Moscow has plans to build the world’s largest building. Called Crystal Island, it is located on the peninsula between Moscow River and Andropov Avenue.
Sir Norman Foster’s design for the 27 million square feet spiraling volcanic crystal is a “city within a building.” It will cost $4 billion and is scheduled to be built within next 5 years. The staggering 1500 ft. tall multi use structure will feature 900 apartments, 3000 hotel rooms, an international school for 500 students, cinemas, a theater, sports complex and much more. There will also be a 16,500 space underground parking lot for all the visitors. The Crystal Island visitors will enjoy panoramic views of Moscow from the viewing platforms located 980 ft. above ground.
Foster + Partners is designing sustainable features in this soon-to-be world’s biggest building. The exterior facade will use solar responsive panels which, along with wind turbines, will generate electricity for the huge tower. Natural ventilation will be provided thanks to numerous strategically placed large atriums.
The internal environment will also have dynamic enclosure panels slotted into the structural framing allowing daylight to penetrate deep into the heart of the structure. The panels will also be controlled to modify temperature inside the building – closed in winter for extra warmth and opened in summer to allow natural ventilation. Energy management is at the heart of this structure. Several on-site renewable and low-carbon energy generation projects are planned.
http://www.fosterandpartners.com/
As I mentioned, I spent my holiday in Montreal and the surrounding area. I had heard that Montreal was donned the “City of Design” but I wanted to find out exactly why. Please read below and other cities…take notes!
Montreal Designated as a City of Design by Unesco: A First in North America
MONTREAL, QUEBEC–(CCNMatthews - May 17, 2006) - “The Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity has designated Montreal as “UNESCO City of Design” as part of the Creative Cities Network,” announced today Gerald Tremblay, Mayor of Montreal, and Benoit Labonte, member of the executive committee responsible for culture, heritage and design.
With this honour, Montreal becomes the first North American city to join the recent UNESCO City of Design network after Buenos Aires (August 2005) and Berlin (November 2005), in addition to other cities recognized by UNESCO in other fields of excellence, including literature, music, food, cinema, folk art and digital arts.
Through this award, UNESCO recognized the effort and enthusiasm of the public and private sectors, Montreal civil society, as well as the city’s potential for economic and social development in the field of design. With the participation of the design community, Design Montreal, applied for this honour at the request of Benoit Labonte and the Montreal executive committee. The certificate will be presented by Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization as part of a visit to Montreal scheduled for the month of June.
“After becoming the headquarters of the International Design Alliance (ICSID and ICOGRADA) last year, this UNESCO award represents major international recognition for Montreal and all our creators and players involved in the fields of design, culture and economy,” said Mayor Tremblay. “This title rewards the sustained efforts by Montreal and its partners since the publication of the Picard Report in 1986 which focused on design as one of the priorities of metropolitan economic development. Montreal already exports knowledge in the field of strategic design promotion, since its original Commerce Design Montreal concept was picked up by the cities of New York, Saint-Etienne and Lyon, and it will continue to do so as part of the “UNESCO Creative Cities Network”. Design is also one of the elements of the Imagining - Building Montreal 2025 game plan, in which Montreal committed itself to becoming one of the world’s most attractive cities, through design quality and innovation,” added Mayor Tremblay.
“Design is a strategic strength that Montreal must develop. The honour bestowed by UNESCO acknowledges both past experience and our visible commitment in the field of design. It must now serve as an incentive lever to accelerate implementation of the recent municipal action plan Montreal, Design de ville / Ville de design, launched in September 2005. We firmly believe that a strong combination of design, architecture and urban development contributes directly to the quality of life in Montreal, highlights the sense of pride of Montrealers, as well as the interest of visitors and investors,” said Benoit Labonte.
Montreal is a city where design and designers, be they involved in the fields of interior, industrial, graphic, fashion or architectural design, represent a dynamic force of cultural and economic life. According to recent statistics, design is responsible for 20,356 jobs in Montreal’s metropolitan area and economic spin-offs of more than $750 million. Also, 65.3% of Quebec workers involved in the field of design live in the metropolitan area. Montreal is the only North American city to have established, as early as 1991, a bureau dedicated exclusively to the development and promotion of design. Important achievements are owed to this bureau, including the Commerce Design Montreal competition, which has contributed to the rise of Montreal as a city of design.
Montreal is clearly part of the network of cities of knowledge in the field of design with four universities teaching design, architecture and urban planning, as well as five university research chairs in those fields. Montreal is also home to a rich network of high-level establishments dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of design, including the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Centre de design de l’UQAM, as well as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts with its decorative arts collection. Montreal also hosts numerous design-related events, several of which occur in May, referred to as Design Month. They include the Montreal International Interior Design Show and the Gala des prix de l’Institut de Design Montreal.
