Amazon has submitted a proposal for one of their new HQ2 (their 2nd headquarters) buildings in Arlington, Virginia.
The Helix at will include lush gardens and flourishing trees native to the region. A true double helix in shape and structure, this unique building will feature two walkable paths of landscaped terrain that will spiral up the outside of the building, featuring plantings you may find on a hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Earth integrated housing includes underground housing but often opened up a bit to allow more windows. So some of the house is underground, many of the walls are surrounded by earth, but with more room for windows (often by excavating some earth to provide window views).
Obviously they provide good ability to maintain a more pleasant temperature when things get very cold or very warm.
Mike Oehler’s website on Underground Housing.
Related: Benefits of Green Roofs – Rustic Homestead Community – Monastery of Saint Simon (Cave Church), Cairo, Egypt – Wonderful Low Impact Woodland House
Creating livable green spaces in the middle of urban sprawl is a great goal. And good work in elevated green spaces has been done in the last 10 years. This image is a rendering of a proposed huge green roofing and park project spanning many buildings (double the size of the current largest green roof).
Rendering of proposed green roof.
The whole development seems pretty spectacular and the huge green roofing concept is very cool. I wonder how likely it is to be developed? The location in the Silicon Valley makes it much more likely it seems to me as there is plenty of money there for extravagance. The entire project is estimated at $3 billion.
World’s largest green roof unveiled in the heart of Silicon Valley
The Hills at Vallco’s crown jewel is without a doubt its $3 million 30-acre green roof, an unprecedented engineering feat that’s “at least twice as big as anything attempted before it.” The elevated community park will include 3.8 miles of walking and jogging trails along rolling hills, orchards, vineyards, meadows, organic gardens, children’s play areas, and a sanctuary for native fauna and flora.
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On street-level, the new mixed-use neighborhood will feature a highly walkable and bikeable downtown street-grid anchored by two town squares. Parking would be primarily tucked underground and a transit center may be built at the shopping center. The 15-block street grid will be filled with 625,000 square feet of retail, 2 million square feet of office space, and 800 residential units.
I am not sure what the $3 million price tag includes. It sure doesn’t seem like much money given the scope. My guess is it must exclude most of the costs – such as creating the infrastructure for laying the green roof; unless it is much cheaper than I would think.
The development site sits between Apple’s Infinite Loop headquarters and the spaceship-like Apple Campus 2 in Cupertino, California.
Related: The Benefits of Green Roofs – University of California, Berkeley: 2010 Livable Buildings Awards – Wonderful Low Impact Woodland House with a Green Roof
Beautiful house.
via: The Perfect Home for a Photographer
Related: Easy to Assembly Off-the-grid Towns – Wonderful Low Impact Woodland House
Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012) was best known for his design of civic buildings for Brasília, a planned city which became Brazil’s capital in 1960, as well as his collaboration with other architects on the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
Niemeyer’s first major project was the design of a series of buildings for Pampulha, a planned suburb north of Belo Horizonte. His work, especially on the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, received critical acclaim, and drew Niemeyer international attention. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Niemeyer became one of Brazil’s most prolific architects, designing a range of buildings both within the country and overseas.
He received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1988.
Related: Influential Architects: Mies van der Rohe – Oscar Niemeyer official site
Mies van der Rohe was born in Germany and moved to the USA during his career as an Architect. He was known for stripping down design to the minimal structure needed.
Examples of his architecture include: Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, and the Neue Nationalgalerie at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin.
In addition to buildings he designed furniture including, the Barcelona chair, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair.
Related: Mies van der Rohe Society – Low Impact Woodland House – Fundació Mies van der Rohe