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:: JUMP studios :: Architecture and design ::
Amazing! Take a look at the RedBull HQ under the Projects Node.
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Building A Sustainable World!
Earthship Biotecture creates buildings that...
heat and cool themselves naturally via solar/thermal dynamics
collect their own power from the sun and wind
harvest their own water from rain and snow melt
contain and treat their own sewage on site
produce food in significant quantities
utilize materials that
are byproducts of modern society
like cans, bottles and tires. Earthship Biotecture creates buildings that... heat and cool themselves naturally via solar/thermal dynamics ... more -
Fog in Dubai cityscape...
I always thought views like this came from airplanes.
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Surreal Islands of Dubai
Ever thought about buying your own country? Well it just got a whole lot easier. The World islands are currently being built four miles off the cost of Dubai. They will be finished this year and include wacky themes like a pirate island, a medieval castle island, and even a safari island shaped like an African country complete with its own wild animals. Watching their promo video makes you feel like you have just fast-forwarded into the future, kinda creepy Really interesting! This pod will take the viewers into this totally surreal set of islands, talk to its developers and residents and see what The World is really like, Dubai style. Ever thought about buying your own country? Well it just got a whole lot easier. The World islands are currently being built four mi... more
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Lost in the New Beijing: The Old Neighborhood
HISTORICAL cycles that took a century to unfold in the West can be compressed into less than a decade in today’s China. And that’s as true of Beijing’s preservation movement as it is of the nation’s ferocious building boom.
The explosion of construction activity that has transformed Beijing into a modern metropolis over the past decade also turned many of its historical neighborhoods — known for their narrow alleyways, or hutongs — into rubble. As grass-roots preservationists began sounding the alarm, the aging wood frames and tile roofs of the ancient courtyard houses that give these neighborhoods their identity were being supplanted so quickly by mighty towers that it was hard to pinpoint where they once stood.
Now, as they labor to protect what remains, Chinese preservationists are facing a new, equally insidious threat: gentrification. The few ancient courtyard houses that survived destruction have become coveted status symbols for the country’s growing upper class and for wealthy foreign investors. As more and more money is poured into elaborate renovations, the phenomenon is not only draining these neighborhoods of their character but also threatening to erase an entire way of life.
Meanwhile the intense focus on the fate of the hutongs has eclipsed an equally pressing preservation issue, the demolition of Socialist-style housing from the 1950s and ’60s. The imminent threat is historical censorship: a vision of the past that is so thoroughly edited that it will soon have little relation to the truth. HISTORICAL cycles that took a century to unfold in the West can be compressed into less than a decade in today’s China. And that’s as ... more -
Beijing gets its Eiffel Tower, of sorts
BEIJING — London has Big Ben, Paris has the Eiffel Tower , San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge and now Beijing has an iconic structure that's likely to identify the city forever.
It's an audacious monolith that looks like two drunken high-rise towers leaning over and holding each other up at the shoulders.
The eye-catching building, which is nearly finished, will be the headquarters of China Central Television, the staid propaganda arm of China's ruling Communist Party , and it's perhaps the boldest and most daring of several new buildings that have given Beijing a stunning new appearance for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games.
In keeping with the playful nature of the new buildings, all have weird popular names. There's "the egg" and the "bird's nest." The "water cube" isn't far away, and lastly there's "short pants," also known as the "twisted doughnut."
The last of them is the new television building, the CCTV headquarters, and it can nearly make one dizzy standing on the ground and looking up at its odd, teetering 49-story towers connected by a multistory, cantilevered, jagged cross section over open space at a vertiginous 36 stories up in the air.
Designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, the building has been called an "angular marvel" and a "dazzling reinvention of the skyscraper."
Its engineering is so complex that the designers say such a building couldn't have been built a few years ago. That's because it took immense computing power to ensure that the design could withstand huge pressures in the earthquake-prone capital. Some 10,000 tons of steel were used in its construction.
As much as it's a challenge to gravity, the building is a challenge to the mind, critics say, defying conventions of skyscrapers as vertical shafts thrusting straight up.
---more at link below--
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080720/wl_mcclatchy...
---for some reason it won't let me link it in the URL....---
At the link above picture is more buildings. BEIJING — London has Big Ben, Paris has the Eiffel Tower , San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge and now Beijing has an iconic str... more -
Persia: Ancient soul of Iran
I would like to visit and see the natural and cultural splendor of Iran... Here are some photographs. Enjoy
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The solution to big city pollution.
This prototype is called the "Hybrid Air Breeze Tower" I hope you enjoy this idea.
