Go Solar! Beautiful And Practical All At Once

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Not only is the energy from the sun endless, it is also clean with no greenhouse gas emissions. Using solar energy is a very green and rewarding experience that architects nowadays are designing and implementing solar power systems to skyscrapers, major companies, schools, and even nurseries. These net-zero energy systems can be eye-catching as well as beneficial. Eventually, who said solar power systems have to be ugly?!

Here are some of the best-looking buildings to implement the use of solar energy:

1) David & Lucile Packard Foundation Headquarters – California, USA

Courtesy of AIA – Photography: Jeremy Bittermann

At the south of San Francisco Bay, stands one of the most prominent grantmaking foundations in the US which aims at the welfare of children and their science empowerment in addition to protecting and restoring Earth’s natural systems. This net-zero HQ uses 915 rooftop photovoltaic panels to generate power to be 100% energy-self-sufficient. It was awarded as the top 10 green building in 2014.

2) Powerhouse Kjørbo – Oslo, Norway

Courtesy of Snøhetta

The previously existing office building was renovated by Snøhetta Architects in a way to transform it into an environmentally friendly one. The solar panels built on the roof produce twice the amount of energy it needs, offering the possibility of providing the excess power to other buildings in the area.

3) International Renewable Energy Agency Headquarters – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Courtesy of Bagot Woods

This beauty was added to the rapidly evolving Abu Dhabi skyline in 2015. It is the first building in Abu Dhabi to be awarded the Pearl Estidama Construction rating certificate by the Abu Dhabi Planning Council, which aims to promote the development of sustainable buildings. The building which has a 1000m2 photovoltaic system installed on the rooftop was designed by Architect and Lead Consultant Woods Bagot.

4) Apple Park in Cupertino – California, USA

Courtesy of Foster + Partners

Designed by the British firm Foster + Partners, this masterpiece of a building with its flying-saucer-like design is expected to open by the end of 2017. It has the largest solar arrays for a corporate building in the world. The $5 billion-worth HQ has a vast rooftop surface area which is used to install thousands of solar panels with an estimated output of 16 megawatts of power.

5) Moray Street Residential Tower – Melbourne, Australia

Courtesy of Peddle Thorp Architects

This 60-story apartment building, designed by the architecture firm Peddle Thorp, is where you see technology and architecture hand in hand. In addition to the roof, the façade is cladded with solar panels, allowing the expansion of the surface area available for renewable power from 4,305 square feet to 37,673 square feet.

6) General Electric HQ Building – Boston, USA

Courtesy of Gensler

These new sustainable headquarters of GE, designed by Gensler architectural firm, is expected to open in 2018. The 12-story glass building is designed in the form of a huge solar sail ”veil”. The solar slats of the “veil” allow the passage of light before it is reflected by their photovoltaic surfaces.

7) Tesla Gigafactory – Nevada, USA

Tesla’s Gigafactory – Courtesy of Tesla

The current plan for this factory, that will open in 2020, is to cover the whole roof with solar panels, and that’s not all. Tesla rooted for the idea of installing arrays on the nearby hillsides to maximize energy production. That came after Tesla decided not to build a natural gas pipeline to force the implementation of a sustainable architectural system.

8) Copenhagen International School – Copenhagen, Denmark

Courtesy of C.F. Møller

In a green spin on how form follows function, C.F. Møller Architects designed the school to feature the world’s largest solar façade. The building has more than 12,000 colored solar panels that are integrated into the building’s structure. This will produce half the energy needs of the school (around 300-megawatt hours per year). The clean energy approach which the school is pursuing was the reason behind integrating Solar Studies in the curriculum.

9) Further Education Centre at Mont-Cenis – Herne, Germany

Courtesy of HHS Architekten

The greenhouse-like building envelops a total area of 12,000 square meters in glass, creating natural micro-climate inside. The roof canopy serves a dual purpose. It is made up of solar panels, so it generates power as well as shades the inside of the center. The center was designed by the firm HHS planner + Architekten.

