Art installation in Vadi Salib

'Lively Architecture Festival' in Montpellier

http://www.yatzer.com/the-encounter-lively-architecture-festival-montpelier-yatzer

''Floats'', a site-specific installation of oversized silver balloon disks. The disks reminiscent of a donut’s shape were aimed at inviting people to explore their form and shape. The disks were a welcome addition to the courtyard filling the space and serving as a continuation of a research program that is in progress examining the possibilities of sensation that ephemeral objects in a constructed environment, evoke.

''Between Doors'', an installation by MOBA STUDIO (I. Kovačević / Y. Vašourková/ K. Srámková / Z. Kuldová / B. Simonová / M. Neruda /T. Dufková). The array of doors, which the architects turned into an interactive installation, was aimed at reintroducing the public to the sometimes forgotten value of personal contact. Moba Studio selected different doors from demolished buildings and installed them in the middle of a courtyard inviting the public to open them thereby encountering their history and what they represent. The doors selected were from a prison, an apartment and a shopping gallery. When the visitors opened the different doors, they came into direct contact with the different ‘worlds’ that the doors represented. This intellectual game communicated to the public the meaning of a real and personal contact in a very direct and yet metaphorical way.

''Ma Cour dants ta cour'', an installation by Plux.5 (M. Charbonneau / O. Bourgeois / J-B Morissette / J-P Saucier /  E. Bernier) won the public’s prize and was aimed at investigating The Encounter between the image of the courtyard from Montpellier and the allegory of the Quebecois courtyard through its archetypes. The installation was playful, colourful and intrigued the visitors’ imagination.

''Expo d'expe'' by GoaGroup (N. Canessa / N. Pisani / G. Pisani / P. Raffetto) won the Jury Prize. This installation made out of huge white cylinders, invited the public to hide and wander around it. Again an undertone of the sense of community and communication was evoked and developed as the visitors explored this interactive installation. Once more, the Encounter theme was perfectly manifested through this sight-specific installation, which encouraged the visitors to leave their traces, by drawing on the white cylinders.

The Special Award was given to Remy Roux for the installation: ''Balade Sensorielle'', an installation, which was more like a sensory trip. Through sitting on the wooden frames/boxes, visitors were encouraged to try and guess who was at the other end. The installation’s aim was to develop their curiosity and their urge to discover the person at the other side.   ''Balade Sensorielle'' was a witty and interactive installation aimed at sharpening someone’s perception.

The ''DOTS'' Installation by RD Factory (S. Dambielle/ F. Roussin) was a passage of oversized dots aimed at encouraging visitors to take small and different steps. In such a way, visitors were able to create their own channel within the colourful dots around them animating and in a way dictating their own distinct route.

The ''Will'' installation by Universite D’AALTO was a textile sculpture in the middle of a courtyard. The light, which came through, created different shades while the wind moved the textiles making it look like a living organism within the space.

''Ondes De Choc'' by D!ENTRE (Florine Sachy / Arnaud Manneheut / Audrey Rzentkowski / Jérôme Scorielle), was a spectacular sound installation aimed at providing a meeting point between heritage and contemporary architecture. When people visited the courtyard, the installation moved and created sounds, which in turn symbolized the merger of the space’s heritage with modern architecture.

Pavilion Spéciale 2012 / Ball Nogues Studio

Ball Nogues Studio, this year’s winner, drawn among 8 finalists, will design with students an installation that will create a sense of place while providing a respite from the sun and rain. ‘The Pavilion is a unique structure, in architecture terminology; the phrase that describes a system whose form is derived from the deformation of its materials under force is “form active.” This type of structure is difficult to study using software. It often requires architects to explore their designs by testing full-scale mock-ups, and using that empirical information to help inform the process of digital modeling, which is studied in the studio rather than in the field. Students will therefore engage in this iterative design process with Ball Nogues.

