Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group (aka BIG) have designed the masterplan for a carbon-neutral resort and residential development on Zira Island in the Caspian Sea. Located within the bay of Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku, the 1,000,000 square metre masterplan will include seven residential developments, which are based on the shapes of famous mountains in Azerbaijan. The island will make use of solar heat panels, photovoltaic cells, waste water and rainwater collection, and an offshore wind farm. According to BIG, the development aims to be “entirely independent of external energy resources”. The project will be part of an exhibition called Yes is More, which opens on 20 February at the Danish Architecture Centre in Copenhagen.

Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner of BIG states: ““What we propose for Zira Zero Island is an architectural landscape based on the natural landscape of Azerbaijan. This new architecture not only recreates the iconic silhouettes of the seven peaks, but more importantly creates an autonomous ecosystem where the flow of air, water, heat and energy are channeled in almost natural ways. A mountain creates biotopes and eco-niches, it channels water and stores heat, it provides viewpoints and valleys, access and shelter. The Seven Peaks of Azerbaijan are not only metaphors, but actual living models of the mountainous ecosystems of Azerbaijan.”

In September 2007, JDS Architects won the international competition for a new Holmenkollen Ski Jump in Oslo and have now begun construction of the new jump tower and arena for the World Championship in 2011. Located on the hillside north west of Oslo center, Holmenkollen stands out as an iconic landmark for the city of Oslo as well as for the entire nation. The new ski jump will replace the existing ski jump and will be built at the same site where it has resided since the first Holmenkollen ski jump was erected in 1892. Since then, the jump has been rebuilt 18 times.

The new jump will be completed in time for the 2011 World Championship and bring the Holmenkollen ski jump up to date with new standards and regulations in accordance with the international skiing federation. The silhouette of the new tower has a sharp and simple cut, which extends upwards thanks to a projected column of light. The profile follows the jumpers descent and is offset to create necessary wind protection. The smooth and bended rectangle hosts the slope, the main structure and circulation with an inclined elevator running from the bottom to the top where a 50 m2 bar/jumpers lounge and jump platform is located. The top is cut horizontally to accommodate a viewing platform with a 360º panorama view over the Oslo city landscape.

New York’s Governor’s Island is set to receive an incredible set of renovations that will transform the 172-acre plot of decaying Coast Guard structures into a stunning eco-park. Designed by West 8, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Rogers Marvel Architects, the project is a hybrid of landscape and architecture based around a sinuous set of new paths, watercourses, restaurants, “aquaria” and even complimentary wooden bicycles. Slated for completion in 2012, the ambitious, new and improved Governors Island will incorporate a host of environmentally friendly features. Diller Scofidio + Renfro say the plan “uses the man made topography of lower Manhattan as a starting point; the southern tip of the island is transformed into an artificial landscape with hills constructed of reclaimed materials from existing Governors Island buildings. As the new topography approaches the Western edge of the island, it transforms into EPDM-covered greenhouse structures, programmed as botanical and aquatic research centers.”

The proposal also features a Marine Exploration Center that consists of a set of off-shore “programmed structures” including a coastal plant greenhouse, marine life tank, vertical reef, and two restaurants. “Off-shore programmed structures emerge like bubbles from the water, moving with the tides. The Oyster Restaurant floating directly across the harbour from the Statue of Liberty is an inflated sphere, 150 ft in diameter, anchored by a man-made oyster reef. Rather than focusing its gaze on the world, it turns to the ecology of the local, allowing guests to eat the site by serving foods from the Hudson and the harbour.” With all the sledge and bodies they throw into the local waterway, we’re not convinced that aspect of the menu will be a home run.

As visitors head to the southern tip of the island, they will encounter a “Vertical Landscape” of man-made escarpment that will incorporate recreational, cultural, and educational functions. Though still in the development stage, features may include snack bars, exhibits, a funicular, and caves for spelunking. West 8 says: “we wanted to give it the attitude of a national park, one with primal nature, robustness, where you don’t feel the hand of man.” Last but certainly not least, complimentary wood bicycles—designed by the architects themselves—will be provided for visitors to cruise the winding paths of the park. Attractions accessible by bike will include the tidal basin, a 10,000 seat amphitheatre, and a perimeter promenade with postcard-perfect views of NYC. Given the stunning design, recreational and educational opportunities the park will provide, not to mention the tourist dollars it will generate, Governors Island may prove to be the best $1 investment the city has ever made. That’s right, it was bought for a mere buck back in ’03.

The New South Town of Miyi County in south eastern China recently selected the Los Angeles based team of Studio SHIFT and SWA Group to create a master plan for the developing area. As part of the new plan, Studio SHIFT has designed a tower containing various programs aimed at promoting the region’s heritage and natural amenities. The tower sits at the edge of the Anning River and will mark the transition between the new development to the north and the new wetlands, leisure and agricultural districts to the south. The Miyi Tower rises from the southern end of a kilometre long promenade that stretches from a high density residential and cultural hub devoted to regional arts. The promenade itself consists of a series of parks and public spaces designed by SWA Group to highlight accessibility to the river. It then tapers between rising paths which form the amphitheatre at the tower’s base. The paths converge and then continue as a bridge across the river and as an overlook affording views of reclaimed wetlands and the lake beyond.

The designers were intent on utilizing natural and mechanical means of filtration to produce clean water, converting a highly polluted river into a usable amenity for residents and visitors. This new amenity takes the form of a series of lakes, wetlands and waterways which lend form to the new districts in the master plan. The tower itself, which is to act as a major landmark per the Miyi government’s request, is designed as an educational building for residents and the multitude of tourists that visit every year. Because the town is known for its abundance of sunshine and temperate climate, only half of the building’s program elements are enclosed. These double height spaces alternate with unenclosed areas and rise around a vertical core, their alignment shifting toward different views at every floor. An auditorium, exhibition spaces and restaurants featuring local cuisine can be found on the interior while open-air floors are used as event spaces, gardens and an observation deck. The pairs of lower and upper enclosed spaces are joined by structures which act as light monitors. These light monitors, of which there is a third at the highest level, are aligned to take advantage of different lighting conditions throughout the day.

The tower is sheathed in a very porous yet continuous skin that gives the various programs their unified form. As porous building skins are often treated as opaque modules with subtracted holes (i.e. perforated skins) Studio SHIFT deliberately created the inverse. On the Miyi Tower, rather than defaulting to a technique of perforation, they created a pattern of objects in space mounted to a light frame. This inversion allows the skin to take on a rather ethereal effect and evokes the shimmering surface of the river below.

Situated in the small coastal town of Bronnoysund, Norway will be a new waterfront development designed by Fantastic Norway Architects. The large tourist complex will include new pier buildings, boat rentals, a conference centre, as well as a water park and public promenade. The historical district will be transformed into a waterfront area that will be accessible for locals as well as visiting tourists.

The design itself is a cookie cut house-like structure, with various slices and misplaced pieces that nicely disrupt the semblance of repetitive order. Fantastic Norway did a superb job of balancing the existing waterfront with the new structures, by placing some of them on stilts, adding to the overall pier-like feel. Additionally the incorporation of the random windows and wooden slats, help break up the monotony of each structure, and their similarities with the surrounding neighborhood.

The joint project by the four firms, BIG (Copenhagen), INABA (Los Angeles), MAD (Beijing), an mass studies (Seoul) uses versatile architectural forms that change in size and use. The principals of the four offices, Bjarke Ingels, Jeffrey Inaba, Yansong Ma, and Minsuk Cho reinterpret the term ‘economies of scale’ to mean the value of a single architectural form that functions at several scales. The works are adaptable enough so that the same form can be enlarged or shrunk and still function as a building. They have the added capacity to dramatically change in size and transform in use from building to furniture to toy. Given today’s economic instability, the architects propose an architecture that can be sized to accommodate changes in available funding. The forms have been developed so that if a project’s investment capital decreases, it can be scaled down; alternatively, if greater financing becomes available, the same form can be scaled up. A project conceived with greater utility in mind so that the form can be enjoyed even when reduced or increased by 40, 50, or 60 percent.

The plan for riverfront area of ansan, a city of 550,000 inhabitants located near Seoul, includes housing, commercial, retail and municipal spaces. The proposed buildings which range in height from 80 to 400 meters and in length up to 1500 meters are displayed in the museum lobby in drawings, animations and four large models. In the context of the exhibition, the architects have taken the idea of scalability further by developing works that function even when scaled 1,000 and 10,000 percent. The models are also designed as inhabitable objects in their own right. Each model of their urban plan is a furniture piece of their lobby plan. The three?dimensional representations of the buildings function as elements of GMoMA’s interior serving as a new bookshop, a set of seats and tables, a lounge area, and a reception kiosk.