Staying cool in the summer, a student’s dream office and the word for the day
Architects, designers and city planners are responding to rising water levels, increased wind forces, more powerful floods, colder winters and warmer summers through methods of sustainable design and thoughtful planning.
This being summer, it seems appropriate to look at an example of what some designers are creating to help people adapt to higher temperatures.
The Shenzhen Shenwan Street Park by AUBE CONCEPTION in Shenzhen, China is in the middle of the city and provides a cooling environment full of life with children playing, a diverse ecosystem and a sustainable environment.
Even though there is water used, it is through a system using rainwater. There is a rainwater storage tank of harvested rainwater that is reused for irrigation and the fountain. A windmill in the park converts the wind into energy and pumps the rainwater harvested into the aqueduct. The water is purified by terraces leading to the waterfall returning to the wetland for recycling and replenishing the waterscape in the wetland.
Student Work
The student project featured this week is by Viraj Chauhan studying at USC Architecture at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The title is “Dream Office”.
This is his description:
"In the tranquil outskirts of bustling Indian cities like Mumbai and Goa, our esteemed architecture, landscape architecture and urbanism firm is found.
Here, connectivity to the world through international airports and robust public transport is seamlessly combined with the serenity and leisure of being away from the urban hustle and bustle.
The firm aims to offer solutions to our clients and operates in many fields, with teams led by professionals with various expertise.
We seek to enable and envision a change for a better future – better living spaces for our people.
These images were generated using Midjourney to envision the ideal practice environment for a young, multidisciplinary firm.”
The word for the day
The word for the day is “cloister”
Yes, I know, it is in our vocabulary but sometimes it’s a good idea to review.
According to Merriam Webster, a cloister is a “covered walk running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle”. The word has other meanings but in terms of architecture, that is as good a description as any. One usually refers to cloisters as associated with religious structures or institutions of higher learning.
The walkways are stunning and can easily be places for solitude and reflection.
Harry Potter was filmed in different cloisters, one of them being the cloister at Durham Cathedral in Durham, England.
Another location was the cloister at Gloucester Cathedral in Gloucester, England.
Below is a photo I took of the cloister in Belem, Portugal at the Jeronimos Monastery.
For more on the Jeronimos Monastery, you can check out my blog post at Lost in Lisbon.
One additional note:
The first union at a private architectural firm has been established at Bernheimer Architecture.
Other firms have tried but this is the first to succeed and I am sure more will follow.
For more information on this accomplishment, go to Archinect.
Dora Taylor