10) NEW-Blauhaus – Mönchengladbach, Germany

Courtesy of Kadawittfeld Architecture – Photography: Andreas Horsky

Designed by Kadawittfeldarchitektur, the shiny, sleek, blue façade of the university is not merely glass, but rather, a tessellation of solar panels and windows. The row of panels across the exterior can rotate following the sun for maximum energy production.

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Time to Rediscover America’s Southwest Through the Eyes of Drones

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Arch2O.com - Architecture & Design Magazine

Drone photography is one of the positive sides of drones. It is a new addition to photography that enables you to rediscover the world. They can show you your favorite places from a different angle, probably one you have never seen before. Drones and only drones can take such pictures.

The eye-catching images differ from those taken by a plane, a helicopter, or a satellite. They are taken from a low altitude which gives them a characteristic fingerprint. As the devices are becoming cheaper and more popular, both amateur and professional photographers are tempted to experiment with them. Here, we get to view the results of this experimenting done by Turkish photographer

Photography: Aydın Büyüktaş

Büyüktaş released “Flatlands II”, a series of interesting photographs, featuring the American Southwest in an unprecedented way. He used drones, 3D rendering techniques, and Photoshop to give his images a playful warping effect. This series comes second in the artist’s “Flatlands” collection. The first Flatlands series featured the photographer’s home city, Istanbul.

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10 Tips on How to Find Employment in Architecture

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Arch2O.com - Architecture & Design Magazine

Are you an architect who has just finished their degree? Young and full of potential but at a loss on how to tackle the job market?

You have a little knowledge of what being an architect in the practical world on a day-to-day basis means. You are confused about where to start and how to go. Well, don’t worry. You are not alone! The post-college transition phase can be quite overwhelming, and the highlight of its challenges is “job hunting”. So, here are a few tips to help you kickstart the journey of your search:

 

1. Which branch of architecture intrigues you most? Do you wish to be joining big firms or small ones? Look for what fits your aspirations.

 

2. Doing an internship helps you get the “ tricks of the trade”  which is an important step at the beginning of your career and will truly teach you a lot.

 

3. Making an impression is a MUST if you really want the job. You can stand out if you are serious in managing the following:

• Your resume
• Your answers and body language in the interview.

Created by Katemangostar – Freepik.com

4. When writing your resume, get to the point. Stop the general talk and get into specifics. What you wish to accomplish in your career is one example that is if written properly, can give a boost to your CV. It is all about the information you can give to tell the reader something extra about you.

 

5. Getting ready for an interview is no easy job. Work hard on your preparations to smash the interview. Looking online for the studio you want to work with is not enough. You can talk to other people who work at that place and try to know the difficult questions that are usually asked in the interview.

 

6. A recommendation letter is a key point in your application. Pay a visit to your college professors; they can be a great help. They may know architects who can recommend you, or better, the very same architects you want to work with.

 

7. Express externally who you are inside. Try to genuinely express yourself through your experiences and explorations. State your point of difference by representing yourself well in your portfolio.

Created by Phduet – Freepik.com

8. Get out of your comfort zone. If you need to move to a more suitable city for better opportunities, go for it. The transition might not be easy but can be totally worth it.

 

9. Do not undermine yourself in the industry by voluntarily working overtime hours or offering your efforts for free. This creates unhealthy conceptions and expectations within the industry.

 

10. Know when to quit. Don’t stay in a workplace that doesn’t encourage you or drive you forward. Don’t hold on to it if it no longer meets with your goals.

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Employees of Apple Detest the New Campus at Cupertino by Foster + Partners

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Some of the employees at Apple have recently relocated to the company’s new headquarters in Cupertino. However, the design of Foster and Partners didn’t rise up to the expectations of the tech giant’s workers. The new campus looks awesome from the outside, resembling a flying saucer or an alien spaceship just ready to take off. It seems like this design is truly fit for the world’s leading hi-tech company.

