Healing Green: Architects Are Breaking Down a Long Tradition of Sterile Healthcare Design
CategoriesArchitecture

Healing Green: Architects Are Breaking Down a Long Tradition of Sterile Healthcare Design

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter. 

That nature can help cure people both physically and mentally is not a new concept. Architects are using greenery to help combat the sterility of modern healthcare facilities, yet it is not usually not easy to achieve the ideal result. Explore different approaches to ‘green healthcare’ with the following six projects of different sites and sizes.


Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen

By Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects and MIKKELSEN Architects, Herlev, Denmark

Popular Choice, 10th Annual A+Awards, Hospitals & Healthcare Centers

SDCC_aerial viewSDCC_interiorSteno Diabetes Center Copenhagen is a hospital for preventing and treating diabetes. The hospital occupies a rectangular site with two entrances open on two opposite sides. There are four inner gardens on the first floor and two of them greet the visitors immediately upon their entry. Common areas such as circulation spaces and reception sit in the middle of the floor plan, while most individual rooms are lined on the outer ring.

The same layout continues to the second floor, replacing covered common areas with a continuous roof garden. Both vegetation and warm-color, wooden interior aim to build up a calming atmosphere for all visitors. Outside the rooms, a thin layer of vegetation shelters the rather private rooms from public view.


Maggie’s Leeds

By Heatherwick Studio, Leeds, United Kingdom

Jury Winner and Popular Choice, 9th Annual A+Awards, Hospitals & Healthcare Centers

maggies leeds_exteriormaggies leeds_interiorMaggie’s centers provide free cancer support and information to patients and their friends and families. The centers are located across the UK, each in a unique style while all of them embrace nature as a way of healing. Maggie’s Leeds stands on the last patch of greenery at St James’s University Hospital. The sloping site is bounded by roads and a multi-story car park. Instead of flattening the landscape, the spaces descend along the landscape, creating views that vary from open to secluded.

Three tree-like structures articulate the common areas under their crowns and include the counseling rooms within the trunk. Plants are visible everywhere – on top of the roofs, around the buildings and inside the buildings. The building demonstrates the idea of shelter in a natural form.


Waldkliniken Eisenberg

By Matteo Thun & Partners, Germany

Popular Choice, 9th Annual A+Awards, Architecture + Health

This new hospital wing of the orthopedic center Waldkliniken Eisenberg enjoys an immersive view of the Thuringian Forest. The six-story building has 128 patient rooms, all located on the outer ring of the circular floor plans. Floor-to-ceiling windows invite unblocked views of the natural landscape into the rooms while providing natural light and fresh air to the rooms.

Common areas such as the lobby and the cafeteria for patients are in the middle of the floor plans, framed by the wards. Inner gardens are carefully cultivated so that the common areas are also visually connected to pleasing greenery. The interior is finished largely in warm-color timber and lighted up by colorful fabrics. Rich textures and colors create a cozy and cheerful atmosphere for the patients.


Expansion of Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation

By EL EQUIPO MAZZANTI, Bogota, Colombia

Popular Choice, 8th Annual A+Awards, Health Care & Wellness

Expansion of Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation_exteriorExpansion of Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation_solariumThe expansion of Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation is sited in the compact urban context of the city of Bogotá. It comprises an eleven-story block and a single-story base. The roof of the base becomes a plaza opening to the roads, with staircases inviting people onto it. Red bricks cover the expansion as a response to the existing buildings around. Strips of pavement on the plaza are replaced by plants. Different types of plants vary in height, breaking the flatness and solidity of the brick plaza.

Bricks are held by metal cables and form an airy net over the tall block. Light penetrates the breeze-wall façade during the day, nurturing the plants in the solarium on the ninth floor. Patients can feel connected to the outside world in the solarium while remaining sheltered and protected.


Maggie’s Gartnavel

By OMA, Glasgow, United Kingdom

maggies glasgow_aerialmaggies_2011_Charlie KoolhaasMaggie’s Gartnavel sits humbly on the land of the Gartnavel hospital in Glasgow, close to the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. The single-level volume comprises a series of interlocking rooms, with an inner garden in the middle of the ring of rooms. With a flat roof and floor levels that respond to the natural topography, the rooms vary in height. Common areas including the dining room, kitchen, library and a large activity room are on the side with taller ceilings and the counseling rooms are more intimate.

Although the rooms are of different levels of privacy, there are hardly continuous walls that enclose a room. Most spaces have at least one side open or transparent. As a result, the spaces are separated by functions yet visually continuous. Meanwhile, views of the gardens enter the spaces freely through the transparent façades.


SDC

By Takeru Shoji Architects.Co.,Ltd., Niigata, Japan

SDC_exteriorSDC_interiorNeighboring a nursery, elementary school and junior high school, this dental clinic is designed as an enjoyable place for both children and parents. This two-story timber building accommodates not only a clinic but also a bookstore and daycare center. By combining programs, the design team wishes to encourage people to come not just for their appointment.

A long garden surrounds the building. The view of the garden passes through the sheltered corridors and enters the interior spaces. The garden is a buffer between the clinic and the roads as well as a showcase for changing weather and seasons.

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter. 

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Global innovation spotlight: The Netherlands
CategoriesSustainable News

Global innovation spotlight: The Netherlands

Global innovation spotlight: The Netherlands

Global Innovation Spotlight

Reflecting our global Springwise readership, we explore the innovation landscape and freshest thinking from a new country each week. This week we are heading to the Netherlands…

The Netherlands Innovation Facts

Global Innovation Index ranking: 6th

Climate targets: 49 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, 95 per cent reduction by 2050

Sustainability issues

Nitrogen pollution – The Netherlands sits behind only the United States as an agricultural exporter. Heavy fertiliser use and large numbers of livestock have led to high levels of  nitrogen oxides in the air and water. In response, the Dutch government has introduced ambitious nitrogen pollution reduction targets which have, in turn, sparked protests by farmers.

Noise pollution – Noise pollution is an underappreciated problem in Europe. The European Environment Agency, estimates that long-term exposure to environmental noise causes 12,000 premature deaths each year. Around Amersterdam’s Schiphol Airport, noise pollution has become such a concern that it has led to plans to reduce the airport’s capacity by 20 per cent.

Plastic pollution – Plastic pollution is an important concern for the Dutch public with one survey finding that 71 per cent of people in the Netherlands support a ban on single-use plastic. But a recent study from the University of Leiden found that 13 kilotonnes of plastic from the Netherlands end up in the oceans each year.

Sector specialisms

Foodtech

Energy and environment

Fintech

Source: StartupBlink

Three exciting innovations from the Netherlands

Photo source Canva

HELPING COMMERCIAL KITCHENS MANAGE FOOD WASTE

According to one report, as much as half a pound of food is wasted for every restaurant meal, including from kitchen waste and what’s left on customers’ plates. While some of this can’t be helped (peels, rinds, food that has gone off), there is a lot of scope for improvement. That is the goal of Dutch startup Orbisk, which has developed a computer vision-based system that helps food service operators identify and cut down on waste. Read more

Photo source StoneCycling

RECYLED BRICKS TACKLE WASTE AND EMISSIONS

According to the UN Environmental Programme, the construction industry accounts for around 11 per cent of total global carbon emissions. Now, Dutch startup StoneCycling is hoping to make a dent in this figure with bricks made from recycled construction debris. The company currently makes recycled bricks containing 60 per cent waste, and in the future expects to bring that figure up to 100 per cent. Read more

Photo source Meatable

QUICK-GROWING CULTURED MEAT SAVES WATER AND REDUCES EMISSIONS

Grown from cells taken from unharmed animals, Meatable’s meat is identical in every way to traditionally farmed animal meat with a significant exception – the production process. The harvested cells are used to replicate the natural process of fat and muscle growth in a process that takes only a few weeks. By contrast, it takes around three years for a cow to grow to a point where it can be slaughtered. Read more

Words: Matthew Hempstead

To keep up with the latest innovations, sign up to our free newsletters or email info@springwise.com to get in touch.

Reference

Helping commercial kitchens manage food waste
CategoriesSustainable News

Helping commercial kitchens manage food waste

Spotted: According to one report, as much as half a pound of food is wasted for every restaurant meal, including from kitchen waste and what’s left on customers’ plates. While some of this can’t be helped (peels, rinds, food that has gone off), there is a lot of scope for improvement. That is the goal of Dutch startup Orbisk, which has developed a computer vision-based system that helps food service operators identify and cut down on waste. 

Orbisk’s system includes a smart camera connected to a scale, which is installed near a facility’s waste bin. Staff hold food destined for the bin under the camera before throwing it away. The system identifies the exact foods and how much is being thrown away. The artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm then delivers data that helps the restaurant monitor exactly what and how much is being thrown away, and why.

The system works for both pre- and post-preparation foods and the results help operators manage their kitchens and supply chains to minimise waste. For example, if a lot of a particular raw ingredient is going off before it can be cooked, the kitchen knows it needs to order less of that ingredient. Or, if leftovers of a particular dish are being thrown away frequently, this may mean the portion sizes of that dish are too large.

The company describes its goal as “a mission to make the world’s food system more sustainable. We do this by using progressive and innovative technology to tackle one of today’s biggest challenges: food waste. Our solution provides hospitality organizations with a complete insight into their food waste and helps them cut their waste in half.”

Orbisk is not the only company developing solutions to reduce food waste. Winnow, in the UK, makes a similar AI-powered system aimed at driving operational improvements and cutting waste. Other innovative ways of tackling food waste highlighted here at Springwise include making fabric out of food waste and a countertop system for turning home food waste into compost. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Email: info@orbisk.com

Website: orbisk.com/en

Reference

Architectural Details: GOA’s Perfectly Perforated Pyramidal Roof
CategoriesArchitecture

Architectural Details: GOA’s Perfectly Perforated Pyramidal Roof

How can architecture be a force for good in our ever-changing world? During Future Fest, we’ll pose this question to some of the world’s best architects. Launching in September, our three-week-long virtual event will be 100% free to attend. Register here!

Amid a swampy plain in Suzhou, China, one can see a series of glowing pyramids peeking through a grove of metasequoia trees. (A native deciduous variety also known as dawn redwoods, the fast-growing trees are among the shorter in their genus, although no less beautiful with their pyramidal-shaped profiles.) The newly constructed Restaurant of Metasequoia Grove, designed by GOA (Group of Architects), draws inspiration from these plants to create an unusual building profile for the restaurant typology. The building is part of the Wujiang Beautiful Village plan that focuses on the rural revitalization of the surrounding Zhongjiadang area, which aims to encourage tourism and promote local culture. Inspired by the local flora, this restaurant and banquet hall is just the first step in this development.

The idea of the scheme is to make it a part of nature to heighten the dining experience for the user. “Water, sky and buildings constitute a background picture,” the team said. “The new restaurant will not only provide people with a place to enjoy the scenery, but it will also become a landscape embellished on the coastline.”

The nature-forward design of the restaurant takes a lot of inspiration from the site itself. The site’s northern edge is flanked by farmland and trees and the southern side is surrounded by water. The conical shapes of metasequoia trees around are abstracted into pyramids of different heights and widths to create something akin to a geometric forest. “Three different scales of modules mix and cluster together, forming a continuous canopy structure that traces an artificial forest profile within nature to simulate the natural substances’ generative process,” the firm said.

The total height of the roof canopy is just below forty feet. Each of the pyramidal forms is topped with a skylight to allow more natural light to enter the structure. The outer layer of these modules is covered in diagonal lines and a stippled pattern that recreates the texture of the metasequoia trees. Additionally, this perforated aluminum surface is layered with glass underneath and supported using grilled wood panels. This arrangement allows warm light to shine through the perforations during the night, much like a cluster of fireflies peeking through dense foliage. The contextual vision of this design has cemented its position in this year’s A+Awards gallery with both the Popular and Jury votes in the Restaurant category.