The structure is comprised of approximately 200 “cells”, each made from locally sourced plastic tubing that will be bent and curled in custom jigs designed and constructed by students.  To provide shade, each cell will have a locally sourced sheet material spanning between the tubes within it. The cell module is a very effective way of constructing a temporary structure: each can be transported as a flat unit and rapidly assembled on site; when it is time for the structure to come down, dismantling and transportation to a new site is easy’. 

http://www.archdaily.com/218972/pavilion-speciale-2012-ball-nogues-studio/

Rooftop Vertical Farm

The chef of the restaurant John Mooney uses a pulley to send his crops all the way down to the restaurant below his vertical garden served to their customer fresh. This idea really helps in keeping the environment safe and clean. First, one needs not to spend so much carbon in transporting crops and produce because all they need is a pulley. Next, the plants themselves are great filter of air pollutants thus; fresh and clean air is highly possible in this rooftop vertical farm.

http://www.igreenspot.com/have-a-good-and-clean-harvest-with-your-rooftop-vertical-farm/

The Riverpark Farm In NYC

The Riverpark Farm is located at the Alexandria Center and is hailed as New York City’s most urban farm. The farm then produce fresh and local produce to its adjacent restaurant, the Riverpark Restaurant. In this way, carbon emission produce for transporting produce will be minimized if not eliminated, which is good for the environment. Other large cities, should take the Riverpark Farm in NYC as their example and go hand in hand in saving the environment.

http://www.igreenspot.com/enjoy-fresh-produce-with-the-riverpark-farm-in-nyc/

RYCKAERTSPLEIN

The renovation of the station area at the edge of the city of Antwerp brought back a coherent relationship between the 2 ha square and the infrastructure surrounding it. Instead of just being a traditional station square, a place for passing through, West 8 sought to achieve a constantly changing perspective effect in a garden for the passers-by.

Freeform patterns of natural stone, gravel and 80cm high, evergreen hedges create a silent inward turning world interacting with the busy travellers; It is defining arbitrary routes through the station square.

http://www.west8.nl/projects/public_space/ryckaertsplein/

COUR DE LOGES

The green garden is located inside a contemporary urban block. The ‘Cour des loges’ is made of a composition of five distinct volumetric buildings. The roof garden connects the different buildings with each other and give coherence to the public area.

. The different heights and scales make it possible to plant trees. The sculptural Ginkgo Biloba trees, placed in inclination, are supported by steel structures. The natural elements are dramatized. The raised edges invite the users of the building to sit down and meet. At night, the Cour des loges is enlightened by spotlights which are placed on the roofs of the buildings. The projected circles create a theatrical atmosphere. Around the building, the green area and the use of materials are in coherence with the existing plans of public spaces.

http://www.west8.nl/projects/gardens/cour_de_loges/

Sustainable Living Pavilion, United States by Behin + Ha

In a demonstration of traditional community spirit, more than sixty volunteers from New York volunteered their time to make a house sustainable Behin Ha to its realization. Living Pavilion “is the winner of a contest -” City of Dreams Pavilion – led by the participatory FIGMENT arts training new architects York Committee of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (ENYA) and Association of Structural Engineers New York (SEAoNY) to design and install a flag of architecture on Governors Island for the duration of the summer.

Built over a period of three weeks – first in New Jersey, and on Governors Island – Living Pavilion is “low-tech, low-impact” architectural installation, consisting almost entirely of milk crates and natural flora. Similar a green wall, the plants were inserted into the milk crates to provide a “synthesis of form, structure, light and life”, composed mainly of hanging plants shade tolerant. Because of its technical ingenious construction, installation can be easily removed as the summer winds down and the milk crates planted divided between New York City.

Regarding the construction process, Behin Ha explain. CNC routing plywood ribs allowed us to incorporate features that have recorded all the parts in the assembly, thus eliminating all time measurements manual alignment and accelerate the process of assembling “Not only the act of building proactive lead members of the local community with a common goal, but the design itself,” seeks to embody and communicate the ethics of reuse, recycling and re-purposing, educating members of the public passing quietly on the ease and accessibility of sustainable design

http://www.designtopnews.com/architecture-design/sustainable-living-pavilion-united-states-by-behin-ha/