Landscaping

The healing power of nature plays a large role in Henning Larsen Architects’ winning design for an extension to Denmark’s Herlev Hospital. Here exterior spaces are as carefully planned as interior ones, affording occupants in all areas of the extension some contact with the outdoors. The organizing principles of the new addition also accommodate state-of-the-art developments in patient care.

Anyone who has glimpsed New Zealand’s picturesque beaches or the rolling green hills and mountainous terrain showcased in films like "The Lord of the Rings" can imagine why New Zealanders value their country’s natural beauty and enjoy spending time outdoors. Team New Zealand is competing in the 2011 Solar Decathlon and is comprised of Victoria University of Wellington students from the Schools of Architecture, Design, Marketing, Commerce, Tourism Management, and Building Sciences. Their entry is titled First Light because “New Zealand is the first place the morning light shines at the start of a new day,” and it conveys the students’ pride in their country to attendees on the National Mall in Washington, DC, all the way on the other side of the world. In fact, First Light is the Solar Decathlon’s first and only entry from the Southern Hemisphere.

Upon first blush, the term “Lean Construction” seems to lack the hype usually associated with the latest and greatest, best and brightest product of construction firms interested in getting the attention of their clients, who always want to save money and receive greater value in the buildings. The relentless quest for ways to improve the often provincial construction processes at work for projects from the large to the small, from the simple to the complex. Indeed, the construction industry is haunted by the constant beckoning of high-tech solutions; in most other primary industrial arenas, factory lines, supply chains, and sophisticated “back office” functions have created greater efficiencies and much better products.

The performance of green buildings is a very hot topic in both the construction and real estate industries. As owners demand lower operating expenses, more and more new construction and existing building retrofits are being designed to a very high standard. However, as owners are finding out, those high design standards create only the opportunity for a green building. It’s what is done with that opportunity that defines both a building’s operations and the occupants inside it.

Houses are stationary objects, so using terms like “passive” and “active” to describe them initially seems a little odd. These terms actually embody design strategies that create comfort for occupants while drastically cutting down on energy use.

It’s that time again. The tuition bills start coming in. The textbooks start piling up. Relieved parents start counting down the days in anticipation of a little more peace and quiet… and students ready themselves emotionally for due dates, slop from the dining facility, and doing their own laundry. With the dread of the coming semester, however, students embrace the independence of getting out of the parental home and into the dorm. Making a dorm room feeling like home, however, can present a few challenges. Due to their smaller size and the fact that these spaces are often shared, dorms can present quite a few limitations on design – particularly if strict rules govern wall hangings and painting. We’ve come up with a few dorm design trends and ideas, however, that you can use to enhance your space and brighten your surroundings for the start of the school year.

After seven years of planning, design, and construction, J. Mayer H. Architects' Metropol Parasol in Seville, Spain, is a cultural and civic celebration of exuberance and hope -- and a striking testimonial to the spirit and dedication of the people of Seville in creating it. This mixed-use, total redevelopment of the Plaza de la Encarnacion covers over 18,000 m2 (approximately 193,750 square feet) and cost 90 million euros (approximately 129,501,000 U.S. Dollars). Completed in March 2011, the Metropol Parasol project, which defines the Plaza de la Encarnacion, brings welcome life to an important urban space (once a blighted parking lot) in what is becoming the hub of Seville, including a farmers' market, observatory, archaeological museum, and city-view promenades.

CHIP Off a New Block

There are two facts about living in Los Angeles: real estate is expensive, and cars are beloved, if only out of necessity. A team of students from Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) created CHIP, an affordable home that acknowledges both facts while saving energy. This 2011 Solar Decathlon entry employs conventional materials in unconventional ways, offering a new prototype for living in LA (and, yes, it protects your car, too).