Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi design unveiled by Foster and Partners

Foster  and Partners  Designs for the Zayed National Museum by have been officially unveiled today by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Conceived as a monument and memorial to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding president of the UAE, the Museum will be the centrepiece of the Saadiyat Island Cultural District and will showcase the history, culture and more recently the social and economic transformation of the Emirates.

The display spaces are housed within a man-made, landscaped mound. The galleries are placed at the bases of five solar thermal towers. The towers heat up and act as thermal chimneys to draw cooling air currents naturally through the museum. Fresh air is captured at low level and drawn through buried ground-cooling pipes and then released into the museum’s lobby. The heat at the top of the towers works to draw the air up vertically through the galleries due to the thermal stack effect. Air vents open at the top of the wing-shaped towers taking advantage of the negative pressure on the lee of the wing profile to draw the hot air out.

Here in the museum these towers are lightweight steel structures, sculpted aerodynamically to work like the feathers of a bird’s wing. The analogies with falcons and flight are deliberate and relate directly to Sheikh Zayed’s love of falconry. This theme is further celebrated by a gallery devoted to the subject as part of a wider focus on conservation. These inner spaces open up to an outdoor arena for live displays with hunting birds.

About Foster and Partners:

Foster + Partners' architecture is driven by the pursuit of quality - a belief that our surroundings directly influence the quality of our lives, whether in the work place, at home or the public spaces in between. It is not just buildings but urban design that affects our well-being. We are concerned with the physical context of a project, sensitive to the culture and climate of their place. We have applied the same priorities to public infrastructure world-wide - in our airports, railway stations, metros, bridges, communication towers, regional plans and city centres. The quest for quality embraces the physical performance of buildings.

Source: http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/429/Default.aspx

Amazing Design - Wilkinson Residence by Robert Harvey Oshatz

Wilkinson Residence is an example of amazing design and architecture work by Robert Harvey Oshatz.  Imagine yourself, sun rays kissing you through the gaps between bunches of leaves in a forest. What a feeling. You will be more thrilled when that tree house is designed by an architect with a creative use of interior and exterior. Check out this Wilkinson Residence, an amazing tree house by Robert Harvey Oshatz.

By the Architect:

Wilkinson Residence
Portland , Oregon
Designed: 1997
Completed: 2004

Located on a flag lot, a steep sloping grade provided the opportunity to bring the main level of the house into the tree canopy to evoke the feeling of being in a tree house. A lover of music, the client wanted a house that not only became part of the natural landscape but also addressed the flow of music. This house evades the mechanics of the camera; it is difficult to capture the way the interior space flows seamlessly through to the exterior. One must actually stroll through the house to grasp its complexities and its connection to the exterior. One example is a natural wood ceiling, floating on curved laminated wood beams, passing through a generous glass wall which wraps around the main living room.

Source: http://www.oshatz.com/text/wilkinson.htm

Mercedes Benz Biome unveiled in LA Auto Show Design Challenge 2010

Biome

Biome is the Mercedes Benz’s concept car for this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge 2010. 

 The theme of this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge 2010 addresses society's shift toward minimizing consumption of the earth's resources. The objective is to envision an efficient, light-weight, four passenger vehicle (not to exceed 1,000 lbs.), that is both comfortable and safe, while delivering satisfactory driving performance without sacrificing the styling consumers demand. 

“We wanted to illustrate the vision of the perfect vehicle of the future,” said Hubert Lee, head of the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studios in Carlsbad. “The Biome is a natural technology hybrid and forms part of our earth’s ecosystem. It grows and thrives like the leaves on a tree.”

Mercedes Benz Biome

 Check out Los Angeles Auto Show website http://www.laautoshow.com/DC10/