Facades

Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography to be Housed in Award-Winning Green Building

About 60 percent of the building is situated below ground level, and the curving roof will be landscaped as a unique outdoor space for park and museum visitors

05 March 2019 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2019, Featured, Green Building

Since 1872, Budapest’s Museum of Ethnography has been housed in various locations around the city, but its current location, a Renaissance Revival building that was formerly the Hungarian Curia, has become too cramped.

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Now, as part of its “Liget Budapest” Project, the city is completing the construction of an award-winning, purpose-designed building to house the museum in the City Park. The new location is no break with the past. The museum’s collection was first displayed here in 1896 during the National Millennium Exhibition. However, the acclaimed building will look to the future with a design that is anything but old-fashioned.

Purpose-Designed Building in Harmony with Park and City

For the first time, the Museum of Ethnography’s collection of 250,000 artefacts will be showcased in a space that was designed with the collection and the visitor experience in mind. The design, local winner of an international competition in 2016, is the brainchild of Napur Architect and features gently curving, bowed lines that unite the building, park, and surrounding city.

Birds eye view of Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography designed by Napur — (NAPUR Architect Ltd. – Render: Axion Visual)

There will be little to no loss of public green space. About 60 percent of the building is situated below ground level, and the curving roof will be landscaped as a unique outdoor space for park and museum visitors. A park entry guides them to the lowest point of the curve, which acts as a public square with a sculptural focal point. The rising slope of the green roof presents further space for outdoor relaxation on both sides.

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Above ground, the building’s emphasis is on transparency and a light, airy effect. The textured façade demonstrates patterns that evoke the area’s history as well as its present-day culture. The interior includes interactive exhibition spaces, lecture halls, work and study space, and a café.

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Napur Architect’s design was unanimously chosen for the museum based on the physical and aesthetic quality of the building, the technological and functional solutions to be employed, its sustainability profile, it’s suitability in context, and its overall cost.

In addition to this success, MIPIM Awards judges voted the museum Best Mega Futura Project for Europe and the design beat 1,700 other entries to win the World’s Best Architecture Award at the 2018 International Property Awards.

Flagship Design for Park Project to Provide Dramatic Park Entryway

Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography — (NAPUR Architect Ltd. – Render: Axion Visual)

Budapest’s central park project will include rehabilitation of the park as a whole. It already houses the museum of fine arts, museums of agriculture and transport, a zoo, an ice rink, and thermal baths. A “House of Hungarian Music” venue designed by Sou Fujimoto will form part of the park upgrade, as will a new National Gallery designed by SANAA.

The Museum of Ethnography is currently under construction and is expected to open its doors this year. All work on the Park and its amenities is expected to be complete in 2020.

Roof of Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography designed by Napur — (NAPUR Architect Ltd. – Render: Axion Visual)

Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography designed by Napur — (NAPUR Architect Ltd. – Render: Axion Visual)

Ground view of Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography designed by Napur — (NAPUR Architect Ltd. – Render: Axion Visual)

Stepping Park House Uses “Green Curtain” for Cooling and Cleaning Air

The green façade allows natural light in while providing shade, cooling air, and beautifying the view.

01 January 2019 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2019, Featured, Green Building

Stepping Park house in Ho Chi Minh City is a landmark project for Vo Trong Nghia Architects, a Vietnamese firm with a reputation for green buildings. The site is adjacent to a park and therefore lends itself particularly well to a design that extends the green space into the home itself.

A diagonal “void” cuts through the three floors of the house serving as a living room on the ground floor and a family room on the top floor. Additional overhead louvres provide shade for the top-floor space. The void is surrounded by a façade on which ivy is encouraged to grow and trees, planted in the openings in the façade allow natural light in while providing shade, cooling air, and beautifying the view.

Exterior view by night Stepping Park House from Vo Trong Nghia Architects in Vietnam — (Vo Trong Nghia Architects)

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Green building Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography designed by Napur

Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography to be Housed in Award-Winning Green Building

Apart from creating spaces where indoors interfaces with the outdoors, the diagonal void cools the building thanks to the chimney effect. Vo Trong Nghia Architects says that this will reduce the building’s energy use as less electricity will be required for cooling.

