Green: The Latest Architecture and News

Construction on MVRDV’s La Serre started. Situated in the ZAC Léon Blum eco-district in Issy-les-Moulineaux, just outside of Paris, and designed by MVRDV, in collaboration with landscape architect Alice Tricon, and developer OGIC, the scheme aims to challenge conventional apartment living by integrating nature into the urban setting. The project features housing units, shops, and ample greenery, aiming to create a haven of biodiversity.

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As the world becomes increasingly urbanized, the relationship between nature and design has taken on a renewed significance. Residential design projects that intertwine with natural elements are shown to encourage a sense of tranquility in the inhabitants and the surrounding environment. Moreover, the integration of greenery, specifically through gardens, flourishing landscapes, or complete forest and hillside integrations, can be a powerful testament to the coexistence of human habitation and the natural world.

It is well known that exposure to more green spaces and cleaner air has profound impacts on human health and psychology. This kind of exposure has been linked to reduced stress, improved cognitive function, and enhanced creativity. These sanctuaries offer relief, allowing the human to reconnect with the natural world. These residential homes are often a refuge from busy city life, ranging from vacation homes to retirement homes. Moreover, as the global call for sustainable practices becomes more pressing, the role of natural elements in architecture becomes imperative.

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The Islamic Architecture style has a diverse history, spanning over a millennium, stretching from Western Africa to Europe to Eastern Asia. Beginning in early 7th century Arabia, this form of architecture emerged with the rise of the Islamic civilization. In fact, Al Masjid Al Nabawi, the first Mosque to ever be constructed was built in 622, in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Moreover, early Islamic architecture was influenced by the pre-existing styles around the region, such as Roman, Byzantine, and Persian qualities.

Today, Islamic architecture is known for its acute attention to detail, craftsmanship, and its spiritual symbolism. Furthermore, as color plays an essential role in architecture, influencing the emotional experience of the space, different colors have been utilized over the years in Islamic Architecture to evoke certain meanings. In Islamic Architecture, colors hold significant spiritual symbolism, reflecting the values and beliefs of the Islamic faith. Four core colors, Green, Blue, Gold, and White, are each used to convey various cultural, religious, and symbolic meanings.

Read on to discover the use of these colors in various Islamic architectural icons around the world.

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If ancient Hellenic sources are to be believed, hanging gardens have existed at least since antiquity when the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon were described by writers such as Herodotus and Philo of Byzantium. Today, vertical gardens have proliferated alongside the interest in indoor plants and gardens, especially in suitable climates. This trend in architecture reflects a simultaneous uptick in interest toward sustainability and a more pastoral, back-to-nature lifestyle. In the projects listed below, several of the architects mention moving forward from an industrial past—with its concomitant environmental effects—toward a better future, or at least a secluded, fresh, and natural outpost amidst the chaos of modern city life. Indoor gardens, and the visual allure of hanging plants and climbing vines, provide the setting for such a life. These vertical designs simultaneously conserve space and embed the plants within the atmosphere of the house, ensuring the space feels as much like a garden as it does a comfortable home.

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Decades of redlining and urban renewal, rooted in racist planning and design policies, created the conditions for gentrification to occur in American cities. But the primary concern with gentrification today is displacement, which primarily impacts marginalized communities shaped by a history of being denied access to mortgages. At the ASLA 2021 Conference on Landscape Architecture in Nashville, Matthew Williams, ASLA, with the City of Detroit’s planning department, said in his city there are concerns that new green spaces will increase the market value of homes and “price out marginalized communities.” But investment in green space doesn’t necessarily need to lead to displacement. If these projects are led by marginalized communities, they can be embraced.

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Warsaw-based FAAB studio envisioned a mixed-use development that enhances its own environment, while involving its inhabitants in the process. In fact, the prototype architectural intervention aims to give tools for people to control and manage the changing climate.

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Sky Green, WOHA’s first project in Taichung, Taiwan has just been completed. Commissioned by the developer Golden Jade, with Feng Chia University as an advisor, the project is the first green and sustainable mixed-use development in the city.

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Rwanda’s largest publicly funded project, Bugesera International Airport is on track to be the first certified green building in the region. A few pieces of this net zero emission complex include: a 30,000 square metre passenger terminal, 22 check-in counters, ten gates, and six passenger boarding bridges. Funded by Public Private Partnership, the project is cost estimated at $414 million USD. The international hub was only one of several initiatives discussed by the Africa Green Growth Forum (AGGF) in Kigali at the end of last year.