Chengdu, China
Work is about to start on a car-free “satellite city” for 80,000 people that will be built close to Chengdu and later replicated in other parts of China. Designed by Chicago firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture for private developer Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co., Ltd, the 1.3 square kilometre Great City will feature a high-rise core surrounded by a “buffer landscape” of open space comprising 60% of the total area.
Courtesy Dezeen Magazine
Libreville, Gabon
New york-based firm WORK architecture company have recently won the competition to design 'L'Assemblee Radieuse,' the new assembly hall for the 2014 summit of the African union. The project will boast an extensive use of active and passive sustainable strategies including African limestone sun-shading louvers, which wrap the skin of the entire construct.
Courtesy Design Boom
New York, America
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) have broken ground on what will be the first net zero energy school in New York City and the Northeast U.S. When completed in Fall of 2015, the cutting-edge primary school will harvest as much energy from renewable on-site sources as it uses on an annual basis.
Courtesy Arch Daily
Medina, Saudi Arabia
Outrage is growing in heritage circles as the Saudi Government prepares to demolish three historic mosques dating back to the seventh century, to make way for world's largest building. Due to start on site in a few weeks after the annual Hajj pilgrimage, the new, expanded Masjid an-Nabawi mosque complex in Medina, Saudia Arabia is designed to hold some 1.6m people and reported to be costing $10.6-billion USD.
Courtesy World Architecture News
Philadelphia, America
A trio of new rowhouses in Logan, Philadelphia have been designed for low-income workers. Produced by Onion Flats, the rowhouses manage to be stylish and modern both inside and out, and are said to be among the most energy-efficient ever built in the United States. It is also claimed that the five-bedroom houses cost the same to build as a conventional brick box, about $250,000 apiece, or $129 a square foot.
Courtesy Philly.com
