Zaha Hadid Architecture won an international competition to design the center in 2007. She told Dezeen that it’s her most important design to date.

Located in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, the Heydar Aliyev Center is designed to host the country’s cultural programs and activities while making a concise break from the rigid, formal architectural language prevalent in the Soviet Union.

“The design of the Heydar Aliyev Center establishes a continuous, fluid relationship between its surrounding plaza and the building’s interior,” Hadid’s team write in their design brief for Dezeen.

“The plaza, as the ground surface; accessible to all as part of Baku’s urban fabric, rises to envelop an equally public interior space and define a sequence of event spaces dedicated to the collective celebration of contemporary and traditional Azeri culture.”

Related: Comparing Qatar stadium to a vagina is “ridiculous” says Zaha Hadid

In order to achieve that fluid style which appears to push out of the surrounding urban fabric like a mountain, the design team led by Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu built a steel space frame and clad the exterior in overlapping glass-fiber reinforced concrete panels.

“Fluidity in architecture is not new to this region,” they add.

“In historical Islamic architecture, rows, grids, or sequences of columns flow to infinity like trees in a forest, establishing non-hierarchical space. Continuous calligraphic and ornamental patterns flow from carpets to walls, walls to ceilings, ceilings to domes, establishing seamless relationships and blurring distinctions between architectural elements and the ground they inhabit.”

Daylighting may offset some energy use, but frankly, from an environmental perspective, this building has virtually nothing to offer. From an engineering, design and maybe even especially from a cultural perspective, all accolades are definitely worthy.

Photos via Iwan Baan

The post Zaha Hadid modernizes Islamic design with winning Heydar Aliyev in Azerbaijan appeared first on Green Prophet.

With Masdar City, Foster & Partners was the first international architecture firm to design buildings in Abu Dhabi that borrow from the region’s desert-savvy vernacular. Now they are continuing that tradition with the Zayed National Museum on Al Saadiyat Island, which will sport five wing-shaped solar thermal towers when completed.

Conceived as a monument to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, a beloved figure in the United Arab Emirates who had a strong commitment to nature conservation, the new museum will showcase the emirate’s history and culture, as well as its more recent social and economic transformation.

“Architecturally, the aim has been to combine a highly efficient, contemporary form with elements of traditional Arabic design and hospitality to create a museum that is sustainable, welcoming and culturally of its place,” writes Foster & Partners.

At first glance, it’s hard to see how F&P have incorporated ancient Islamic principles into the modern design.

A fan of five steel “wings” that sprout from a landscaped mound looks more like something from a science fiction novel set in the future, and the massive lobby buried underground to make optimum use of the earth’s thermal properties resembles a large hobbit house more than anything we’ve seen on the Arabian peninsula, but a passive cooling system mimics traditional wind towers used in much traditional Islamic architecture.

Like the Bastakiya wind towers in Dubai, which evacuate hot air using the stacked chimney effect, the five solar thermal towers draw hot air from the ground, funnel it through the galleries, and then push it out through vents at the tip of the aerodynamic towers.

Cool air is then pumped into the lobby through buried ground-cooling pipes, which mitigates air-conditioning use – something of an addiction in scorching hot Gulf countries.

While the sun presents a huge challenge for designers working in the Middle East, it can also provide great benefits, including plenty of natural light – something that F&P understands well.

“Throughout, the treatment of light and shade draws on a tradition of discreet, carefully positioned openings, which capture and direct the region’s intense sunlight to illuminate and animate these interior spaces,” they write.

Along with Zaha Hadid’s Performing Arts Center, the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Guggenheim and a slew of other landmarks, the Zayed National Museum is expected to attract scores of visitors to Al Saadiyat Island, an exclusive cultural district that will be connected to Abu Dhabi via a 10 lane causeway.

The Tourism Development & Investment Company approved the design in 2010 and more than 1,000 pilings were constructed and tested by July, 2010. Since then, no new updates have been posted, but the TDIC expects to open the museum to the public by 2016.

:: Evolo

The post Futuristic Zayed National Museum Cooled with Wing-Shaped Steel Towers appeared first on Green Prophet.

The same Italian design firm that designed a fleet of eco-schools for Gaza has won an international competition to design the headquarters of Algeria’s telecommunications firm ARPT (Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications).

Mario Cucinella Architects combined tradition and modernity in his striking design of the ARPT Headquarters that is slated for construction along a busy highway in the Algerian capital.

Also located next to a new urban park, Bab Ezzouar, the building is designed to act as a new landmark for the city, a symbol of its growth ambitions.

The aerodynamic shape culminates in something of a pointed arch regularly found in Mediterranean architecture, except Cucinella pushed the northern side out in a convex shape to force fierce desert winds to roll off the building’s back.

He then sunk the southern side in a concave that captures the nighttime breeze.

By using bioclimatic design to cool the interior naturally, Cucinella reduces the program’s energy load since less air conditioning will be required to maintain a comfortable interior environment.

Based in Bologna, Mario Cucinella Architects has a history of building green buildings and we’re thrilled he is brining his much needed expertise to North Africa and the Middle East.

Having made a study of cooling techniques employed by the ancient people who lived in the desert regions, the Italian designer brings a sense of Islamic identity to his modern new structures.

We interviewed Mario shortly after plans for a green school in Gaza were announced, a pending UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency) project designed to provide a safe and resilient learning environment for children of Palestine refugees.

“To be able to apply  our knowledge and skills in a completely different region and see that it is really helpful is really inspiring,” Mario said about the challenges of his work in Gaza.

:: Bustler

The post Aerodynamic ARPT Headquarters Diverts Algiers’ Hot Desert Winds Naturally appeared first on Green Prophet.

There’s a new architectural firm in town and they are laying the groundwork for a more responsible future and it starts now with the new GU Tech in Halban. The first German university on the peninsula, the new campus recently scooped Commercial Construction Project of the Year at Oman’s 2013 Construction Week Awards.

Ernst Hoehler and Muhammad Al Salmy are the progressive brains behind Hoehler & Partner LLC in Oman’s capital Muscat. A team of committed architects, planners and engineers, the firm came to being in 2008 largely as a result of winning the award to design the GU Tech Campus.

Although Oman is not really equipped to incorporate renewable energy into the national grid and has focused very little attention on ecological urban planning, the US and German-educated team are deeply concerned about the nation’s future. After all, one day fossil fuel resources will run out, and future generations will be left to deal with it.

It hasn’t always been this way. As Al Salmy explains to The Times of Oman, Omanis were well versed in sustainable design about 600-700 years ago – as evidenced in various villages carefully constructed to make optimum use of prevailing winds and water resources.

GU Tech comprises the best of ancient Islamic design and contemporary materials to deliver an attractive, energy-efficient space with a decent amount of green space.

A state of the art air-conditioning system redirects cool air to an inner courtyard area, which is chilled a further five degrees by a curious system of sails – perhaps inspired by dhows, and grey water is purified and then used to irrigate the vegetation.

The facade resembles a mashrabiya screen which further mitigates solar gain, and energy efficient lighting conserves energy as well.

In all of their projects Al Salmy Hoehler & Partner LLC strives to make buildings “solar-ready” so that when Oman does implement a national grid that can handle renewable energy generation, these projects can simply plug and go without requiring a major retrofit.

“The nine jurors emphasized in particular the pioneering role of the project in the Sultanate in terms of overtopping the usual local standards with a modern, sustainable and state-of-the-art equipment and design,”  according to the German Emirati Joint Council for Industry & Commerce (AHK).

“They highlighted as well the exemplary implementation of a modern architecture in a design which conveys successfully between traditional Omani architecture and a modern, clear and functional architecture.”

A fine design indeed. More please.

Images via Hoehler & Partner Facebook Page

The post Oman’s Sustainable GU Tech Campus Scoops Coveted Construction Prize appeared first on Green Prophet.

:: Inhabitat

The post Futuristic Amman Airport Terminal by Foster + Partners Officially Open appeared first on Green Prophet.

Traditional building materials such as earth were used because of their superior thermal performance. And buildings were oriented for optimum shading in summer and winter solar gain. Sure Architecture has borrowed from these techniques in their curvilinear design of the Yinchuan Exhibition Center in Northern China.

The Yinchuan Exhibition Center is located in Northwest China. Its double skin combats thermal loss while the unique polyhedron shape encourages wind and other elements to gloss over the building, thereby reducing the energy load and perhaps even maintenance.

Like the Mashrabiya screen in Islamic design, the perforated skin permits natural light and promotes maximum airflow throughout the 25, 300 square meter museum.

Low e-glass further ensures maximum energy efficiency, while  an automated shading system ensures that the building never gets too hot. This intervention alone has the potential to drastically reduce how much energy the giant building gobbles up.

As is almost always the case, Sure Architecture’s use of Islamic design for this highly visible project is no coincidence; instead it stands as a testament of the growing ties between China and the Middle East.

Albeit larger and flashier than the kind of design we most respect, even we have to admit that the facade is as striking as it is sensible.

:: World Architecture News

The post Yinchuan Exhibition Center: Islamic Design in China appeared first on Green Prophet.

If you’re not into downloading recipes or cooking your own Lebanese food and you happen to live in Athens, Greece, then you’ll definitely want to pop into Souk. (Otherwise, drool over these charming images and feel inspired.)

Many of the Lebanese dishes we’ve all grown to love, including Manaoushi, Saj and Taouk, are prepared in full view of the customer in a clean but colorful environment.

A series of small design touches give this Souk something of an Islamic sensibility in keeping with the ethnic cuisine.

Gorgeous brown and white lamps that mimic ceramic pots dangle from the roof, cut outs in the walls resemble mashrabiya screens and colorful mosaic tiles line the adorn the floor. Note these are subtle interventions that inspire comfort rather than alienation.

Reinforcing the street element of this charming indoor restaurant are neon signs, a mish mash of minimalist furniture, including long light timber tables and chairs of different stripes and hues.

Stripped timber slats line the kiosks, which are flanked by black boards on which the daily menu is scribbled with white chalk.

Like many contemporary designers in the Arab world, K Studio has infused this contemporary urban space with the best of Lebanon’s cultural and culinary heritage. And though we haven’t actually sampled it ourselves, we hear the food is pretty darn good.

But don’t take our word for it… head to the Glyfada suburbs and make up your own mind.

:: Yatzer

Photos © Vangelis Paterakis

The post Souk: Lebanese Street Food Served in Contemporary Athens appeared first on Green Prophet.