SOM Chicago building green tower in China

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP's design includes 30-storey atrium


SOM Chicago just announced that they have won a design competition to create the new Greenland Group Suzhou Center tower in Wujiang, China. The 358-meter skyscraper is slated to become a new landmark for the city, and it features a gleaming eye-like central atrium - but don't misconstrue it as Sauron's dark tower. On the contrary, the project's luminous span fills the structure with daylight and works as the lungs of the building to bring in fresh air. SOM has worked especially hard on this design to create a finely-tuned building that optimizes energy use while maximizing structural and mechanical performance.




Chicago architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP has designed a building with a lung. You might prefer to call it a 30-story operable window, or a sky atrium.

Regardless, Skidmore Design Director Ross Wimer said it is a new approach to ventilation and energy conservation in high-rise buildings. Wimer said the innovation is in the scale; the technique of using open air shafts and natural light goes back to such Chicago landmarks as the Rookery and the Santa Fe Building, works of Daniel Burnham.

The “lung” is planned for a 75-story building Skidmore is designing for Wujiang, China. Called the Greenland Group Suzhou Center, it essentially splits in two on its higher levels, then reunites as one structure near the top. The design creates a slice through the building that Wimer said will help it breathe. The space will be computer-controlled to open in the warm weather, providing a deep penetration for daylight and a fresh air source. Skidmore said the building should save 60 percent on energy use compared with a conventional high-rise.




Wimer said the design is suited for the building’s mix of uses. On the widest floors on the lower levels are offices, while a hotel and residences will be on the higher floors, where the lung provides additional views that justify premium prices.

The building, about 50 feet taller than the John Hancock Center, would be the sixth project Skidmore has handled for Greenland Group, a private firm that enjoys favor from the government. China’s central planners are encouraging growth in Wujiang, a city of about 800,000 near Shanghai.

Wimer said ground for the site alongside Taihu Lake already has been broken. In the Chinese system, that means the order has gone to Skidmore to start on the detailed work for the building. Wimer said the design should be finished in less than a year, at which time construction can start in earnest.

Also per the Chinese custom, Skidmore has not been given a budget to hit. No wonder U.S. architects vie to go over there.

Any chance Skidmore will apply some supertall razzle-dazzle to the skyline of its hometown one of these days? “That’s my dream,” Wimer said. “These 14-hour flights to China are pretty exhausting.”


Sources: http://www.suntimes.com/business/10070245-452/new-skidmore-design-has-30-story-window-to-help-skyscraper-breathe.html , http://inhabitat.com/som-unveils-soaring-daylit-tower-for-chinas-greenland-group-suzhou-center/

Origins of Green Design, Sustainable Buildings

Environmental design a key to survive, thrive

Sustainable design (also called environmental design, environmentally sustainable design, environmentally conscious design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability. The intention of sustainable design is to "eliminate negative environmental impact completely through skillful, sensitive design". Manifestations of sustainable design require no non-renewable resources, impact the environment minimally, and relate people with the natural environment.

History of Sustainable Design




Anasazi solar village Acoma a pioneering effort

Acoma Pueblo ( /ˈækəmə/; Western Keresan: Aa'ku; Zuni: Hakukya; Navajo: Haakʼoh), also known as "Sky City", is a Native American pueblo built on top of a 367-foot (112 m) sandstone mesa in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Settled around 1100, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States.

The pueblo, believed to have been established in the 12th century or earlier, was chosen in part because of its defensive position against raiders. It is regarded as one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States, along with Old Oraibi, Arizona, as both communities were settled in the 11th century. Access to the pueblo is difficult as the faces of the mesa are sheer (a topographic map shows this best). Before modern times access was gained only by means of a hand-cut staircase carved into the sandstone.

Wikipedia info on Acoma Pueblo

Acoma Pueblo architectural reconstruction

"Bright Green" environmentalism a 21st Century eco-movement

Bright green environmentalism is an ideology based on the belief that the convergence of technological change and social innovation provides the most successful path to sustainable development.