Creating “Pockets of Park” Like Stepping Park House

The company says that the design optimizes natural ventilation and creates constant air movement that draws air through the building from the ground floor to the upper floor. The vegetation of the green façade will have an additional cooling effect thanks to shading and will also help to trap dust and pollution. Vo Trong Nghia Architects believes that its diagonal chimney concept could become popular as an energy-saving strategy in tropical housing design.

Interior shadow Stepping Park House from Vo Trong Nghia Architects in Vietnam — (Vo Trong Nghia Architects)

In addition, the architects note that the shortage of green space in Vietnam’s cities presents an urgent challenge they believe can be mitigated by creating “pockets of park” in private houses and public buildings across cities. Stepping Park House is the latest in the “House for the Trees” housing series developed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects.

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Stairs of Stepping Park House from Vo Trong Nghia Architects in Vietnam — (Vo Trong Nghia Architects)

Sleeping room of Stepping Park House from Vo Trong Nghia Architects in Vietnam — (Vo Trong Nghia Architects)

Exterior day view Stepping Park House from Vo Trong Nghia Architects in Vietnam — (Vo Trong Nghia Architects)

Vanke 3D City From MVRDV With Plenty of Variety And Relaxation

Eight Blocks - Eight Different Facades and Orientations, Several Green Places, Water Collection and Recycling

20 December 2018 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2018, Featured, Green Building

Dutch architects MVRDV are the winner of the design competition for the new headquarters of the real estate developer Vanke Group in Shenzhen, China. Unofficially called ‘Vanke 3D city’ by MVRDV, it is the latest of architecture of the future. Built on two plots of land on either side of a road, the Vanke Group’s headquarters building will be a dynamic, mixed-use development, composed of eight blocks that bridge the road and connect to each other. The tallest tower counts 250 meters. The 167,000 square meter development will house office and retail space, parks, restaurants and a hotel.

The concept of the ‘three-dimensional city’ evolved from MVRDV’s Vertical Village project of 2009, which examined how cluster developments can contribute to sustainable social dynamics in dense urban environments.

Several Gardens And Green Roofs for Locale Recreation

Each block will be designed to correspond to one of Vanke’s core values: ‘health’, ‘energy’, ‘open’, ‘team’, ‘green’, ‘nature’, ‘future’, and ‘creative’. In addition to the large amount of green and open spaces that will be incorporated, the design includes systems for water collection and recycling.

Stacked blocks Vanke 3d City from MVRDV in Shenzhen - China — Stacked blocks, different façades and alternating orientations create more visual variety (© ATCHAIN)

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Four of the blocks will be indented either on one façade, or all the way through the block, creating ‘windows’ that will house atriums, parks and plazas. The roofs of each block will also feature green spaces to be used as recreational areas. With all of the gardens and halls connected by stairs and elevators, the linked blocks will create an entirely new kind of urban cohesion and continuity. The network of shaded, airy spaces will be open 24 hours a day, giving Shenzhen residents a welcome respite from the tropical climate and access to the commercial and restaurant levels at the base of the four corner blocks.

A sunken, multi-level green space at the base of Vanke City also forms part of the network, and in accordance with Shenzhen’s ‘sponge city’ program, it will help to facilitate water drainage to prevent flooding, thereby lessening the city’s effect on ecosystems.

Types of use of blocks from Vanke 3D City designed by MVRDV in Shenzhen China — The mixed-use complex offers not only optical variety (© ATCHAIN)

Greenery Vanke 3D City designed by MVRDV - image Atchain — Greenery at Vanke 3D City (© ATCHAIN)

Connections in Vanke 3D City designed by MVRDV in Shenzhen — Connections in and around Vanke 3D City (© ATCHAIN)

Skyline Shenzhen with Vanke 3D City designed by MVRDV - bird's-eye view — Vanke 3D City from a bird’s-eye view (© ATCHAIN)

Greenery at Vanke 3D City designed by MVRDV - image Atchain — Green places for local recreation (© ATCHAIN)

Building for Shenzhen Energy Company Showcases New Sustainable Design Concept

Bright, diffused light and an airy interior with reduced need for artificial lighting and air conditioning

15 August 2018 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2018, Featured, Green Building

The construction of a unique building according to Bjarke Ingels’ winning design for the Shenzhen Energy Company in China has been completed by its subsidiary BIG.