Photography: Matthew Roberts

However, this is not the case on the inside. To their distaste, the employees, who have moved in, claim that the open-plan layout is too distracting. Contrary to the cubicles and offices, to which the staff was used in the old location, the new interior is pushing some of them to quit their jobs.

Photography: Mikael Jansson – Courtesy of Wall Street Journal

The construction process of Apple Park lasted for eight years and cost $5 billion. Apple Park started receiving some of the company’s 12,000 employees last April. The rest of the staff are due to move in by the end of the year, after the completion of the edifice.

Apple’s new open workspaces with desks that can be elevated to standing level by the mere push of a button, Photography: Mikael Jansson – Courtesy of Wall Street Journal

The Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa created custom-made pieces of furniture for the new venue. The campus also contains soundproof areas as well as large white oak working tables. There is a total of 320 pods throughout the 4-storeys that constitute Apple Park.

Photography: Mikael Jansson – Courtesy of Wall Street Journal

John Gruber is the founder of “Daring Fireball”- a website that discusses Apple news, issues, and products. The blogger said he had received many email protests from Apple workers who are seriously considering the unfavorable working atmosphere at the new headquarters. The complaints revolved around the vast open working areas called the “pods”. Rumor has it that Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice-president of hardware technologies, is objecting to the new working situation as well.

Photography: Mikael Jansson – Courtesy of Wall Street Journal

Open-plan working areas that were fashionable in the 1990s are now proving inefficient. The ability of the workers to concentrate at their work decreases due to the constant disruptions. A better design would include different working place styles like private and semi-private, in addition to open-plan layouts.

 

 

 

 

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7 Reasons Why Barcelona Is an Architect’s Perfect Vacation Spot

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7 Reasons Why Barcelona Is an Architect’s Perfect Vacation Spot

Hard work is part of living as an architect, and all hard workers deserve a break every once in a while. The harder they work the better break they deserve, and what’s better than traveling the world? For architects, travel is not just another way of entertainment. It is also double as a fun, educational experience, and they don’t even need to push it. Their heads just work on their own, and all the obsessive comments come flowing. Don’t deny it! You wouldn’t leave that ancient temple or that historical palace until you’ve gotten out all the information you hold about them, and you wouldn’t leave that out-of-proportion ionic column without criticizing the architect who had the dignity to do it. Well, your friend and family may hate you for it, but they will get used to it in time. Now, every spot on planet Earth carries a lesson for an architect, but the spot we are recommending here, carries more than that. It is the perfect mix of entertainment, refreshment, enlightenment, and peacefulness. It is Barcelona!

The Catalonian city is Spain’s second most populous country and one of the world’s top 20 tourist destination for 2016. Barcelona is not just a fine example of a tourist destination city, but also of a city to live in. Care to know why Barcelona could be your perfect vacation spot? Check these seven reasons.

1.Antoni Gaudi was there!

Sagrada Familia – Photography: Flickr user Taffy Raphael

If you are an architect, then you know Gaudi for sure, and whether you like his style or not, there is no denying that it is simply unique, and for some it is magical.
Gaudi’s relics are, literally, all over the place in Barcelona, from Caza Vicens to Park Güell, and from Casa Milà to Casa Batlló, and of course, there is Gaudi’s centerpiece La Sagrada Familia. His nature-inspired forms and exquisite colors define his architecture and give a memorable character to the entire city.

2.Avinguda Diagonal takes you everywhere!

Aerial View of Eixample, Barcelona – Photography: bluesyemre.com

One of Barcelona’s most distinctive features is its meticulous planning which goes back to the 19th century and the engineer who invented the word “urbanization”, Ildefons Cerdà. Yes, he was an engineer, not an architect, and you can probably guess that much from the strict grid that divides the Eixample district. The grid is composed of square blocks with chamfered corners and straight wide avenues in between. Then, there is the “Avinguda Diagonal”, the wide and long Avenue which divides the city into two halves and intersects with its longest street Gran Via at
Glòries square.

