"Shareway" presents a vision of transport infrastructure in 2030. American-based architectural studio Höweler + Yoon Architecture has developed an intriguing concept for modern urban infrastructure between Boston and Washington called "Boswash. " Central to the design of this imagined mega-region is the firm's "Shareway" design – a bundled transport concept that seeks to redress the nightmare of the urban commute by connecting public and individual transport to a single artery along the 450 mile (724 km) route of the existing Interstate 95. View all The concept landed Höweler + Yoon the 2012 Audi Urban Future Award which aims to understand the cities of the future, and answer the question ‘in which form will individual mobility be possible?’ Through the study of city development, global urban planning and their relevance for future mobility.
The submission was selected for it’s potential to be realized within the 2030 timeframe and as the most thoroughly resolved response to the brief. Source: Höweler+Yoon Architecture, Audi Urban Future Initiative. Laurence Kemball-Cook's innovation: the Pavegen | Environment | The Observer. Lawrence Kemball-Cook. Photograph: Antonio Olmos "I just knew this idea had legs," says Laurence Kemball-Cook, ignoring the puns that come with the invention of an "energy-harvesting paving system" and explaining his confident leap, at just 24, from Loughborough University graduate and industrial design engineer to one of the most feted young innovators in the UK. Kemball-Cook's Pavegen system is about to shift our perceptions of renewable energy. When you or I step on one of these paving stones, 5% of the energy we create is used to light up its central LED light, and the rest is stored in a battery (for up to three days) and can be used for any low-power application.
So as the public walk, their footsteps are harvested, and they don't necessarily even realise it's happening. Call it stealth energy. Currently, the invention is in the final rounds of testing, not least because these paving stones will need to withstand up to eight million footsteps in their lifetime. Unfolding Intelligence | 2012-08-01. Naturally Engaging | 2012-07-30. A Roly Poly-Looking Hotel That Will Protect You From A Noah-Sized Flood. All images courtesy of Remistudio via Daily Mail With all the 2012 doomsday predictions continually swirling around, it’s safe to say that if the world were to end in a natural disaster of Noah proportions, we may not all be quite as doomed as we originally thought, thanks in part to the Ark Hotel. Designed by Russian firm Remistudio, the floating shell-shaped hotel was conceived as a “self-contained haven” to withstand rising flood levels and even tidal waves.
Add To Collection Save this image to a collection The floating biosphere offers guests security, with a mixture of structural supports that evenly distribute weight and which proves invulnerable to earthquakes. Designed with the assistance of the International Union of Architects’ program Architecture For Disaster Relief, Remistudio’s Alexander Remizov has expanded upon the project, saying: “For architecture, there are two major concerns.
[via Daily Mail] How giant tunnels protect Tokyo from flood threat. Japan's "Water Discharge Tunnel" complex drains floodwater into Edo RiverUnderground complex is higher than five-story building, stretches nearly four milesSystem's heart is four turbines powered by jet engines similar to those in Boeing 737 plane Tokyo (CNN) -- On the outskirts of Tokyo, behind a small government building, underneath a soccer field and skateboard park, sits a remarkable feat of engineering. It's an example of how Japan's capital, which lies in a region at high risk from flooding and tropical cyclones, is trying to figure out how to contain the elements to protect its 13 million inhabitants.
The entrance, which is locked at all times, is so nondescript a visitor may walk past dozens of times without ever noticing it. But today, we are given a tour down below of the so-called "Water Discharge Tunnel. " Read: Long slog to clean up after Sandy Sandy floods New York City subways Staten Island devastated by Sandy Frustration, Desperation after Sandy. Dutch To Build Glow In The Dark Highway. Studio Roosegaarde A duo of Dutch design firms is planning to promote safe driving by making the road smarter. Studio Roosegaarde and Heijmans Infrastructure want to improve visibility at night and in winter conditions with a simple trick: new paint. The "Smart Highway" uses paint treated with a luminous powder, which "charges" during the day and glows for up to ten hours at night.
The design also includes "dynamic paint," made to become visible at certain temperatures. When ice crystals form on the pavement, the newly activated paint appears, providing a reminder to drive carefully. The upside to improving the road instead of individual cars is that all drivers will benefit from these features, not just those who pay for high-tech information systems. The plan stresses sustainability, which is where things get more complicated. Roosegaarde and Heijmans promise "the first meters" of the Smart Highway will be in place by mid-2013, in the Netherlands. Induction lanes charge electric vehicles. The coolest green infrastructure you are likely to see | Kaid Benfield. Japanese Levitating House System Could Protect Homes From Earthquakes. We’ve seen quite a few creative examples of disaster-resistant architecture here at Inhabitat – from houses that rise up atop flood waters to an elastic iron alloy designed to sway with an earthquake.
Now a Japanese company, Air Danshin Systems Inc., has come up with perhaps the most inventive solution we’ve seen — they fit out existing houses to levitate in the event of an earthquake. In the wake of last year’s Fukushima disaster the company is set to install the levitation system in 88 houses across Japan. image © Air Danshin, Translated by Spoon & Tamago As fantastical as a home levitation system may seem, Air Danshin claims that the technology is not only effective, but also 1/3 cheaper than many other earthquake-proofing systems out there – and it requires little maintenance. According to Spoon & Tamago, the technology calls for a fairly simple, if powerful, set of mechanisms to be installed around a property. . + Air Danshin Systems, Inc Via Spoon & Tamago and Archinect. The trampoline that could help you bounce in to work | Art and design. In October, design practice Y/N studio caused a stir by designing a blueprint for a swimming lane along Regent's canal in London, so that people could swim to work.
Now, the Estonian architecture studio Salto has built an equally inventive solution to the boredom of the morning commute – a 51m (170ft) -long trampoline, so that you can bounce to your destination. The trampoline, called Fast Track, has been built and installed at arts festival Archstoyanie, and has been a hit since it was opened at the end of November in the Nikola-Lenivets forest, in south-west Russia. Made of black rubber, it is, according to Salto "an attempt to create [an] intelligent infrastructure that is emotional and corresponds to the local context, giving the user a different experience of moving and perceiving the environment".