Ziegert | Roswag | Seiler Architekten Ingenieure was founded in 2003 and is based in Berlin. Their core competency is the use of natural materials, especially earth, in construction. Their projects range from a timber firehouse in Brandenburg, a white earthen home in Berlin's Westend and a bamboo-and-earth school in Bangladesh to historical monuments in the Arabian Peninsula and school projects in Africa.

This project, financed by VEBS – Verein für Entwicklung, Bildung und Selbsthilfe e.V. (Society for development, education and self-help) is an extension of a school building out of earth and bamboo to meet the increasing space requirement due to the rising number of students.
2 earthquake-resistant and climate adapted bodies have been planned, consisting of a heavy earth cube in the ground floor and a light bamboo structure in the upper floor. The construction works have be done by local craftsmen who have been trained in the specific techniques.

This construction has received the Holcim Awards Gold 2011 Asia Pacific.
Comment of jury: "The jury commended this project because it contributes to all of the competition’s “target issues” in a convincing way. Through engineering and design, a traditional building technology has been upgraded with effective low-tech measures. Bamboo is used in an innovative way, demonstrating the potential in construction of this fast-growing and widely available material, which also counters deforestation. The propagation of the new construction methods amongst the local population aids the establishment of local businesses and improves the economic situation in this rural area. All materials are locally sourced and can be processed with low energy requirements.
The new construction approach shows the rural population an affordable, high quality and durable alternative compared to widely-used, but higher-cost and less environmentally-compatible construction materials. The combined earth/bamboo structure allows two-level buildings which reduces land use. The low-tech but sophisticated approach creates the potential to develop a unique local architecture, and transfer the approach to many other regions, particularly in less-developed countries."

The earth was mixed with straw by water buffalos and made usable. The first layer of cob was piled up and cut. The second layer was built, with window recesses.

Half of the bamboo poles, needed for the bamboo ceiling spanning over 5 metres, were pierced. In doing so, all inner walls of the poles were pierced with a metal bar.
Afterwards, the tubes were put up straight und filled with Borax – a salt solution.
It stayed within the poles during 14 days. This kind of treatment is known as the least harmful one for the environment.

The lintels for windows and doors was made of 5 bamboo poles wrapped with straw and formed part of the fourth cob layer.

The ceiling structure consists of a triple-layer of bamboo culms with the central layer arranged perpendicular to the ones above and beneath. They were fixed with steel dowels and laces. An overlay of planking made of split bamboo culms was placed on the central layer and filled with a straw-earth mixture as the floor finished of the upper level.

The bamboo elements were constructed in special mounting devices that allowed a measure of pre production and meant the components only required assembly. The beams forming the veranda were already complete and most of the first floors structural elements were prefabricated.

Swedish architecture office Jagnefalt Milton has been awarded the third prize in the Norwegian master plan competition for the city of Åndalsnes. Their proposal was to have buildings rolling through the city on rails.

The jury awarded the Swedish office for a proposal where existing and new rail roads would provide the base for new building that could be rolled back and forth depending on seasons and situations. Amongst other they proposed a rolling hotel, a rolling public bath and a rolling concert hall.

– We are really happy that the jury took our proposal serious,  its not only a good proposal which we are very proud of, it's also fully doable, says Carl Jägnefält one of the two founders of Jägnefält Milton.

The jury was impressed by the Swedes proposals that did not propose new city blocks, public squares, boardwalks etcetera, but instead focused entirely on the existing rail road network and created something unexpected from it. They were also moved by the presentation material which they thought had a surreal mood with a magic and Tarkovsky-esk atmosphere that contrasted well with the sober and technical plans and axonometric drawings.

Jagnefält Milton is an architecture office in Stockholm, Sweden. The office was founded in 2009 by Konrad Milton and Carl Jägnefält.

Australian designer Esan Rahmani together with Mukul Damle have designed 'Bamboo Pavillion', a synthesis of sustainable ideas for a communal shelter for disadvantaged populations around the Indian Ocean Rim.

Bamboo is already used in Asia and Pacific regions as a building material due to it's adaptable qualities to make roofing, flooring, water and drainage pipes and be used as structural members.
Bamboo is renewable, inexpensive and with it's light (hollow) physical characteristics it means minimal energy is used to transport it which makes it a highly sustainable resource.
Using smart joinery and efficient use of bamboo, there is no need for the use of other materials to construct the shelter.

The structural members also act as a system of interconnected pipes (bamboo) which collect and channel the rain water into a central basin where it is filtered and stored for use.

The shelter is designed with quality of life in mind. Solar access is therefore the central focus of the communal living area, where it is maximised by a radial funnel shaped opening in the structure. And in sleeping areas operable shades allow light in, provide natural ventilation and let the inhabitants gaze at the stars at night. The roof is tiled using quarter cuts of bamboo similar to traditional terracotta tiles.
In plan the design allows for a large communal living space surrounded by bedrooms and amenities.

Designed by Cyril-Emmanuel Issanchou for the competition Betwin, these low energy houses are prefabricated modules that are installed upon a set of walls and plinths made from locally gathered stones.

The EC*-Cocoons are constructed with timber beams in a double geodesic manner, creating a rigid long-span structure. This form minimizes the exterior surface area and, thus, the heat loss.  The design incorporates several eco-friendly features such as solar panels to warm water and provide heating, off-site wind turbines for electricity, and a heat exchanger on the rooftop which freshens air quality.  The roof allows light to illuminate the center of the home and allows summer ventilation.

The skin of the home wraps all the equipment that is energetically self-sufficient at ground floor level.  The “thermic curtain” on the exterior is a type of space blanket that keeps the heat in winter nights and protects the house from the sunlight in the summer afternoons.

