“We are pleased to become part of the East Village community,” said John Ford, a lead engineer with Halsall Associates Limited in Calgary. “We wanted the structure to blend in with the aesthetics of the area yet embody functionality for the surrounding community.” Halsall has been designing innovative and complex structures across Canada for over 50 years and is excited to be part of such an important structure in the city’s civic architecture.

As part of an effort to develop the East Village into a dynamic community that integrates into the downtown core, CMLC commissioned the international contest in September 2009. From 33 initial submissions from major firms across the world, three finalists were chosen to participate in a public presentation and were subject to the opinions of not only the CMLC, but of interested Calgarians.

The pedestrian bridge is 170 meters in length and is split into three arches of 50, 30 and 90 meters in length. The bridge will connect St. Patrick’s Island to the East Village to the south and to the Bow River path system to the north. As the bridge meets St. Patrick’s Island, it becomes a true viewing spot where passers-by can take in the surrounding environment. The bridge may feature animated lighting triggered by motion, making it a truly interactive experience Calgarians can call their own.

The CMLC’s international contest judged both architectural and engineering components of each submission. The CMLC Board of Directors was impressed with the sensibility, aesthetics and thematic approach taken by RFR/Halsall. The arches were particularly remarkable to Calgarians as some saw them mimic a stone skipping across the river while others saw rolling hills or a Chinook arch in the bridge’s profile.

Urbanarbolismo’s eco auditorium is a triangular building that features a leafy living facade facing the street and a sloping green roof up top. The sides are covered in glass to let light into the interior spaces. During the cooler months, sunlight enters the windows and heats the concrete thermal mass inside for passive heating throughout the day. In the warmer months, shades are drawn over the window to protect from the hot sun. A geothermal cooling system plus the green roof keep the interior spaces cool. Additionally, the auditorium is sunken below the street level, which reduces the cooling demand and also helps with the acoustics.

Native vegetation and low-maintenance plants cover the building, which is irrigated with rainwater collected on the roof and stored in reservoirs at the ends of the building. A small patio faces the street with tall trees that help indicate the scale of the building and also provide a more impressive entrance to the auditorium. The main objective of the auditorium “Ciutat d’Elx” is to improve the quality of public space at the neighborhood of Carrús

Himin Solar Energy, started by Huang Ming, the ‘Sun King’ of China, is already the main tenant of Solar Valley and their large office building is completely powered by the sun. He has very ambitious goals about making Solar Valley a reality, and has already attracted about 100 companies, and spawned factories as well as a research center. The hope is that this clean energy epicenter will help propel China’s development of renewable energy technology and installation.

Solar Valley is located just outside of Dezhou, which is making some progress towards in building its reputation as a clean energy city. The city already requires that all new buildings be equipped with solar water heaters of the type made by Huang’s company, and last year they spent $10 million to install solar lighting along miles of road. Chiel Boonstra, a Dutch architect who heads up the International Solar Cities Congress, says that Dezhou “will be a new center of gravity for renewable technologies.” It’s just a shame that rural farmers are being relocated into block apartments in the city to make way for the grand new development.

The design reconciles two opposing concepts: 1. BUILDING vs. NATURE and 2. GOVERNMENT vs. CIVIC. By blurring the differences between the built environment and the landscape, people are invited inside and encouraged to inhabit spaces atop and around the structures. This overall design creates a new civic park for the province.

The complex, designed by H Associates and Haeahn Architecture, has recently been selected as a 2010 AIA New York Design Award winning project. Praised by jurors for successfully overcoming “traditional hierarchies that often govern these kind of projects”, the design solution received a Merit Award in the Un-built Work category of the awards program. One of the jury members, Karen Van Lengen, FAIA, also noted that “The jury admired the planning and design direction of the project that suggested a new set of relationships between the government and the people, and between building and site.”

Here’s a project description from H Associates:

BUILDING vs. NATURE – The building form is continuous and horizontal, reflecting the forms of the adjacent mountain landscape. A sinuous green roof connects several buildings and provides a unified outdoor space to accommodate a variety of programs and people. The existing topography of the site and the green axes inform the organic shapes of the buildings, and provide cues that create view corridors extending to the natural scenery surrounding the site.

GOVERNMENT vs. CIVIC – The government and civic spaces are designed to coexist in the same complex, and the building envelope modulates the degree of connectivity between these two systems. The façade is composed of a continuous layer of metal with variably sized perforations. The size of the perforations is directly related to the degree of privacy needed by the program within each space. The result is an additional level of richness in the design and a greater degree of continuity in the complex.

Here’s a detailed project description:

H’s design of a GREEN ENERGY THEME PARK focuses on the integration of landscape with building to create an experiential awareness of the green energy life cycle. This strategy challenges the segregated tower / podium / landscape hierarchy which dominates current office complex typologies. The design inverts the normative scheme to create a polycentric organization with an open civic space at the heart of the site.

The podium mass is divided and dispersed into a series of sloped GREEN ROOFS that integrate with the landscape. This topographical strategy forms valleys that channel light and enhance air circulation while creating pedestrian friendly connections.

Emerging from the sloped landscaped podium is a 29 story tower that contains much of the office program for KEPCO. A HELICAL ATRIUM space extends from the central civic plaza and moves up the tower volume. This atypical atrium promotes building ventilation, natural light, and views.

