zaha hadid architects: chaoyangmen SOHO III
chaoyangmen SOHO III by zaha hadid architectszaha hadid architects recently unveiled plans of their project chaoyangmen SOHO III,
located in the city center of beijing. with the headquarters building of the ministry
of foreign affairs on its east and chaoyangmen soho I and II on its north, it is surrounded
by different urban amenities including outdoor space, offices and residential spaces.
the total construction area of the project is 334,000 square meters, of which 166,000
and 86,000 square meters are designated for offices and retail uses respectively.the project is designed based on the traditional chinese courtyard, an inner space within
a building. chaoyangmen SOHO III was conceived as a series of continuous and flowing
volumes that coalesce, which fuse and pull apart as stretched bridges to create a world
of continuous mutual adaptation.
chaoyangmen SOHO III – inner courtyard
chaoyangmen SOHO III aerial view rendering
Manhattan Population By Day, Manhattan By Night
I love NYC to bits. But when I see the millions of people shifting in and out Manhattan in a pretty pretty graphic like this, I feel vertigo. And then, when I see the subway statistics, I feel panic.(more…)
Solar Phone Concept Charges On Your Wrist
Speaking as a guy who rarely goes outside, this concept would be very much the same as a regular phone, but it is a neat looking flexible device that doubles as a watch when not in use.(more…)
European Freight Train Trials Use Faux Satellites, Railways
Investigators in Germany are testing a satellite navigation system that promises faster, safer freight transport on Europe’s railways. All they needed to perform the trials were eight fake satellites and one mock 86-acre rail yard.
The European Union claims their Galileo satellite navigation system — a competitor and complement to the US’ Global Positioning System and Russia’s GLONASS – is so accuratethat it can be used to implement an automated train control (ATC) system at railyards. With ATC, individual freight cars can automatically be classified onto appropriate trains, saving time and decreasing the possibility of railyard accidents.
There’s only one problem: Galileo won’t be ready for another four years. As a result, engineers at Siemens had to create a reasonable facsimile of the system in order to test their ATC technology.
Siemens’ RailGATE project (GATE is an acronym for “application center for ground transportation” in German) is taking place on 17 miles of faux railway at the company’sWegberg-Wildenrath testing facility (shown above). “The aim is to explore potential applications for the future Galileo satellite system in rail-bound transportation and to make it even more reliable in future,” the company said in a statement.
In order to simulate the signals from the Galileo satelite, Siemens built eight signal generators they call “pseudolites” which transmit the same signals that trains would receive from Galileo. During the trial, trains are being shunted and classified in a series of test tracks that mimic real-world applications, such as in a busy depot with multiple arriving trains or in a wooded forest where reception may be blocked.
Should the tests be successful they may revitalize the EU’s rail freight, a sector of transport where Europe lags behind much of the rest of the world. Freight transit by rail has declinedfrom a high of 21 percent in 1970 to a low of 8 percent in 1998. The European Commission White Paper on Transit envisions a world where Galileo and ATC lead a shift in freight transit from funny-looking flat-front trucks to relatively more efficient trains.
Photo: Siemens AG. The Wegberg-Wildenrath testing facility now features eight “pseudolites” to test the EU’s incomplete Galileo global satellite navigation system.
jun yasumoto: phyto purification bathroom
‘phyto purification bathroom’
image courtesy jun yasumotojapanese born, paris based designer jun yasumoto developed ‘phyto purification bathroom’
together with alban le henry, olivier pigasse and vincent vandenbrouck.
formodesign: house on the water
house on the water by formodesign
image courtesy formodesignhouse on the water by polish firm formodesign is a proposal for a single family home.
designed with sustainability in mind the house takes into consideration water desalination,
energy accumulation, ventilation methods, water recycling, heat and energy consumption,
tidal and solar energy.
