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Urban Farming - Though perhaps this needs to be on an even larger scale.
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“Clepsydra is a new building type - actually an accessory building- a vertical greenhouse that can be linked to existing or new buildings. Within the framework of answering urgent environmental and ecological challenges, Clepsydra serves as a multi-faceted urban development tool to provide food security and community life.”See it in the Buckminster Fuller Ideas Index.
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Celisticar
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Wat Rong Khun Buddhist Temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand.
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I could totally live in this.
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Wednesday, February 23, 2011, by Neal Broverman
“Ventura Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard in just six minutes.” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee held a field hearing this morning at the VA medical center near Westwood to discuss a surface transportation bill that would decide future funding for freeways and transit, according to The Source. The LA-based Transit Coalition was in attendance to advocate for the 30/10 plan, as well as their ideas for a 405 rail line that would be part of the proposed Van Nuys Boulevard light-rail, and would go all the way from the Sylmar Metrolink to the Expo Line (at the event they distributed their map, which also calls for extensions of the rail link into the South Bay).
The 405 line is actually part of Metro’s long-range plans, but would need an infusion of 30/10 cash to get built before Justin Bieber is pondering retirement. According to their map, the Transit Coalition believes digging a tunnel is the best idea as going over the Sepulveda Pass would necessitate a 130-foot aerial structure. “Drivers who can’t avoid gridlock on the 405 get the biggest bang for the buck with the 30/10 Plan,” the Coalition’s Bart Reed said in a statement. “If Metro can move forward with 30/10 by building a direct rail tunnel from the San Fernando Valley to Westwood,commuters could go from Ventura Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard in just six minutes.” The Transit Coalition says Metro will start scoping work for this project this year (though Metro wouldn’t say when work would start when we asked in November, or even if the line would be a train
Amazing Glass House /
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More translucent marble; Josep Lluís Mateo’s Deutsche Bundesbank, Chemnitz 2004 (click for big). This alabaster wall is sandwiched between three panes of glass, and has no intermediate supports; the wall extends as far as 60 feet in some locations, and is held in place by computer-controlled spring-loaded tension cables (previously 1,2). Via.
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Eco-Friendly Rotating Heliotrope House /
This is really cool - the house rotates to follow the sun, maximizing the use of its solar panels. It’s 1 of the first residential buildings to generate more energy than it uses. Wow! Read all about it here
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Callebaut’s Coral Reef proposes building an artificial pier on seismic piles in the Caribbean Sea. Modular duplexes built according to Passive House standards would be added into the housing matrix as funds and time allow and eventually extend over the entire pier. The modular units’ configuration allows each family to have a plot of land to grow their own food. A canyon flows between two rows of housing and is filled with a tropical ecosystem for the local fauna and the flora. Aquaculture farms and grey water recycling plants filter and process the water before sending it into the sea. The entire complex is carbon neutral and powered via a number of different renewable energy sources. Power would be generated from thermal energy conversion under the pier, marine currents, vertical axis wind turbines, and solar photovoltaics.
Read more: Vincent Callebaut Unveils Coral-Inspired Carbon Neutral Eco Village for Haiti Vincent Callebaut Coral – Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World