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Rem Koolhaas - An Obsessive Compulsion towards the Spectacular
Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas talks about new trends in architecture and urban development, the end of the European city, the rise of Dubai, Russia and China, the obsession with XXXL and the difference between the people who design buildings for a living and "star architects."
Read the interview... Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas talks about new trends in architecture and urban development, the end of the European city, the rise of D... more -
Who wants to buy a piece of the House that Ruth Built
20,000 seats are going to put up for sale a grand a pop...
A piece of history...
Just think of how much the Yankee locker room urinal where greats like Mattingly, Maris, and Mantle once whizzed could go for... 20,000 seats are going to put up for sale a grand a pop... A piece of history... ... more -
Ever seen a creepier tower?
i can’t actually believe i’ve not written about this tower before today.
i saw it for the first time a few years back and still remember how initially confused i was. maybe i blocked it from my mind to prevent nightmares. then this morning i, for some reason, had a flashback to that very day of discovery and actually got annoyed with myself for not writing about it sooner. anyway, better late than never. we’ll start the photos from afar and then get closer with each picture as i want to make the experience as creepy as possible for you. i can’t actually believe i’ve not written about this tower before today. ... more -
Creatives grow better in the South West
Behind the scenes tour of of an award-winning creative farm, juicing process and distribution in South West England.
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Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Historic Cooperstown
Cooperstown was founded in 1786 by William Cooper, a judge and member of Congress. Several of the stone houses that William Cooper built in Cooperstown still remain standing in the village.
The son of William Cooper, James Fenimore Cooper, became one of the best-loved novelists in the United States with his “Glimmerglass” tales, including his most noted work, “The Last of the Mohicans.”
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was established in Cooperstown in 1939. It cemented Coopertown's place in American history.
A number of vintage photographs and three videos are included (a video of vintage photographs of Cooperstown; vintage film clips of Babe Ruth; and a documentary about the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum).
Have a look at these historic pieces and enjoy yourself!! Cooperstown was founded in 1786 by William Cooper, a judge and member of Congress. Several of the stone houses that William Cooper bu... more -
Country, the City Version: Farms in the Sky Gain New Interest
What if “eating local” in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew off the grid, as verdant, self-sustaining towers where city slickers cultivated their own food?
A very interesting article that shows that this type of building is gaining traction, I think it would be a valuable addition to any urban skyline. What if “eating local” in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew of... more -
Cabbages in the sky: skyscraper farms the future of food?
What if "eating local" in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew off the grid, as verdant, self-sustaining towers where city slickers cultivated their own food? asks the Internationa; Herald Tribune today.
Dr. Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, hopes to make these zucchini-in-the-sky visions a reality. Despommier's pet project is the "vertical farm," a concept he created in 1999 with graduate students in his class on medical ecology, the study of how the environment and human health interact.
The idea, which has captured the imagination of several architects in the United States and Europe in the past several years, just caught the eye of another big city dreamer: Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president in New York.
When Stringer heard about the concept in June, he said he immediately pictured a "food farm" addition to the New York City skyline. "Obviously we don't have vast amounts of vacant land," he said in a phone interview. "But the sky is the limit in Manhattan." Stringer's office is "sketching out what it would take to pilot a vertical farm," and plans to pitch a feasibility study to the mayor's office within the next couple of months, he said.
"I think we can really do this," he added. "We could get the funding."
Will skyscraper farms start appearing on a skyline near you, and would you welcome them? What would you grow outside your office or flat? Traffic-fumed tomatoes and acid rain-watered apples. Yum.
What if "eating local" in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew of... more -
FORDBRADY Design Showcase
The FORDBRADY Design Showcase is perfect example of true mixed use design space that houses some of the world's best designers. This living, breathing space is situated in the historical Kim Sing Theatre and completely reenvisioned by partners Willard Ford and John Brady. This cutting edge space also currently features environmental, fashion designers and the works of legendary artist Tobias Keene, courtesy of The Earl McGrath Gallery. To find out more please visit fordbrady.com.
For More Great Content Please Visit culturaldiplomat.com The FORDBRADY Design Showcase is perfect example of true mixed use design space that houses some of the world's best designers. This l... more -
Micro-compact green homes: the future for young people?
Architect Richard Horden has designed a village of seven tiny, prefabricated homes, called "m-ch" (micro-compact home), for students at the University of Munich, the Guardian reports.
And now the homes are now heading to the UK - the Irwell Valley Housing Association is building six in Manchester to provide temporary accommodation for key workers, and a private client in London has made a planning application to build one on their land. And one is about to go on show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as part of an exhibition on contemporary living.
