Bio-mimicry in architecture

These shelters are designed to rotate according to the prevailing wind direction to shield the occupants from the elements. Their shape was born out of a distillation of the key requirements: a vane to turn the structure, and a baffle that will shelter the inhabitant from the wind. The shelters are 8 metres tall and manufactured from resilient ‘Duplex’ stainless steel, they sit on a four metre diameter turntable, which incorporates a damper to control the speed of rotation More

The Leaf chapel sits within the grounds of the Risonare hotel resort in Kobuchizawa, a refreshingly green setting with beautiful views to the southern Japanese Alps, Yatsugatuke peaks and Mt.Fuji. The chapel is formed by 2 leaves - one glass, one steel - which have seemingly fluttered to the ground. The glass leaf with its delicate lace pattern motif emulates a pergola and the structure holding it up reminds one of the veins of a leaf which slowly become thinner the further they get from the central stem. The white steel leaf, perforated with 4700 holes, each of which hold an acrylic lens, is similar to bride's veil made of delicate lace. Light filters through the lenses and projects a lace pattern onto the white fabric inside. Th... More

Moscow-based studio ARCHSTRUKTURA designed "the tree of edutainment" as an entry for the thyssenkrupp elevator istanbul disaster prevention + education center competition. Scheme proposes 3 staircase cores, public, service and freight elevators cores as main structural elements. structurally design considers seismic conditions of the region – using rotating symmetry of main structural elements, rigid concrete cores and lightweight spacial metal structure. Main circulation provided via escalators, also elevators could be used. Functions are organized around action atrium. Atrium not just empty space – it a kind of threedimensional orientation stage, a place from where one can observe all parts of complex, and look how they are functioning... More

The objective of this project was to enable people to move into the rainforest and have an experience of it – with as little impact as possible. To keep the footprint as light as humanly possible. It is also a way to increase the value of standing forest, by making it accessible to people. We enable people to access to the rainforest canopy. To celebrate the beauty and magic that is there in a mature forest. Architecturally, the theme is unity or one-ness. I feel a kinship with a lot of the pagan traditions that have preceded us. I’m sure this has influenced my interpretation of the inspiration I received. Their rituals are carried out inside a sacred circle. During ritual it is normal to imagine being inside a sphere of altered... More

“The dynamics of line and surface define the templates that create architecture and organisations. In the making of form it is not only shape that counts but the rules and interior logic by which such contours are derived”. _Cecil Balmond We wanted to build from first principles and our own prescriptions of form based on interior dynamics that grow they own logic. The approach is to accept as irreducible the notion of complexity; a holistic view, one that is different from the traditional methods of drawing sections and plans and then extruding or patching them to make buildings. A form is not only a building but can be viewed as structure or sculpture-any organisation that interrogates space in new ways. How to integrate a 100 m high... More

A striking pod-shaped structure built ten metres high in a redwood tree near Warkworth, north of Auckland, will soon become home to what is believed to be New Zealand’s only treehouse restaurant. The treehouse is the focus of a new and unusual advertising campaign for Yellow (currently on TVNZ and online). The Yellow campaign follows Aucklander Tracey Collins’ real-life mission to build a restaurant in a tree using only Yellow - the book, online and mobile. Peter Eising and his team at Pacific Environment Architects, who were chosen through Yellow, say the project has been a unique challenge. “I haven’t designed a treehouse since my childhood, let alone built a restaurant in one,” Mr Eising said. “The brief was ideal for... More

Ecohotel "Friend House" is located on 3 hectares plot in the forest resort zone aside of Orel river bank, 30 km far from Dnepropertrovsk. It is a single-floor group of buildings with open yards, parking, terraces, garden and park zones (covered area 1750 square meters). During process of siting, an ineologycal analysis of the region was used, taking into account Earth energy -information field conception. It is space, reflected in details, surrounded by wildlife. In this project were used exclusively ecological harmless materials: clay, reed and wood. Construction's carcasses designed from wood and shell stone. Cobwork cocoons of room are united by the roof plate. All furniture and lighting are designed by project -manufacturin... More