Indian land ‘seriously degraded’
Orbis is like a Segway that actually fits on city sidewalks
Segways have had a tough time in big cities, mostly because the city planners can’t seem to decide whether they should be ridden on the street or the sidewalk. Here in New York City they remain banned, as their wide stance would be a nightmare on our jammed sidewalks.The Orbis Urban Mobility Vehicle might be one answer. Looking kind of like a one wheeled Segway, the Orbis’ handle can be folded around the wheel, making it somewhat portable. This means that you can hide away your geeky transportation device once you get to work. Unfortunately, you’ll still look like a total dork when riding it.
Killer Ants Under Attack in Australia!
Destructive and deadly ants are being attacked down-under from up above. As part of theNational Fire Ant Eradication Program (NFAEP), the Australian government is going high-tech to eradicate the fire ant. NFAEP, which began in 2001, is a national program used to control and eradicate fire ants. In 2001, 65,000 nests were discovered.
Lasers to Help Whip Wind Energy into Shape
How do you make a better wind turbine? With lasers, of course.
The Manassas, Virginia-based Catch the Wind(TSX-V: CTW.S) has signed an agreement to work with the National Renewable Energy Lab in Boulder, Colorado, to test the company’s Vindicator laser wind sensor.
Animal proteins: the good, the bad and the ugly
Meat imports in 2005 and Meat consumption displayed as kilograms of CO2 equivalents per 100 kilocalories of product for major countries around the world.chris boardman: intelligent bike concept
cyclist chris boardman unveiled his latest cycle concept to the world’s media yesterday. the new ‘intelligent’ bike counts calories as you pedal, plays music and uses a solar-powered motor when you get tired.The Pentagon’s War Against Carbon
There is a good conversation going on over in another corner of the web about the key hurdles that the White House faces in getting climate change legislation through the Senate. One of the issues I raised in that context is that outside of the Northeast and West Coast, climate change is still a “granola” issue and that supporters will need to grab on to some other arguments (i.e., national security, peak oil and the economy, etc.) if they are going to get a win. That change in tone began in earnest with Sunday’s NYT front-pager, but just because it is smart politics does not make it good policy.
Cloud-Generating 1900-Ship Armada To Sink Climate Change
The Copenhagen Consensus Centre—a respected European think tank which used to be skeptic on climate change—is now advising that we should spend $US9 billion in building 1900 cloud-generating ships like the one above. Why? To cool down Earth: (more…)
RMJM architects: green development, istanbul, turkey
green development atasehir district, istanbul turkey by RMJM architects
image courtesy RMJM architectsinternational firm RMJM architects unveiled plans of their 1 billion USD development
in istanbul, which will be one of the ‘greenest’ projects in turkey.
UK Supermarket Turns 5,000 Tons Of Meat Into Energy
It’s an odd week for fuel sources. On the heels of a Mountain Dew powered engine, UK supermarket Tesco is getting flack for turning meat into energy–yah, you read that right.
The food chain is burning 5,000 tons of inedible meat for fuel. The biomass processing is being handled by the Cheshire-based PDM Group. The meat-energy is then used to power UK homes via the National Grid.
In fact, Tesco says they dispose of enough old meat to power 600 homes a year!
Number of extra skin cancer cases related to UV radiation
The most widely recognised damage occurs to the skin. The direct effects are sun burn, chronic skin damage (photo-aging) and an increased risk of developing various types of skin cancer. Models predict that a 10 per cent decrease in the ozone in the stratosphere could cause an additional 300,000 non-melanoma and 4,500 (more dangerous) melanoma skin cancers worldwide annually.
jacques ferrier architects: french pavillion at shanghai expo 2010
the french pavillion at shanghai expo 2010
image courtesy jacques ferrier architectsjacques ferrier architects were selected to design the french pavillion at shanghai expo 2010.
their project ‘the sensual city’ is a simple building with a big style french garden inside.
surrounded by water it appears to be floating. the 6000 square meter pavillion will use advanced
building materials and environmental protection technology including solar panels on top of the roof.
aerial view of french pavillion
image courtesy jacques ferrier architects
visitors will be able to walk on top of the roof
image courtesy jacques ferrier architects
the french pavillion at night
image courtesy jacques ferrier architects
the french pavillion during the day
image courtesy jacques ferrier architects