Despite the different heights on top, the lower end of the roof is evenly lowered by about nine feet to create a crisp frame of the view around. “Standing under the eaves and looking out, the vastness and tranquility of the plain wetlands seem to be included in the picture scroll,” GOA explained. The underside of the roof is also free of vents, which are in turn placed at the ground level along the glass windows, to create a disruption-free experience.

In order ensure maximum visual impact, GOA has used just ten load-bearing columns within the structure. These larger columns are combined with three slender columns. On the periphery, they have restricted the number of columns to just 11 to create unobstructed views of the water beyond. The team has used full-length single bay glass windows to envelop the main dining area.

In addition to eliminating partition devices, the team has further blurred the boundaries between the structure and site around by using the same paving materials within the restaurant and the terrace that extends outwards. The terrace also includes a planned water body, closer to the natural water body, which creates a continuous line of vision when sitting inside.

Understanding the interaction between architecture and its environment has always been a priority for GOA. They believe that architecture has the potential to redefine the way a location is perceived and can have a long-lasting impact on its growth and use. This restaurant design stays true to the firm’s idea of creating a landscape as opposed to a structure. Its true immersion into the site promises a tranquil sanctuary where visitors can disconnect and take in the mesmerizing waters and woods.

How can architecture be a force for good in our ever-changing world? During Future Fest, we’ll pose this question to some of the world’s best architects. Launching in September, our three-week-long virtual event will be 100% free to attend. Register here!

Reference

Recyled bricks tackle waste and emissions
CategoriesSustainable News

Recyled bricks tackle waste and emissions

Spotted: According to the UN Environmental Programme, the construction industry accounts for around 11 per cent of total global carbon emissions. Now, Dutch startup StoneCycling is hoping to make a dent in this figure with bricks made from recycled construction debris. The company currently makes recycled bricks containing 60 per cent waste, and in the future expects to bring that figure up to 100 per cent.

Currently, most of the company’s bricks are made up of two to three waste streams, although the company works with 60 waste streams overall, including construction waste such as ceramic toilet bowls, roof tiles, and steel. The waste is sorted, ground, moulded, and fired in a kiln, just like traditional bricks. However, while traditional clay bricks are very energy intensive, the recycled waste bricks can be fired at lower temperatures, so their manufacture releases less carbon.

The type of waste used gives different colours and textures to each collection of bricks. For example, some drive-through Starbucks locations in Europe were built with StoneCycling bricks speckled with white; those are made from crushed toilet bowls. The bricks are especially useful in repairs to historic buildings, as the variation in colour and finish makes the bricks appear more historically accurate. The company also makes BioBased tiles, a tile product that is 300 per cent stronger than concrete blocks and creates 95 per cent less CO2.  

StoneCycling describes its mission as creating, “A circular world where waste is synonymous with raw material. Cities and their buildings will be constructed of building materials that are made from 100 per cent waste, are 100 per cent recyclable at the end of their life cycle, and absorb more carbon than it takes to create them.” The concept was conceived at the Design Academy Eindhoven in around 2009, when then-student Tom van Soest worked on upcycling waste found in vacant buildings. After graduating, Van Soest founded StoneCycling with his friend Ward Massa, who manages business strategy.

In order to reduce carbon emissions, it is vital to improve the sustainability of the construction and materials sector. With the cement industry alone generating somewhere between four and eight per cent of all global man-made carbon emissions, the use of recycled resources is seen as vital. Springwise has seen this in a wide number of recent innovations, including carbon-negative insulation made from grass and construction materials made from plastic waste. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Website: stonecycling.com

Contact: stonecycling.com/contact/

Reference

Reader’s Choice: Top 10 Architecture Projects on Architizer in August 2022
CategoriesArchitecture

Reader’s Choice: Top 10 Architecture Projects on Architizer in August 2022

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter. 

Architizer’s journal is fueled by the creative energy of the thousands of architects from around the world who upload and showcase their incredible work. From conceptual designs to projects under construction to completed buildings, we are proud to serve as a platform for showcasing global architectural talent and the brilliance of visualizers, engineers, manufacturers, and photographers who are crucial members of the industry. A stellar drawing, rendering or photo, as well as a detailed project description, can go a long way in making a project stand out, as does indicate the stellar contributors on a project.

Firms who upload to Architizer share their work with professionals and design enthusiasts through our Firm Directory and Projects database. They also gain exposure by having their projects shared on our FacebookInstagram, and Twitter pages, as well as in our Journal feature articles. Indeed, through these various channels, hundreds of thousands of people in the global design community have come to rely on Architizer as their architectural reference and source of inspiration. In 2022, we’re rounding up our database’s top 10 most-viewed, user-uploaded architecture projects at the end of each month.


10. Monarch Village 

By Studio 804 in Lawrence, KS, United States

At the University of Kansas School of Architecture, graduate students have the option to enroll in Studio 804, which recently received a donation of a dozen shipping containers. The students worked to convert this gift into tiny homes for families who needed isolate during the pandemic. (The alternative was congregate housing.) Three solar collectors were placed on top of each unit to provide some electricity for inhabitants on the four beds inside.


9. THE EARTH | Pazhou Poly Sport Park Service Center

By TEAM_BLDG in Guangzhou, China

This project joins a growing movement towards architecture that blends in rather than standing out by acting as an extension of the existing landscape. Following the natural movement of the site, this design responds to crowds moving by through and around the building by raising up the green space of the original landscape and incising it with terrazzo paths.


8. Fort 137

By Daniel Joseph Chenin in Las Vegas, NV, United States

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (XL > 6000 sq ft)
Popular Choice, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Interiors (>3000 sq ft)

Perched on the most remote edge of the Las Vegas Valley, this scheme aims to immerse the client in the isolated landscape while maximizing unobstructed views of the surrounding desert and canyons. Like a stronghold in the desert, the site also inspired the design and materiality, which pays homage to the historic forts, hand forged from site-sourced materials, that dotted the fringes of the Southwest frontier.


7. Stanford Residence

By Jensen Architects in Stanford, CA, United States

Popular Choice, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Additions

Reworking and remodeling this 1960’s house also involved integrating a new and unconventional workshop for the owner, a university professor. Yet, as the architects explain, “inherent in [the] work was a questioning of the suburban vernacular,” which manifested as a raw and tough space that is ready for anything. While an angled industrial frame, wrapped in wood and glass, offers a clever reply to local pitched-roof mandates, the connecting breezeway emphasizes a parti about flow, both creative and spatial.


6. Casa Pattaya

By makeAscene in Pattaya City, Thailand

On one aspect the house seeks to express the laid-back nature of the seaside town; yet, because the surroundings are quite cramped, the architect had to carefully study the massing placement. This resulted in a sort of inside-out house, with an arrival courtyard penetrating to the central living deck that creates an in-between area that is convertible to be either indoor or outdoor living area.


5. Villa LP 

By Nghia-Architect in Ba Vì, Hanoi, Vietnam

This house is home to family members across generations, meaning that it requires spaces that accomodate differences in family members’ lifestyles, ages and personal needs. While the grandparents are used to the traditional Vietnamese lifestyle, the married couple and their children are familiar with the modern way of living in foreign countries. Faced with designing a massive structure, the architects needed to find a way to ensure that it blended in well with its surroundings.


4. HARMAY OōEli

By AIM Architecture in Hangzhou, China

Set on the second floor of a building in a mixed-use office park designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop in 2020, this store is inspired by its immediate surroundings. The space with floor to ceiling high curtain wall windows and an enclosed center core is the perfect platform to explore a place closely related to our day-to-day environment, the office. Representing a 70’s romanticized image of what an office life looks like, consumers experience this illusion of time wandering between the past and present. Working with bright color tones, soft carpets, and different textures creates a mood of future positivism.


3. “Muranow” Cinema

By Piotr Hardecki Architekt in Warsaw, Poland

The cinema is located in the area of a former Jewish quarter destroyed by the Nazis during the WWII. In the aftermath, the area was rebuilt using rubble from the former buildings. The designer of the cinema, the excellent pre-war architect Bohdan Lachert, faced a choice: either to design in the socialist realist style or not to design at all. It was only decades later that his ideas were appreciated. Seventy years later, these stories from the past had a strong influence on Piotr Hardecki Architekt’s refurbishment project.


2. CAP Riells i Viabrea

By Comas-Pont arquitectes in Riells i Viabrea, Spain

A Primary Care Center (CAP) is an ideal public facility to consider the health of people from the construction itself, minimizing the generation of CO2 in the life cycle of materials and ensuring a healthy environment in the interior. This project introduces the surrounding landscape inside the building through a linear courtyard related to the waiting rooms. The use of the structure with microlaminated wood (CLT) for the first time in a CAP in Catalonia, generates a conceptual dialogue with the forests of Montseny (biosphere reserve) visible from the building, reduces the execution deadlines and waste and allows to achieve the highest energy rating A.


1. Fincas Blanco Real Estate Office

By Sincro in Cornellà de Llobregat, Spain

The complete redesign of the corporate image of the 15-year-old offices of a real estate company in Barcelona. The interior has been designed in a Nordic style, expressed through the use of wood that brings warmth, along with the minimalism of white. The structures made with wooden slats also function as spatial divides that simultaneously imbue the space with character and personality.

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter. 



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Quick-growing cultured meat saves water and reduces emissions
CategoriesSustainable News

Quick-growing cultured meat saves water and reduces emissions

Spotted: Grown from cells taken from unharmed animals, Meatable’s meat is identical in every way to a traditionally farmed animal meat with a significant exception – the production process. The harvested cells are used to replicate the natural process of fat and muscle growth in a process that takes only a few weeks. By contrast, it takes around three years for a cow to grow to a point where it can be slaughtered.

In addition to speeding up the process of producing meat, the company’s technology involves zero slaughter of animals or antibiotic use, while saving on land and water.

Because it takes up to 20,000 litres of water to produce a single kilogramme of traditionally reared beef, cellular agriculture saves millions of litres of water a year. A typical farm also produces vast volumes of animal waste that must be sustainably managed to prevent it from polluting waterways. Cultured meat, on the other hand, produces very little pollution or carbon emissions.

With global population growth continuing, and demand for meat staying fairly steady despite the rise in numbers of vegan products, Meatable’s team decided to produce food that could directly replace current favourites. The company recently revealed images of its pork sausage product – created in response to the demand for the food in Europe and the United States.

Currently awaiting regulatory approval for commercial sale of its products, Meatable plans to have its meat on shelves by 2024.

Molecular farming is growing in leaps and bounds, with plant cells being used to produce dairy proteins and an AI system building amino acid structures for growing new proteins through fermentation.  

Written by: Keely Khoury

Email: information@meatable.com

Website: meatable.com

Reference

Tech for Architects: An Edgeless Monitor to Enhance Your Workstation
CategoriesArchitecture

Tech for Architects: An Edgeless Monitor to Enhance Your Workstation

For more laptops and workstation recommendations for architects, checkout 15 Top Laptops for Architects and Designers, and watch out for more in our Tech for Architects series, coming soon.

A monitor for an architect is like a magnifying glass for a jeweler. It permits close-up and detailed views of an architect’s designs. When working with design software and intricate images, computer monitors help enhance a working environment and ultimately lead to a more successful project outcome. As the design industry heavily relies on technology, accessorizing a workstation with quality monitors, mouses and laptops are paramount.

Choosing the right monitor for professional work is equally important, and there are numerous aspects to consider, such as resolution, speed and brightness. And for many industry professionals, budget plays a significant role in the decision-making process. Luckily, there are monitors on the market today — such as the KOORUI 24-Inch Business Computer Monitor — that respond to designers looking to enhance their workstations while respecting their budget. The new KOORUI monitor offers great performance capabilities, pronounced screen visibility and advanced eye comfort.

All of these qualities can stand up to similar products by Dell and HP, making it KOORUI’s a very good price point for the product. As one reviewer succinctly explains, “I do CAD work on this monitor and find it very close in picture quality to those costing 4 times as much.” 

The KOORUI’s 23.8 inch monitor boasts a wide screen that offers clear views of one’s work. It comes with a frameless screen that displays images in their unaltered form. This edgeless design is ideal for designers connecting multiple monitors and require reliable and uninterrupted views of their work. The KOORUI’s VA screen covers 99% of the SRGB color gamut. This VA screen produces clear and precise color depictions and is ideal for architects whose work is often dependent on color accuracy.

In their product reviews, Amazon customers underlined how well the edge-less design lent itself to dual-monitor workflow setups: “It’s sleek looking and all the buttons are right there in the front so when it’s side-by-side with my other monitor, it is more seamless looking from one screen to another.”

Meanwhile, when spending all day in front of a screen, it’s important to use products that maximize comfort. The KOORUI monitor can be tilted up to five degrees forward and 20 degrees backwards. This feature permits bespoke adjustments that adhere to each designer’s personal viewing preferences — including transitions from seated to standing work set-ups. Additionally, the monitor comes equipped with Flicker-Free technology and a Blue Light Filter which helps make a full day of screen time manageable and less straining.

The monitor comes with multiple ports including HDMI and VGA and can be connected to PC, Xbox and other laptops, thus suitable for both professional and personal use. The new KOORUI 23.8 inch monitor is an economical and straightforward solution for architects looking to enhance their workstation and improve their productivity.

For more laptops and workstation recommendations for architects, checkout 15 Top Laptops for Architects and Designers, and watch out for more in our Tech for Architects series, coming soon.

Reference

Wireless skin measures pulse, sweat, and UV exposure
CategoriesSustainable News

Wireless skin measures pulse, sweat, and UV exposure

Spotted: Most wearable health sensors today communicate via embedded Bluetooth chips. But these battery-powered chips are bulky meaning that they may not be suitable for the next generation of sensors. In response, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is developing chip-free wireless sensors that are much smaller, more efficient, and self-powering.  

At the heart of the team’s innovation is a phenomenon called piezoelectricity. When certain materials are subjected to mechanical stress, they accumulate an electrical charge. One such material is a semiconductor called gallium nitride, which the MIT researchers used to create an ultra-thin, flexible film. This film, in turn, forms the basis of an electronic skin (‘e-skin’) that is highly responsive to both electrical and mechanical stimuli. The piezoelectric properties of gallium nitride are ‘two-way’. This means that the material produces electricity in response to mechanical strain, while also vibrating in response to an electrical impulse. As a result gallium nitride is ideal for both sensing and wireless communication. 

The research team’s e-skin works extremely well as a health sensor, sticking to human skin like sellotape. Because it is extremely sensitive, the e-skin can respond to a patient’s heartbeat and the presence of sweat. These stimuli cause it to vibrate, and these vibrations are sufficient to generate a small electrical current that can be read by a nearby wireless receiver. 

“Chips require a lot of power, but our device could make a system very light without having any chips that are power-hungry,” explains Jeehwan Kim, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and of materials science and engineering. “You could put it on your body like a bandage, and paired with a wireless reader on your cellphone, you could wirelessly monitor your pulse, sweat, and other biological signals.” 

The device is still under development, with the first successful outcomes recently published in the journal Science. Ultimately, the techniques used to create the sensor could pave the way for advances in everything from fitness tracking to medical diagnostics. 

Springwise has spotted a number of innovations aiming to improve wireless healthcare, these include ultrasound stickers for mobile monitoring of internal organs, also developed at MIT, and a flexible battery created by researchers at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM). 

Written By: Katrina Lane

Email: jeehwan@mit.edu

Website: jeehwanlab.mit.edu

Reference

Naturally Illuminated: 6 Inventive Architectural Designs Starring Skylights
CategoriesArchitecture

Naturally Illuminated: 6 Inventive Architectural Designs Starring Skylights

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter. 