Bright Green Ecology on wikipedia.org




Sources: Wikipedia.org,

3 Leading-edge modern architecture studios

Futuristic buildings by Calatrava, Libeskind, Pelli Clarke Pelli

Santiago Calatrava

Pelli Clarke Pelli

Daniel Libeskind


1. Visionary architectural creations of Spain's Santiago Calatrava



Architectural Rendering of new World Trade Center Transportation Hub, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava






Santiago Calatrava offers architectural vision of 21st Century

A master of conceptual art and design, Santiago Calatrava is likely to be remembered as the first great architect of the 21st Century. Nothing captivates the mind and inspires the soul like the elegant buildings designed by Calatrava.

Here are some of the exquisite structures created by Santiago Calatrava:



Valencia; Calatrava's hometown





Tenerife Opera House





Valencia





Milwaukee Art Museum





Valencia, Spain


Official website of architect Santiago Calatrava





2. Wondrous 21st Century Architecture from Pelli, Clarke, Pelli



Pelli Clarke Pelli has been a leader in environmentally sustainable design for over a decade. PCP Arch designs included sustainable strategies even before the U.S. Green Building Council established its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. PCP designed the country’s first residential tower to achieve LEED Platinum, the program’s highest rating. Their vision of sustainability extends beyond the technical concerns of reducing a building’s energy consumption; they believe that to be truly sustainable, a building's design must address the economic and cultural factors that make a project successful long into the future.

Photos and renderings of buildings designed by Cesar Pelli / Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects



Miami Center for the Performing Arts








Jingui Li in Wuxi, China







San Francisco Transbay Terminal


Pelli Clarke Pelli new projects:

PCP Arch designs new computer science complex at the University of Texas at Austin

PCP Architects' Vietcom Bank project in Vietnam breaks ground

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects designs Jingui Li green development in Wuxi, China






3. Cutting edge new architecture by Daniel Libeskind





New meets old: Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto, Canada


Love them or hate them, nobody can say that Daniel Libeskind's buildings lack imagination and daring. Though it's been said that some of Daniel's creations are better for viewing than for living or working (hello ROM...) in, Libeskind's output pushes the boundaries of architectural design to the point where technology and materials allow advances in building construction.

The fact that the Daniel Libeskind Studio is also developing and implementing sustainable design policies is like cream cheese icing on a delicious pineapple carrot cake, just keeps getting better.



MGM Mirage hotel/casino complex in Las Vegas, Nevada






Grand Canal Square in Dublin, Ireland






Competition rendering for Gazprom headquarters in St. Petersburg, Russia









Libeskind-designed house in Connecticut






Daniel Libeskind's pre-fab sustainable home

Toronto architect Paul Raff a visionary greenie

Elegant designs by Toronto-based architects Paul Raff Studio not only present exquisite forms but also provide sustainable functions so crucial to progress in the 21st Century. Here's how Paul's website defines the studio's approach to eco-friendly design:

Paul Raff Studio applies the highest level thinking to issues of sustainability, helping its clients meet the world’s rapidly growing demand for environmental responsibility.

Ecological, as well as social, and economic sustainability is integral to every project. The Studio always strives to harness free energies such as sun and wind, to use local and non-toxic materials, and to apply quality construction techniques to economically achieve ecological results. Our team deploys the latest proven innovative technologies so that design and construction affect positive change. Our projects deliver high value such as reduced carbon footprint and operating costs, better health conditions for people, and preserved natural environments and access to them.

The Studio believes that good design is by nature sustainable: that projects which last a long time, perform efficiently and perform well, are a good use of resources.


Here are some projects designed by Paul Raff Studio:

Cascade House, Toronto:








Bluepoint Residences, Thailand







Garden Pavilion, Backyard Residential







Treetop Villas, Thailand




Please keep up the amazing, oh-so-crucial work!

Female Buildings: The FUTURE of Architecture

Greetings and peace 2 All!!! Welcome to 21st Century Architecture, your home for the future of green, sustainable buildings, where form meets functionality and humans become less of a drain on Gaia. To understand male architecture, one only needs to glance at a modern steel and glass skyline, which is penis-centric and angular, designed to maximize profits from a small footprint of land.

As fax machines and then the Internet have made downtown real estate less crucial, the need to go higher and higher has diminished if not disappeared. The future is not in length, but rather in what you do with it; 21st Century green buildings will be self-powered, self-heated and self-cooled, and will blend into their surrounding environments in surprising, eco-friendly ways.

Here are some images that I would consider to be female architecture, regardless of the gender of the architect: