Tag-Archive for » Green Building «

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 | Author: admin

Brent Brown and John Greenan outside City Hall in Dallas / image credit: Dallas Observer

Imagine, if you will, a utopia smack in the heart of downtown Dallas. In this green, sustainable building of tomorrow, you might roll out of bed, take a shower and find your runoff water feeding vegetation growing on the roof and walls, upon which you’ll feast later that night. Or maybe you’ll move downtown and become a cattle rancher several stories above the concrete jungle. Or perhaps you’ll grab a bite in the slow-food café downstairs after knocking off your shift working the counter in the holistic pharmacy next door.

Solar panels heat and light your home, and the high-tech and the natural mesh seamlessly in aLogan’s-Run-to-a-kibbutz kind of way. It’s a place so inviting, so self-contained that there’s really not much reason to ever leave home.

The possibilities, say the three architectural firms competing to design this future world, are endless—so much so they can’t really pin down what life in their buildings would be like, which is precisely what makes it so hard to believe one will ever exist. But if local affordable housing advocates Brent Brown and John Greenan have their way—and they insist they will—this world of tomorrow might be a lot closer than you think.

Click here to read the entire article on the Dallas Observer’s website.

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 | Author: admin

133_1-Design Concept

“During the past 100 years a number of dramatic changes in the character of public life have taken place, all of which makes detailed and careful planning of people an essential theme within the built environment. Comparing street scenes from 100 years ago with present day street scenes, an obvious change in the volume and character of the public life stands out. In the bustling street scenes from around 1900, nearly all people are engaged in some type of necessary activities. Use of the public realm was an important part of daily life, and the spaces were filled to maximum capacity with all kinds of activities; in the process, public space functioned in the ever-present role as the essential meeting place for people.”

- From “Urban Oasis” designed by Behnisch Architects Inc. in Los Angeles, CA, who received special recognition for social responsibility.

In spring of this year we announced the  3 winning entries for the latest of the Urban Re:Vision design competitions, Re:Vision Dallas.  We are now pleased to announce the Re:Vision Dallas Special Awards, recognizing 10  teams of architects and designers from around the world who’s entries exhibited exceptional  creativity, innovation and community consideration.

The special awards categories include:

Special Recognition for Social Responsibility

Special Recognition for Being Visionary

Special Recognition for Breadth of Research

Special Recognition for Community Methodology

Special Recognition for Connection Between Public and Private Realm

Special Recognition for Interesting Technological Innovation

Click here to see complete information including team descriptions, overviews and images.