moritherapy/architecture

Ismaili spirituality - From the page: "One of the mediums by which the Imam communicates esoteric knowledge to both the Jamat and the world at large is Islamic architecture. As Mawlana Hazar Imam remarked in his speech at the Inaugural Ceremony of the Delegation:

�oeThis new Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, like the Ismaili Centre and the Aga Khan Museum to be built in Toronto, reflects our conviction that buildings can do more than simply house people and programmes. They can also reflect our deepest values, as great architecture captures esoteric thought in physical form.”"

Blog Action Day: How architects help poverty. "There are enough shipping containers around the world to build an 8 foot wall around the equator twice.

A shipping container contains the essential elements of a home: The floor, the walls, and the roof.

The shipping containers are built on an international standard, eliminating the hassle of building measurements.

Their building block/lego shape inspires the "artists" (architects) to get creative with their architecture.

Idea Made Manifest:

Urban Space Management began their first project.

It took 5 months to build Container City 1, which opened in May 2001, and provided 12 work studios. In 2003 another floor was added in less than 2 days and provided 3 additional live/work apartments. Each apartment is 300 square feet, and rents for $80-100 per month.

"Architecture for Humanity represents the finest of the new breed of architectural leadership, employing architectural skills and directing them for the larger good. Committed, unapologetically architectural in name and mission, Architecture for Humanity stands up for people in need."

A beautiful architectual photo story.

Amazing! Read the story of a man who built and lives in a house smaller than some people's closets. (And does it need to be so amazing? People used to live in tents for centuries ...)

Super city? Well, I'm not holding my breath although I guess it's important for people to come up with ideas like that. One of them will work, eventually. "The city of tomorrow takes to the skies in an incredible new concept from Beijing-based MAD Architects. Although its spires may look menacing, the aptly named Superstar is a completely self-sustaining city that is capable of producing all of its own power and food while recycling all of its waste. Conceived as a future-forward update to the contemporary Chinatown, the Superstar will travel the globe, supplying its host cities with energy, commerce, and cultural activities."

Again in Dubai currently three Palm Islands are planned by Nakheel. The first one, Palm Jumeirah, is already quite far in construction.

The iconography is of the palm-tree is not very direct, but a little abstracted. The iconography has double meanings in an urban sense, with two functional and two iconic assets:

1. It is a highly functional layout for the colonization of the islands; the long islands create a maximum stretch of beach, so every house can have it's own beach.

2. As a logo the palm-tree refers to (beach)vacation. As the island is meant as part of Dubai's attempt to become a touristic hotspot, this is smart and intelligent move.

3. The single entrance to the island has panoptic properties; a gate can keep unwanted people off the island. This can also be interpreted as a disadvantage, since it makes the island a private property that leads to segregation.

4. It is the first build structure that can been seen from space. It might also be a smart move since Google Earth has been launched. In the future people might reserve a villa by clicking on the islands in Google Earth. (currently the island is still invisible on the old maps of Google Earth)

The iconography of the islands is not a direct copy of the image of the palm tree, but a more abstract representation of it and therefore leaves room for alternative readings. I tend to see in it also an ejaculating penis, although that reading is perhaps a bit perverse and simplistic.

The 52-home solar community has installed an array of solar panels on the roofs of their houses and garages. Glycol solution runs through an insulated piping system, or collector loop, that connects the array of solar panels. The solar panels absorb the solar energy during the daytime and heat the glycol solution. The glycol solution travels through the collector loop and reaches an underground heat exchanger within the community's centralized Energy Center. The heat is then transferred from heat exchanger to the water stored in a short-term storage tank. The glycol solution returns to the solar collector system. The Energy Center has short-term thermal storage tanks and long-thermal storage tanks (Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES) system).