Skylights should be at the top of any architect’s list as an easy solution to make buildings more energy efficient. They can considerably reduce lighting energy (up to 80% in some buildings, according to the US Department of Energy) and with advances in insulating glass, the thermal performance of skylights has never been greater.

But beyond the clear functional advantages, skylights also open wide possibilities for architectural creativity. A skylight offers new opportunities for indoor spaces to interact with sunlight; these can be as simple as subtly incorporating one within an existing interior or as grand as arranging a building’s layout to maximize the natural lighting. Though allowing (often direct) sunlight to enter a building poses its own challenges, architects are devising original solutions to mitigate the inconveniences with skylights in unique shapes, configurations and patterns. The six projects below are shining examples of how skylights can be used to address the architectural, natural and artistic demands of buildings and their clients.


Pattern House

By MM++ Architects / MIMYA, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

This modernist construction in Ho Chi Minh combats the perception that shophouse-style buildings suffer from a lack of natural light because of the inherent narrowness of their lot. The designers do so with a textured combination of cement breeze blocks and brick patterned walls, letting sunlight gently diffuse inside. Bamboo trees, meanwhile, create their own natural screen to filter the direct sunlight coming through the street-facing windows.

The crowning features are the two large skylights which illuminate the space in different fashions; one large, conventional skylight overlooking the central staircase; and a smaller circular skylight, providing an abstract yellow glow (akin to a halo) to the small space underneath.


Merricks House

By Robson Rak Architects, Merricks North, Australia

The family commissioning this rural home near Melbourne wanted to ensure plenty of natural light within the living space, but without the harsh direct northern and western sun. To resolve this issue, Robson Rak Architects designed large eaves to shade thin long high-level windows around the house, creating an evenly glowing living room and dining room. In similar fashion, the architects added two wall-like beams underneath the kitchen’s skylight, parsing out the strong sunlight into milder segments.


Milk Carton House

By TENHACHI ARCHITECT & INTERIOR DESIGN, Tokyo, Japan

Photos by Akihide Mishima

Located on a narrow lot in central Tokyo, this ‘milk carton’ shaped house uses a modest skylight to flood the first and second floors with sunlight. The skylight pairs well with the house’s open concept, letting the light emanate freely and leaving no corner in the dark. Moreover, the use of natural — as opposed to artificial lighting — contributes to the unvarnished aesthetic of the interior.


Plain House

By Wutopia Lab, China

Photos by CreatAR Images, Chen Hao and Shengliang Su

Wutopia Lab repurposed these two former studios to create a personal museum and a painter’s house for artist Li Bin. Looking to reflect their client’s craftsmanship, the architects have taken the usually functional design components and carefully elevated them to a higher artistic purpose. On the outside, leaf-printed patterns sprinkle the light grey façade and lush trees paint impressionistic strokes of shadow onto the walls. Inside, monochromatic walls interact with skylights and narrow windows for vivid combinations.

But the most noteworthy feature is a three-sided skylight on the south-west corner of the living room ceiling. The living room thus becomes its own art exhibit, as changes in the weather and time of day varies the composition and lighting of the red-painted room — an artistic interplay between color and light fit for the painter-in-residence.


House B – Terra Panonica

By Studio AUTORI, Mokrin, Serbia

Rejecting the idea of the theatrical space as a necessarily dark and solemn place, this new estate espouses a more open (and bright) setting for its cultural projects thanks to a series of large skylights. From the outside, the playfully random assortment of skylights and windows healthily counterbalances the more serious dark-grey exterior.


Beijing Muee Restaurant

By MAT Office, Beijing, China
Photos by Jin Weiqi

Photos by Jin Weiqi

The interior design of this new restaurant in Beijing consists in an amalgam of superimposed domes with small circular skylights inserted throughout. The architects might argue that the cave-like design harks back to humans’ most primitive form of habitation, but the smooth arched surfaces and the rounded skylights assures us that the building is firmly anchored in the present-day.

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