Each m-ch is just 2.6m sq - the size of an average living room - but has two pull-down beds, toilet (with pull-across screen), shower, table with seating for four, bookshelves and a kitchen area with sink, two-ring cooking hob, microwave, fridge, freezer and cupboards.
The homes are energy efficient, too. "Our aim is to be carbon neutral, using solar panels," says Horden, a partner at UK practice Horden Cherry Lee architects. "With all the fixed lights on, you are using the same energy as a single 80w bulb."
Each unit costs around £26,000.
As the credit crunch hits, could this be a solution for young people without the capital to buy their own standard-size home? Could live in a mirco-compact home like this? And if so, where the bloody hell would you put it?
Architect Richard Horden has designed a village of seven tiny, prefabricated homes, called "m-ch" (micro-compact home), for students a... more -
Floating City Designs Released to Combat Rising Sea Levels
Vincent Callebaut has designed some very cool floating city designs. Could these designs be the answer to the threat of rising sea levels offering a safe haven for people who have lost their homes to flooding?
Rather than building up our city's defences with dams, Vincent Callebaut has put forward an alternative future for the victims of rising water if current climate change predictions take affect.
The floating ecopolis, inspired by Amazonian lilypads, are designed to be completely self-sufficient in both power and water, through solar power, wind turbines and rainfall collection. Vincent Callebaut has designed some very cool floating city designs. Could these designs be the answer to the threat of rising sea lev... more -
Between Earth and Heaven
UCLA's Hammer Museum upcoming exhibition, "Between Earth and Heaven, the architecture of John Lautner," show cases the late architect's great works. UCLA's Hammer Museum upcoming exhibition, "Between Earth and Heaven, the architecture of John Lautner," show cases the late architect... more
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Bringing semantic technology to the enterprise
As seen at the recent 2008 Semantic Technology conference in San Jose, serious interest in corporate use of semantic technology continues to grow rapidly. Semantically-enabled applications are increasingly seen as fertile ground for Web 2.0 applications such as mash ups as well as the basis for innovative business intelligence strategies, internal collaboration wikis, and rich canonical models for service-oriented architectures (SOA).
What’s lacking, however, is a clear understanding of where semantic technology fits in enterprise architectures. Should it be thought of primarily as purely a web technology to integrate information on the presentation layer? Should it be seen as closer to the data layer of the application because of its potential to bring disparate sets of data together? Alternatively, should semantic technology be focused on the increasingly important middle layer of enterprise architectures where messaging and service implementations live?
Semantic technology's perennial problem is to gain enough traction to be taken seriously in the corporate world—lest it suffer the fate of object databases—exciting ideas with only niche adoption. Currently, semantic technology is all about “critical mass,” for example, having broad enough adoption that it becomes ubiquitous. Its place in enterprise architecture needs to be clarified; if we don’t know ourselves where it fits, we’re going to have a hard time explaining it to anyone else and an even harder time getting anyone to finance the dollars to make it happen!
First, let’s look at a typical current corporate architecture. With rare exceptions, nearly every real corporate architecture has grown organically. Most mature companies have multiple databases and multiple programming paradigms. People who are new to the field would be shocked at how many major systems continue to run on mainframes accessed via a “green screen” (a dumb terminal that connects to the mainfraime and nothing else). Most of us who’ve been around a while thought these would be long gone, but the reality is that a huge proportion of corporate computing continue to run on mainframes. These systems are simply too complex to rebuild. Newer systems tend to be built on more open platforms—but real architectures are nearly always hybrids—they mix the most modern Web 2.0 features with systems that are at least a decade old.
Many applications in a real corporate environment remain as two-tiered applications, connecting directly from the data layer to the presentation layer. Applications built since 1990 are commonly comprised of three tiers with either a J2EE, .Web server, or a .NET application intervening between the data and the UI. As service-oriented architectures have proliferated and enterprise service buses become common, the intervening layers have become “thicker,” decoupling the entire presentation layer and application layer from the underlying data stores.
Semantic technology is a collection of technologies, rather than a single model, so it can fit into more than one place. For simple data aggregation “on the glass” or in a thin application close on the UI—in the mode of Web 2.0 applications—the presentation layer is an appropriate target. Using XSLT or other presentation tools, information can be mashed directly on this layer. A corporate collaboration wiki could use this layer to interconnect data from a wide range of sources. As seen at the recent 2008 Semantic Technology conference in San Jose, serious interest in corporate use of semantic technology contin... more
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Architecture