Make the most of natural daylight without heating the interior

In 2009, the design was selected the winner of an international competition in which participants were asked to design a sustainable head office for the Shenzhen Energy Company. Construction is now complete, and the building opened its doors in August 2018. Its interior includes cafeterias, meeting rooms and exhibition spaces as well as office space for rent. The Shenzhen Energy Company occupies the upper floors.

The building features several novel sustainable design features which its architects describe as “engineering without engines.” Its building envelope has been developed to allow maximum use of natural light without glare as well as taking other external elements such as wind and humidity into account.

Facade from Shenzen Energy Company designed by big — (Chao Zhang)

The sinuous, aesthetically pleasing, rippled and pleated appearance of the building is also highly functional. It was developed to provide a comfortable workplace environment in the subtropical climate of Shenzhen while reducing the energy demand for lighting and air conditioning that a building of its scope would ordinarily have.

Reduced Need for Artificial Lighting and Air Conditioning

The building consists of two towers joined by a lower podium. The folded outer walls, which give the building its pleated appearance, allow for striking views over the city coupled with improved insulation. The folds of the building envelope are oriented in such a way that harsh Eastern and Western sunlight in the mornings and afternoons will reflect off the glass of the windows. The result is bright, diffused light and an airy interior with reduced need for artificial lighting and air conditioning.

Interior light at Shenzen Energy Company — Interior diffuse daylight and reflected direct sun realized with the folded facade (Chao Zhang)

Both towers’ rooftops and the connecting podium provide space for three urban parks that create a much-needed space for relaxation in green surroundings as well as additional insulation for the building.

This new complex represents the first time that “folded” walls have been used to improve energy efficiency, and the concept has the advantage of simplicity. No complex machinery or moving parts are required for the building to make the most of natural daylight without heating the interior.

Position of Shenzen Energy Company to sunlight path — (Chao Zhang)

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Reducing solar loads with facade from Shenzen Energy Company - only diffuse lighting — (Chao Zhang)

Reducing solar loads with facade from Shenzen Energy Company — (Chao Zhang)

Energy Generating Glass Bricks With Fashy Design and Customizable Colors

They could fit seamlessly in the building facades - whether newly built or renovated houses

17 August 2017 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Energy, Featured, Green Building

With their integrated photovoltaic generator and extraordinary design, recently presented energy generating glass bricks could soon transform external facades into sustainable power stations. Different glass colors are possible for an individual facade. Energy researchers from the University of Exeter in Exeter, Devon, South West England, proudly presented their pioneering new glass bricks, called Solar Squared. They are looking forward to a broad market introduction. As a further possible component of Green Buildings, the generated electricity can be used for the buildings occupants’ own energy demands.

Energy Generating Glass Bricks are Connected With a Special Plug System

Professor Tapas Mallick, chief scientific advisor for Build Solar, says, “We are aiming to build integrated, affordable, efficient and attractive solar technologies, which have the smallest impact on the local landscape. It’s an exciting venture and one that should capture the imagination of the construction industry, when looking to develop new office blocks and public buildings or infrastructure projects such as train stations and carparks.”

Energy Generating Glass Bricks on ECOURBANHUB - University Exeter — (University of Exeter)

The energy generating glass bricks are connected together using a special plug system. They can fit seamlessly in the facade of the building – whether newly built or renovated houses. Despite the collected solar radiation which will be converted into electricity, the

energy generating glass bricks let some light get through to slightly illuminate the interior of the building. Unfortunately, the intensity of solar radiation can’t be regulated so easy as with common window glass and external sun protection or, even better, electrochromic smart glass. Everything at once, high customizable shading and generating clean electricity, seems not to be possible. Or maybe with external photovoltaic blinds? However, they exist a few years but they are far from being a serious breakthrough.

“It’s now clear that the world is moving to a distributed energy system, of which a growing proportion is renewable. This, coupled with the shift to electric vehicles means that there are substantial opportunities for new ways of generating electricity at the point of use” said Jim Williams, Co-inventor and Exeter’s research commercialization manager in Cornwall.

With the start-up company Build Solar, the Exeter team aims to bring the energy generating glass brick to the market in 2018. At the moment, they are looking for investments to carry out commercial tests.

Images: Build Solar & University of Exeter