Construction

Modern passive house it may be, but as its name suggests, the showstopper at Equinox House in Bulgaria harkens to ancient times when humans built buildings in veneration to heavenly bodies. A narrow aperture in the roof transforms the house into a solar calendar leading it's designer, Ignatov Architects, to refer to the house as a "celestial instrument."  Read More

An image has been released of what looks set to become Google's new California HQ. Named Bay View, the nine-building campus is designed to maximize the likelihood of innovation-friendly chance encounters between the workforce.  Read More

Having last looked at a temporary use of shipping containers as building blocks, with O+A's festival backdrop Amsterdam, we're back in permanent territory (as permanent as new buildings are, that is) with 4D and A Architects' shipping container housing at New Jerusalem Orphanage at Gauteng, South Africa. The project is among the more ambitious uses of shipping containers we've seen, using 28 containers in all. Gizmag spoke briefly to its designers to find out more about it.  Read More

Engineering firm ARUP has asked us to imagine the building of the future in its latest Foresight publication. In the article entitled “It’s Alive,” the design team envision a city building in the year 2050 that includes flexible modular pods, urban agriculture, climate-conscious facades and intelligent building systems. ARUP hopes the proposal will ultimately answer the question, "As city living takes center stage, what will we come to expect from the design and function of urban structures and buildings?".  Read More

Standing, temporarily, on the site of Hong Kong's yet-to-be Xiqu Centre opera house, the West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre has returned for a three-week program of Cantonese opera.  Read More

On Monday, international architect schmidt hammer lassen announced the inauguration of the Cathedral of the Northern Lights in Alta, Norway, some 500 km (311 miles) inside the Arctic Circle. The metallic spiral form of the building, actually clad in titanium, almost resembles a piece of industrial rather than architectural design.  Read More

Australia’s motorsport mecca is in the midst of its first major facelift in 14 years, with the Island’s hallowed race circuit being treated this week to a $3 million resurface to create the smoothest, fastest race track in the world. The huge undertaking will see 5,000 tonnes of specially blended asphalt mix laid at a temperature of ~160ºF in a process that shows it's not just high-tech bikes that make the world of international motorcycle racing tick.  Read More

Due to a few hiccups thanks to the global financial crisis, the initial planned completion date of 2011 for the Singapore Sports Hub has come and gone. However, after construction finally got underway in 2011, the 35-hectare sports complex is on track to open its doors in 2014. The centerpiece of the development in Kallang is the new National Stadium that, upon completion, will boast the largest dome roof in the world.  Read More

Facit Homes claims to be the first company in the world to digitally fabricate a bespoke home on-site. The company has developed a process (D-Process) whereby it delivers a compact mobile production facility (MPF) to the construction site, equipped with all the materials and machinery required to transform a 3D digital design into a physical building. “We are the first company in the world to have successfully trialed manufacturing a house on-site,” Managing Director of Facit Homes, Bruce Bell told Gizmag. “We bring our compact high-tech machine to site and make it there and then—its an amazingly efficient way of designing and making a house.”  Read More