Tarabot: Weaving A Living Forum, inspired by an idea by architect Adib Dada of studioOtherDada in Beirut, is a sustainable pavilion inaugurated during COP28 at the Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai. Made with locally sourced materials such as clay, mycelium, date palm waste and upcycled fabric, the pavilion incarnates a circular, ecological ethic and promotes biodiversity.
Dutch architectural practice MVRDV has completed an important project transforming an old monument in the Albanian capital. A facility opened in 1988 as a museum about the dictator Enver Hoxha has now been given new life as a vibrant cultural centre and educational facility in the heart of Tirana, demonstrating the great potential of historic constructions in Brutalist style.
Located on the edge of Melbourne’s CBD or Central Business District, Fitzroy used to be a degraded suburb but has evolved into a trendy district first made popular by artists, combining history with urban chic. In this eclectic neighbourhood stands Helvetia, a Victorian terraced home renovated by Austin Maynard Architects. After being converted into a boarding-house with a fragmented layout, Helvetia has undergone a new metamorphosis incarnating the ideals of sustainability, practicality and beauty.
The Columbia Building for the Bureau of Environmental Services of the city of Portland, Oregon by American architectural practice Skylab offers an excellent example of a wide-ranging, forward-looking project. The multifunctional complex, LEED Gold certified for sustainability, takes users’ well-being into account while incarnating the institution’s principles of optimal water management.
Morphogenesis, an Indian architecture and urban planning studio with offices in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and New Delhi, has created a „net zero“ emissions industrial complex for Forest Essentials. Located on the slopes of the Himalayas, the complex provides a model of sustainable development for rural communities making use of integrated passive and active design technologies.
The Peris+Toral Arquitectes studio has created a five-storey building with 54 social housing units in Barcelona, in the Bon Pastor district. An architecture that offers housing that is not only affordable, but also beautiful and sustainable. In fact, the project was shortlisted for the FAD Award for Architecture 2022 and received a special mention in the HISPALYT Architecture Awards 2022.
Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde’s Studio Roosegarde and Media.Monks have won the prestigious 2022 Dutch Creativity Awards for SPARK: a poetic performance in which thousands of biodegradable sparks of light float organically in the air. The artist drew his inspiration from the magical light of fireflies in this new version of the ritual of fireworks.
What to do with an old shopping centre from the ’70s such as La Part-Dieu, right in the centre of Lyon, France? - Call Dutch studio MVRRDV and ask them to transform it in a way that not only sustainably reuses a lot of the materials from the existing building, but reorganises and expands its internal programmes, making an urban dinosaur into an attractive location for the citizenry and revitalising its surroundings.
Sustainability is in its DNA: this is why the Iris Ceramica Group partnered with Bibendum to ensure “Sustainable Conviviality” during the Cersaie 2022, International Exhibition of Ceramics for Architecture and Bathroom Furnishings, in which the group participated with the theme of SHAPING THE FUTURE – the new dawn of ceramics.
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