Moss Carpet Grows in the Heart of Your Home

Among all the great green designs discovered at the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair, this beautiful biodegradable moss planter at the Tokyo Fiber Sensware exhibition definitely stood out. Japan-based flower artist Makoto Azuma collaborated with Unitika Ltd. to create an indoor glade, populating the planter with an assortment of mosses. The result is an exquisite organic carpet that runs through the exhibition, passing round the furniture and the poles and stunning visitors with its delightful presence.

Terramac® is an eco-friendly 3D knitted and spun fabric which serves as a receptacle for the planter’s roots, protects the seeds, and holds the moss together. Made from plant-derived polylactic acid fiber, “this material is decomposed (biodegraded) by microorganisms in compost or in soil after 10 years. Eventually only carbon dioxide and water remain”. As the planter biodegrades, CO2 is captured by the plants through the process of photosynthesis. The name Terramac® means “sons of the mother earth”.
The real beauty of this technology lies in the pairing of a plant-derived plastic with a plant (here the moss) to create an improved sustainable environment. Generally found growing on the sloping sides of embankments, moss can now be integrated within the heart of our homes and cities. We love when industry meets design to offer practical solutions that embellish our lives in a more sustainable way!

Singapore’s Energy Efficient Green Heart Center

The very heart of Singapore beats green, thanks to the new design for the National Heart Center by multinational firm Broadway Malyan. The abitious 35,299 square-meter building at the center of Singapore General Hospital’s Outram Campus redevelopment plan will hopefully score high green marks with its unique design that places people first. Recognizing that the medical world advances quite quickly, the design incorporates modular building methods to ensure that the structure of the building remains flexible and adaptable both internally and externally, easily and efficiently allowing for future growth.

Visitors to the National Heart Center will arrive via a convivial and naturally lit concourse and reception area. The first six floors of the building will contain facilities for day surgery, operating theaters, clinics, laboratories, radiology, and retail centers, while levels seven to ten will be reserved for non-patient areas, including medical records, research laboratories, staff training, and administrative offices.
Great floating green gardens, reminiscent of the medicinal courtyards of the Middle Ages, are meant to provide social connectivity and expedite the process of healing by offering patients healthy doses of natural light, ventilation, and views. The plants also act as carbon filters and help reduce the heat island effect, an important feature in a city that crams over 4 million into a 265-square mile area. The building is oriented around these communal internal spaces to encourage human interaction.
Demolition is expected to begin in September 2009, and the £73 million Heart Center is expected to be completed in Spring 2012.

Taiwan’s Beautiful Bioshell Center for Disease Control

Inspired by the elegant form of the Nautilus Shell, the Taiwan Center for Disease Control’s BioLab conceals a dangerous riddle within its outer skin. Usually only visible to the naked eye, the structure of the outer skin is laced with geometric patterns that represent the four symbols of the DNA sequence of the dangerous bacteria being studied within. If you’re not in awe of the structure itself, you may catch on to the message that Taiwan is trying to deliver: “Epidemic prevention is a war that we intend to win”.

A joint project by Manfredi Nicoletti and Arco Architects & Designers, the design has received an honorable mention in a competition to design a new center for disease control located in the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park in Hsinchu County. The twin nautilus shell structures are surrounded by a rolling green-roofed complex that provides insulation while blending the project in with its surrounding environment. A large central atrium suffuses the interiors with light, and the biolab’s beautiful facade acts as a brise-soleil that helps to regulate interior climate while allowing light to filter through.
Although it is unclear whether or not anyone will truly see the pathogenic code hidden in the structure’s exterior, the nature of the bioshell goes to show that beauty lies in even the most destructive forms of nature.

“SOM’s Stunning Cathedral of Christ the Light”

Throughout time, cathedrals have signified some of the human race’s most awe-inspiring architectural endeavors. Continuing this trend, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill recently completed construction on their incredible Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland. If you have been searching for religious -or architectural- inspiration, check out their awe-inspiring cathedral. The stunning structure makes beautiful use of glass, fly ash concrete, and fsc-certified wood, but we were most impressed by its incredible use of natural light. SOM is well known for its work on many other large projects such as offices, airports, islands, museums, and skyscrapers.

Craig Hartman, the lead architect for this project, says he “couldn’t imagine a more important commission than to design a cathedral.” Cathedrals of this magnitude are not often built, so to be chosen to build one among many other qualified architects is truly an honor. The Diocese’s main focus for the design was its use of daylighting. Hartman proposed that light would be the key “to create a contemporary design that was still evocative of the Church’s two millennium-old traditions.” To achieve this heavenly goal, Hartman consulted his retired SOM partner, Walter Netsch, who designed the 1950s Cadet Chapel at the U.S. Air Force Academy, which is also well known for its use of light.

SOM’s Cathedral goes against the classical design of cathedrals and basilicas, which take the form of a cross with the altar placed at the intersection. Hartman wanted a more modern structure that embodied the community, so they placed the altar in the center surrounded by seating. Circular motifs play and important role in the design, especially the outside structure, which funnels up 12 stories towards a glass oculus roof. The skylight focuses light onto the center altar, allows views of the sky, and is also part of the unique passive cooling system. The system uses natural convection to cool air as it rises up through floor vents and out through openings in the oculus.

Additional sustainable features of the building include the extensive use of natural light to cut back on energy use during the day. The structure’s concrete was formed using fly ash and contributes thermal mass for heating and cooling. Finally the beautiful woodwork provides warmth to the building and came from FSC certified Douglas Fir. The Diocese asked that the Cathedral be built to stand the test of time for at least 300 years, and it is also seismically outfitted to withstand a significant earthquake.
The site for the Catholic Cathedral is the location of the old St. Francis de Sales Cathedral, which was irreparably damaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The Cathedral of Christ the Light is home to the Oakland Diocese, the Bishop and over 500,000 parishioners. Construction began in 2005 and was just recently completed, with the Cathedral scheduled to be dedicated and consecrated on Thursday, September 25th in a private service. It will be open to the public for a special mass on Friday at 10 am, and regular weekend service will begin on Sunday.

The Toilet-Shaped House

The Toilet-Shaped House has a very unique design, and was built by Sim Jae-duck, president of the organizing committee of the first General Assembly of the World Association of toilet, and he hoped that his house will highlight toilet the need for better sanitation .. The Toilet-Shaped house is Haewoojae name, which in Korean means “a place of refuge where you can solve its problems.” Sim Jae duck open what is billed in the world as a single toilet home on November 11, to mark the launch of its World Toilet Association.

Steel, white concrete and glass house, with a symbolic opening in the roof, will be ready to receive visitors next month, said the World Toilet Association, in a statement. The house is a 419sq meters structure with two bedrooms, two bedrooms and other rooms, the two-story house includes three courses luxury toilets. Unlike the giant “toilet” in which they find themselves, they will not be see-through business. If you want to visit this house, you can go to Sim Jae duck Suweon native of the city, 40km south of Seoul.