The Architecture of the City

Moshe Safdie is famous for his iconic Montreal housing complex Habitat ’67, and he is still creating innovative large-scale urban projects around the world. The latest project his firm, Safdie Architects, has debuted is the design for development at Singapore's Changi Airport. The scheme aims to create a public gathering space with gardens, retail stores, hotel, restaurants, and entertainment that will lure travelers, airport employees, and local residents.

The glass dome will encompass a space of 134,000 square meters and houses a 130-foot-high waterfall. The dome's curved shape, recalling the tradition of glass conservatories, provides inherent structural strength to the glass and steel structure. Tree-like structural columns in a ring support the dome while a suspended roof covers the adjacent atrium space.

The space also showcases natural elements: walking trails travel through an indoor topography of trees, palms, and ferns called "Forest Valley". The different elements — dining, accommodations, and retail — are spread throughout the structure so as to give each of them impressive views of the natural features.

Via Lauren Moss

Gardens by the Bay is the newest addition to Singapore's green space innovations, making this architecturally brilliant metropolis truly a “City in a Garden.”

Still a work in progress, Gardens by the Bay was named the World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival 2012. The use of innovative energy saving technologies is a noteworthy element of this unique project.

More than 217,000 plants belonging to approximately 800 species and varieties are represented in the Gardens “with the hope that it will help to promote awareness of the wonders of nature and the value of plants to Man and the environment.” In this way, visitors are instilled with new or renewed awareness of plants, while experiencing different ecosystems without disturbing original forests. Gardens by the Bay also supports the sustainability of culture through a wide array of “edutainment” available onsite — from school programs to concerts  – to further enhance an understanding of this experience...

Via Lauren Moss

Thomas Heatherwick's Learning Hub for Nanyang Technological University democratizes the learning experience with cylindrical towers.

 

The design resists the idea that university buildings need be compositions of artificially lit, endless corridors with a distinct cylindrical shapes that maximize daylight and encourages the incidental meeting of fellow entrepreneurs, scientists or colleagues. 55 tutorial rooms are devoid of traditional hallways and organized around a central space that links the towers together.

 

Students can enter the corner-free spaces from 360 degrees and engage with colleagues and professors on rooftop gardens. The upper floors and green rooftops enjoy views of picturesque synthetic and natural landscapes. Award-winning green measures include the use of hydrophilic polymers, a material process that eliminates the need for irrigation, vertical greenery and recycled concrete aggregate as a material. The design will be completed in 2014.

Via Lauren Moss