According to the interim director of the Arts and Cultural Business Division, Mr. Indrasen Vencatachellum, “The global alliance of UNESCO has created the Creative Cities Network to support cultural pluralism and to make creativity an essential engine of economic and social development. This network wishes to promote development by using the potential of local cultural industries through partnerships with the public and private sectors, sharing sound practices and knowledge internationally. By using this network as a springboard, cities pool their experiences to help each other to strengthen local skills and increase the diversity of cultural products available on the national and international markets.”
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=30945&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
David Wiseman, graduate of RISD, is a dreamer at heart and a technical designer in his own right. His profound love of nature has been an inspiration to him in his beautiful porcelain light fixtures and ceiling and wall designs. His works were most recently on display for the public at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Triennial, “Design Life Now.” The hand-crafted nature of his work gives it a magical quality that feels very organic.
“Every girl lives for individuality and mode. We all look for a safe place to be when we are in love with a big city…so. We stay in chic clothes.”
Nuj Novakhett designs “for women who are secretly in love with the city of New York and want it to notice their calling”. Her designs for the Spring 08 collection are romantic yet savvy and her unique tailoring and attention to detail is what makes her brand intriguing. The creative innovations transcends a modern-classical look that pushes the envelope of design.
http://nujnovakhett.com/Main_Menu.html
I spent my Christmas holiday in Mont Tremblant, Canada, north of Montreal. I was so inspired by the mountains and the liveliness in the streets of Montreal.
I think Canadian architect, Todd Saunders captures the natural, modern spirit of the Quebecois lifestyle. His reach extends well beyond the Montreal area. While earning his bachelors, Saunders spent a semester as an exchange student at the Rhode Island School of Design, Department of Architecture.
He subsequently received a Masters of Architecture from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. While studying architecture, Saunders received an American Institute of Architects Research and Special Studies Scholarship and a Canadian-Scandinavian Travel Scholarship. Saunders traveled for 9 months from Paris to China conducting research on Ecological Housing.
While on this trip he decided that Bergen, Norway could be a great place to live and work. He has lived in Norway since 1997 and owns his own firm producing work mostly in Norway. He has projects in England, Denmark, Sweden, and Canada. The office consists of four architects from Canada, Germany, and USA.
His sculptural and natural mini-houses are peaceful and fun at the same time! Wouldn’t you love to have a ski cabin like that? I know I would!!
Peter Som is a designer after my own heart. His aesthetic of “unstudied elegance and refined sexiness” is a style any woman can wear and look sophisticated.
Peter grew up in San Francisco in a design-oriented family. Both of his parents are architects. He says this instilled in him the ideals of purity of form, function, and composition. He studied at Connecticut College and Parsons School of Design, and worked for such renowned designers as Calvin Klein and Michael Kors.
In his own collections, Peter translates his previous experiences to create designs for “tasteful women with that same spirit of effortless elegance, luxury, and allure.”
http://petersom.com/collections.html
BROISSINarchitects, in Mexico City, is the moniker of Gerardo Broissin. In his few short years in architecture, he has worked on a variety of retail showrooms, custom residences, a high-concept nightclub, and a prize-winning cultural center for Mexico City’s La Salle University.
Although he is mindful of budget constraints and client and end-user needs, Broissin avoids following any established design principle. “The moment you follow one,” he says, “you have lost the opportunity to work with fresh ideas.” He keeps his ideas fresh by entering competitions. His designs include a scheme for a modular, multifamily dwelling in Gdansk, Poland; and most recently, a residential tower for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia.
The renderings of “Urban Shelter” show Broissin’s entry in the design competition for a residential tower in Vancouver. They depict his sci-fi notion of a habitation capsule.
David Adjaye,London-based architect, designed the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, CO. The museum opened a few weeks ago, launching its inaugural exhibition ‘Star Power: Museum as Body Electric’. Apart from being Adjaye’s first US public building, it is also his first contemporary art museum worldwide.
It has been hailed for it’s innovative use of inexpensive materials and the first American museum with LEED Gold Certification. A highly environmentally sustainable use of materials complement the building’s elegant design. Plenty of natural light, 20% of recycled construction content, and light colored, highly reflective concrete are a few of the choices Adjaye made to support the museum’s green mission.
The corner-situated museum features five galleries and a rooftop pavilion. It also includes education, office and retail spaces. Designed in three stacks of varying heights, most spaces are enveloped in an exterior grey-tinted glass curtain wall.
The magazine, ArchitectureBoston, commissioned proposals from five young, local architectural firms to rethink Boston City Hall. The request was in response to the mayor’s vow to sell City Hall, after decades of neglect, and create a waterfront monument to commemorate his reign.
Howeler + Yoon Architecture is one of the firms displayed in the current issue of ArchitectureBoston, and at the Design Life Now at the Institute of Contemporary Art, in Boston (on now through January 6th).
Their innovative design, wraps the building with an elevated walkway which extends the plaza over the roof and penetrates the structure with public pathways, defining entry and interior circulation. This is a welcome change, as the Boston City Hall must be described as having impenetrable walls, deep shadows, and intimidating scale. The entrance and use are obscured from the people on the street.
It’s time for a change and this design gives the building a fresh look without building a whole new City Hall.