Eixample Plan (1859) by Ildefons Cerdà – Courtesy of General Archive of the Crown of Aragon

3.Gaudi was not the city’s only good architect!

Hospital de Sant Pau – Photography: David Cardelús

Gaudi’s architecture, indeed, gives Barcelona a unique character. However, Gaudi was not the only one to mark the city with glorious architecture. There was Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas and his Spanish Arc de Triomf, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and his Casa Martí, in addition to Eric Sagnier and his Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor. There was, also, Lluís Domènech i Montaner and his masterpieces: Hospital de Sant Pau and Palau de la Música Catalana, among others. Built in the late 19th and early 20th century, all these architectural marvels of “Catalan Modernisme” can be visited in Barcelona.

4.It has a “Gothic Quarter”!

Gothic Quarter in the old city of Barcelona – Image via pangea.es

Yes, Catalan Modernisme and Moorish Revival are not the city’s oldest architecture styles. Long before Gaudi and Ildefons Cerdà’s Eixample, there was the old city inside the walls. Just by looking at the aerial view of the city, you can guess where it is. It is that part, by the Mediterranean, not affected by Cerdà’s strict grid. The Gothic Quarter is at the center of the old city. The Quarter itself was built in the late 19th and early 20th century, but the buildings within its borders date back to the 14th century. It houses the Gothic-styled Barcelona Cathedral, the Baroque-styled Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy, Plaça Del Rei, and Plaça Sant Jaume which is the administrative heart of the city.

5.It has wonderful Public Spaces!

Plaça d’Espanya – Photography: flickr user Sébastien Coucou

Plazas, parks, or promenades, Barcelona has enough of these and more. Plaça de Catalunya is considered to be the city’s center and the meeting point for important streets, like Passeig de Gràcia along which a number of prominent architectural landmarks are located and La Rambla which is a tree-lined pedestrian mall popular among tourists. Next, to La Rambla, there lies Plaça Reial. The plaza is part of the city’s Gothic quarter. It is surrounded by restaurants, cafés, and nightclubs, and it used to hold events like concerts and festivals. Not very far from those two lies Plaça d’Espanya which is another iconic square, marked by the twin Venetian towers, Fira de Barcelona, and Arenas de Barcelona, a former bullring turned into a shopping mall.

6.Not everything is old in Barcelona!

Torre Glòries – Photography: Flickr user Pere Nubiola Sans

We have talked about Gaudi, Catalan Modernisme, and the Gothic quarter, but that is not all there is to Barcelona. The city has its fair share of remarkable contemporary architecture and works by celebrated 20th and 21st-century architects. These include the Barcelona Pavilion by Mies Van Der Rohe, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art by Richard Meier, and the Forum building by Herzog & de Meuron. Barcelona also has some elegant skyscrapers like Torre Glòries by Jean Nouvel, Hotel Porta Fira by Toyo Ito, and Diagonal Zero Zero by Enric Massip-Bosch.

7.Barcelona is also smart!

Did you know that Barcelona is one of Europe’s leading smart cities? The city is known for its low-carbon-emission solutions. It was one of the earliest cities to introduce a solar thermal ordinance, making it compulsory for buildings to gain at least 60% of their hot water supply via solar heating. The city is also promoting the use of Electric Vehicles, and they have a living lab for smart-city innovation. It has a bicycle sharing system, which circulates 6000 bicycles between citizens with a “Bicing” card, paid for annually. The system is both sustainable and economical. They, also, have an automated waste collection system which utilizes compact trash pins connected to an underground network through pipes.

Bicing – Photography: Flickr user alainraya

Home to Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia and Mies Van Der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion, Barcelona is the only city to ever win the RIBA Gold Royal Medal, normally awarded to architects. So, don’t you think it is worth a visit?

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