/25_April_World_first_microalgae_facade_goes_live.aspx