To define the home’s sense of place, the lower level’s wall of stones helps create “the relation between the house and the street and the pedestrian.”

All images © Cyril-Emmanuel Issanchou

Via Archdaily 

A unique architectural competition sees the development of five luxury insect hotels across the London's public gardens. The five hotel designs have been shortlisted as part of ‘Beyond the Hive’, a competition launched by British Land and The City of London Corporation to celebrate 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity.
Members of the public will be able to see the final constructed hotels on this site and vote for their favourite design between the 19th and 28th June.

The hotels have been designed to attract stag beetles, solitary bees, butterflies, spiders, lacewings, and ladybirds, and will be constructed at Bunhill Fields, West Smithfield, Postman’s Park, St Dunstan’s in the East and Cleary Garden.

The shortlisted designs and teams are as follows:

Hotel A: The Bumblebee City Nesters

Designed by Fisher Tomlin (Professional Garden Designers & Landscapers)
Location: West Smithfield
This design is inspired by the City of London’s prestigious tower buildings, and uses a flexible system that allows it to be adapted to create anything from a two-storey wildlife B&B for smaller spaces, to a complete five star hotel for larger gardens.At West Smithfield, the team will create a series of five towers, ranging in height from 90cm to 120cm, made entirely from recycled materials, including recycled timber, recycled broom poles, and garden and building waste. Two local schools in Wimbledon will help the team in creating the towers, which are designed with solitary bees and bumblebees in mind, but will also provide homes for an array of other insects and invertebrates.


Hotel B: Brookfield Bug Buddies

Designed by Brookfield Europe in collaboration with consultants Arup, DP9, Hilson Moran Partnership and Sir John Cass’s Foundation school, Stepney Way, E1
Location: Postman’s Park
Taking its inspiration from the City of London itself and the juxtaposition between the ancient past and the modern age, the hotel uses pipe work of different widths and lengths sourced from the Pinnacle project. These are fixed together in a sweeping line, rising up from a recycled wood planter base. Reinforcement bars used to create the framework will both support the structure, and allow a plant climber, such as native traveller's joy (clematis vitalba), honeysuckle (lonicera periclymenum) or hop (humulus lupulus).
Hilson Moran Partnership was employed to assess the design’s environmental impacts, Arup Structures reviewed the structural design and DP9 advised on possible planning considerations. Brookfield Construction co-ordinated the team effort and will deliver the scheme, whilst children at local secondary school, Sir John Cass, will assist in procuring the materials and furnishings for the project.

Hotel C: Beevarian Antsel and Gretel Chalet

Designed to commemorate the excursion to London of the German Women in Property; entry co-ordinated by Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen
Location: Cleary Garden
Based on the design of a typical Bavarian mountain chalet, the ‘Beevarian Antsel and Gretel Chalet’ was designed by “German Women in Property” to commemorate their recent excursion to London.
The design features reclaimed bricks to attract solitary bees, rotten logs for invertebrates, louvered boxes filled with bark for hibernating butterflies, a log drilled with holes for ladybirds and eaves filled with bamboo for lacewings. Set over three floors, all materials used to construct the hotel will be collected from within the City.

Hotel D: The Insect Hotel

Designed by Arup Associates
Location: St Dunstan’s in the East
The façade of the hotel consists of a series of compartments based on a Voronoi pattern found in the natural world, which generates a series of voids varying in size at a depth of 500m.
A variety of recycled waste materials and deadfall are loosely inserted into these voids, whilst the sides of the hotel are accessible for butterflies and moths, and the top is suitable for absorbing rain water through planting.

Hotel E: Inn Vertebrate

Designed by Metalanguage Design
Location: Bunhill Fields
Designed to reflect the diverse architecture of London, the ‘Inn’ is a stylish multi-story habitat with different-sized cavities to accommodate a wide variety of invertebrates.
The main structure will be built off-site, where a network of talented crafts people and designers will be involved in the sourcing and storing of materials, and construction, whilst the final phase - the filling-in of the cavities and planting – will be undertaken when in situ.
The inn will be constructed from recycled and reclaimed wood, bricks and off-cuts found in surrounding areas. Cavities will be filled with soil and stones collected from the garden, whilst seeds for planting wildflowers will be donated by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Ann Ha and Behrang Behin are the winners of the first annual pavilion competition with their “Living Pavilion”.

The selection of “Living Pavilion” is the result of an international design competition to design and build a pavilion as a central, temporary gathering place on Governors Island. This competition is unique in that it asked designers to consider the full lifecycle of their proposals. With as little environmental impact as possible, considerations included the sourcing, materials, placement, de-installation, and the future of the pavilion once the summer has ended.

“Living Pavilion” is a low-tech, zero-impact structure that employs reclaimed milk crates as the framework for growing a planted “green wall” surface. The pavilion’s construction is simple and modular, relying on common materials such as heavy-duty packaging straps and weather-treated wood for its assembly. Erected in the courtyard of Liggett Hall for Governors Island’s summer season, the pavilion will provide refuge from the heat in a shaded environment kept cool by the evaporation from its planted surfaces. As the pavilion’s vaulted form meets the ground, it unfolds into a mat of crates planted with crops that can be harvested and distributed to the community. At the end of the season, its modular design will allow easy disassembly and distribution to the New York area for use in homes, public places, and community gardens.

 

The competition was organised by FIGMENT, the Emerging New York Architect Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY), and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY).

The project will be assembled on Governors Island this spring, and will be open to the public from June 6 through October 3 2010.