Hiroshima’s Optical Glass House Hides a Secret Garden Behind its Glazed Façade

The Optical Glass House in Japan takes its name from its unique translucent façade, which shields the home’s tranquil courtyard from the surrounding urban environment. Designed by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Co. Ltd., this single-family home in downtown Hiroshima features a gorgeous secluded patio with a garden and pool, all hidden behind the bricked-glass wall. The translucent wall filters sunlight and provides some privacy, while protecting the house from the noisy street.

Christopher Polly Carves Vaulted Ceilings and Light Wells into Sydney’s Cosgriff House

 

Christopher Polly Architect transformed Sydney’s tiny Cosgriff House into a gorgeous, modern, light-filled home. The Australian designer added a room underneath and behind the existing structure and left much of the original masonry intact. In so doing he expanded the footprint by a meager 20 square meters but doubled the floor area. He then carved vaulted ceilings and light wells into the roof to illuminate the space naturally, and it looks like a whole new house.

Indonesian Architects Work to Preserve Traditional Mbaru Niang Cone-Shaped Eco Huts

Mbaru Niang, the traditional cone-shaped eco huts in the remote Flores Island region of Indonesia, make up one of the most important cultural heritage sites in the world, and they’re finally getting their due. Last year, the huts were given an award of excellence in the 2012 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. Now, we’re excited to learn that the preservation effort has been named a finalist for the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Park Royal Tower: WOHA’s Stunning Vertical Garden Tower Opens in Singapore

The initial renderings of WOHA Architects’ Park Royal Hotel in Singapore showed a building almost completely overrun with gardens, water features and green pathways – and now we’re excited to say that the project is complete! The lush urban oasis features cascading planter terraces and waterfalls, creating an almost otherworldly botanical microcosm in the midst of busy Singapore.

This Charming West Village Townhouse Boasts a Backyard Treehouse Above Its Garden

New York apartments come with all kinds of amenities, but it’s not every day that you see one with its own treehouse! Nestled in the city’s West Village, this lovely townhouse recently became available on the market and offers the perfect melding of city living with an escape to nature right in the back yard. Buyers attracted to the charm of this local jewel should expect to pay a pretty penny for a home with a bit of green real estate attached. The listing price for this treasure we discovered via Curbed NY is a whopping $5,995,000, but click through the gallery to take your own (free) tour.

Destino: Sostenibilidad Urbana

El metabolismo urbano nos muestra el comportamiento de las ciudades con respecto al medio natural y el territorio que las rodea.

Nos enfrentamos al reto de crear ciudades compactas, complejas y funcionales.

En los últimos 50 años, la población española que vive en áreas urbanas se ha duplicado, suponiendo en la actualidad casi el 77% de la población total. Esto es, más de 36 millones de personas que se concentran en una superficie aproximada de 88.000 km2, que representan únicamente, el 17,4% del territorio nacional(1).

Arquitectura Sustentable & Sostenible

Hace ya varios años que venimos escuchando la palabra “sostenibilidad” y “sustentabilidad” y el hecho es que están cobrando cada vez más fuerza y se están convirtiendo en condición indispensable para llevar adelante cualquier tipo de tarea.

Developing, attracting sustainable tourism

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Norfolk County has joined three other Ontario communities that also have a world biosphere designation to figure out how to develop their tourism industries without ruining the environment.

The idea is to bring in more people to hike and bike trails, canoe down creeks, and fly across tree-tops on ziplines without damaging the attraction itself.

Arend Groenewegen Turns Thatched Flemish Barn Into a Gorgeous Eco-Friendly Office

Dutch Architect Arend Groenewegen has transformed a beautiful old Flemish-style barn that used to store hay and rural machinery into a modern wooden office. Built in the 1800s at the outskirts of Bolberg, The Netherlands, this traditional shelter features slatted walls that allow natural light to filter in and it’s topped by a biodegradable roof made from local dried plants.

Minimalist Carling Residence in Pristine Canadian Landscape Requires Zero Air Conditioning

TACT Architecture designed this striking minimalist home in the spectacular Muskoka region of Ontario, Canada. Located on a wooded 26 acre lot near Georgian Bay, the Carling Residence is nestled between two rocky ridges and shaded by a bevy of existing trees. Incorporating natural resources to reinforce thoughtful, passive design strategies, TACT was able to eliminate the need for air-conditioning altogether.

Hyundai Unveils the World’s First Production Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle!

Hyundai just became the world’s first automaker to begin assembly-line production of a zero-emissions, hydrogen-powered vehicle. The first Hyundai ix35 fuel cell vehicle rolled off Hyundai’s assembly line yesterday at the company’s Ulsan manufacturing plant in South Korea.

Being responsible is the key to sustainable tourism

Sustainable tourism is defined in the Brundtland Report of 1987 as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”¹. It is fitting, then, that we look at sustainable tourism as a journey from then to the now, and beyond that into the future.

What is the difference, then, between sustainable and responsible tourism really? Sustainable tourism and responsible tourism have the same goal of sustainable development, but responsible tourism is regarded as a pathway towards sustainable tourism.