With the option to be open to the environment or completely sealed, the operable atrium buffers office space form harsh weather conditions as well as naturally ventilates the building during mild weather conditions. For the façade of the tower, each side of the tower is individually designed to accommodate orientation related conditions such as sunlight and wind.

Various sun shading devices are unique on each side of the tower and a north side moss catch system naturally insulates the building. Solar collectors/panels of the building skin system and of the SOLAR FIELD harvest the sun’s energy while daylight sensors and smart control systems reduce energy waste.

Atop of the landscape podium is a field of wind turbines that transforms strong westward winds into energy. The WIND VALLEY between the podium masses captures prevailing winds to circulate air into the open public spaces. This captured wind is collected at the base of the helical atrium and, due to increased pressure and the stack effect, is propelled vertically through the atrium. Water retention systems and green pavement parking prevent excessive runoff and waste.

Rainwater is harvested, filtered, and treated through various features including RAIN FARMS, and the resultant grey water is reused for landscape irrigation and building plumbing. Geothermal systems are integrated into the periphery of the site and the green roofs further insulate the podium mass. The accumulation of these solar, wind, water and geothermal components comprise the GREEN ENERGY THEME PARK where visitors can experience and learn about the production of green energy from various natural energy sources.

An unforgettable structure sure to inspire emotion, the ICARUS tower is currently aiming for LEED Platinum certification. The entire surface of the building’s envelope is decked out in a new breed of hyper-efficient solar cells and the roof features a sophisticated rainwater catchment system that will harvest water from the region’s frequent downpours.

The skyscraper is expected to create thousands of new construction jobs, many of which will continue as indentured employment opportunities in the building’s engine room. The skyscraper’s on-site power plant is powered a sophisticated system of levers, pulleys and counterbalances that produce enough human-generated kinetic energy to illuminate the structure’s 100,000,000 LEDs.

Celebrated lead architect Howard Roark describes the structure as “a pearl shining amid the desert sands… a diamond in the rough.” When questioned about the building’s inspiration he states: “Before you can do things for people, you must be the kind of man who can get things done. But to get things done, you must love the doing, not the people! Your own work, not any possible object of your charity. I’ll be glad if men who need it find a better method of living in the house I built, but that’s not the motive of my work, nor my reason, nor my reward! My reward, my purpose, my life, is the work itself – my work done my way! Nothing else matters to me!”

The self-sustaining tower for the 2016 Olympic Games is designed to create renewable energy for use in the Olympic Village as well as the city of Rio. A large solar power plant generates energy during the day. Any excess power not used during the day is utilized to pump seawater into a storage tank within the tower. At night, the water is released to power turbines, which will provide nighttime power for the city. On special occasions water is pumped out to create a waterfall over the edges of the building, which RAFAA says will be, “a symbol for the forces of nature.” Info on the size of the solar and pumped water storage system is not available yet.

Access to the eco tower is gained through an urban plaza and amphitheater 60 meters above sea level, which can be used for social gatherings. On the ocean side of the 105 meter tower (behind the waterfall) is a cafeteria and shop. An elevator takes visitors up to the top floor where an observation deck offers 360 views of the ocean and city. At level 90.5, a bungee platform is available for adventurous visitors.

In order to make London 2012 the greenest Olympics yet, each building and stadium is being constructed to meet specific targets. Rainwater, for example, has been collected in order to reduce the amount of potable water used in the buildings. The construction firms have a water reduction target of 40 percent, but their CO2 target is even higher.

Through a whole host of new innovations, the Olympic Authority is aiming to cut the entire project’s carbon footprint by 50 percent. The aggregate industry has stated that they aim to source 25 percent of their materials through recycling, while cement manufacturers have said they’re looking at ‘greener’ ways to fire their plants. Even 90 percent of demolition materials used are said to be recycled.

Everything about the project is designed to champion low-waste, low carbon emissions, and green transportation. Timber used in the construction of venues is from fully traceable legal and sustainable sources, public transport will be promoted as the best way to get around, and all energy generated will be renewable.

As you’d expect, this desire to be cutting-edge has cost the capital. The initial budget of the Games was $3.5 billion, but that has now risen to $13.94 billion. Of course, the drive and innovation is admirable — the only question is will it be finished on time? One only has to cast their minds back to the Millennium Dome and the Wembley Stadium refurbishment to know how London projects can go disastrously over-budget and over-schedule.

Studiodosi envisioned a six story office building that would rise slightly above the ground to provide 360 square meters of public space as an open area at the bottom of the suspended structure. The eco design would be in the shape of a circular ring coated with ivy plants supported by ceramic claddings and glasses, forming green, see-through walls.

The building will also make the best use of renewable energy and green technology, and will utilize geothermal pumps to aid in heating and cooling, a rainwater collection and storage system, and roof-top solar panels to provide energy for the building. The Henge didn’t make through to the final round of the competition, but the sheer innovation in its design is praiseworthy.

According to Google, the biking feature uses three lines to indicate different types of bike routes: “Dark green indicates a dedicated bike-only trail; Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road; Dashed green indicates roads that are designated as preferred for bicycling, but without dedicated lane.” With over 12,000 miles of trails included in bike directions and info on bike lanes and recommended streets for 150 cities in the U.S., it couldn’t be easier to hop on your bike and take a quick trip across town. What are you waiting for?