Slated for construction at Changi Airport, a major transportation hub that manages some 30 percent of the country’s air traffic, Project Jewel is designed to raise the airport’s profile as a worthwhile destination in itself for tourists either passing through or landing in Singapore.

Like a giant dome interconnecting terminals 1, 2, and 3, the new building will be comprised of glass and steel – not the most sensible or earth-friendly materials – and feature a massive indoor garden and even a waterfall that will pour from the dome’s roof.

Included in the mixed-use development’s offerings are retail facilities and a large communal facility complete with other interesting activities — all part of the plan to colonize the traveler’s mind with images of an airport that is more than just a boring place to wait for a plane.

Related: Bring Moshe Safdie’s green building to the Middle East

“To strengthen Changi Airport’s competitive advantage and ensure that we continue to capture passenger mindshare and traffic, we must take deliberate steps to enhance Changi’s attractiveness as a stopover point.  With Project Jewel, we are pleased to be developing an exciting product that will swing travellers to choose Changi Airport, and Singapore,” said Mr Lee Seow Hiang, Chief Executive Officer of the developers Changi Airport Group (CAG).

The indoor garden will include green walls that will help to offset a tiny amount of the overall emissions associated with an airport facility of this extraordinary girth – after all, it intends to serve 85 million passengers by the time Project Jewel is complete.

At $1.5 billion, this is no small project, so Safdie has a chance to really create something spectacular. It’s not clear when it will break ground, but at least local design firms will participate in the process of creating a unique lifestyle destination for the world’s wealthy elite.

:: Changi Airport

Images via Neoscape

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A German company has just secured the contract for a mega project in Mecca which will house around 160,000 inhabitants

Despite reassurances that Mecca would take a more considered approach to construction, a new mega-scheme for the city has just been given the green light. Following the horrendous Mecca Clocktower and the growing sprawl surrounding the city, another huge project seems like the last things the city needs. The new project, which is being led by Germany-based White Sky Group and Riyadh-based Al Fayadh Consultants, is a mixed-use development covering three million square meters in Mecca.

The partnership apparently beat off strong competition from Foster + Partners and will include “middle and high-rise buildings, utilising new technologies in mobility and sustainability.” The development will include things like hotels, residential homes, technical and medical infrastructure as well as parks, open spaces and spacious prayer areas.

As the Hajj pilgrimage attracts up to 3 million people annually, land in and around Mecca is highly sought after and there seems to be no way of holding back development.

Indeed, Hajj itself is slowly becoming more upscale and luxurious by the year. According to a recent report by Bloomberg, rising wealth is contributing to a demand for high standards of accommodation during Hajj and that’s contributing to a surge in hotel investment:

“Hilton Worldwide Inc., owned by Blackstone Group LP, plans to more than double the number of hotels it operates in the country to 14, including six in Mecca. It currently runs six in Saudi Arabia. U.K.-based InterContinental will increase its room numbers by about 50 percent to 7,300 in the next three to five years. Hyatt, whose only Saudi hotel opened in 2009, expects to have eight more in five years.”

Whether this luxury-style travel and accommodation contradicts the egalitarian spirit of Hajj is something which I have asked before. Personally, I don’t think private jets, exclusive airports and luxury hotels help foster the spirit of equality. What do you think?

For more construction news from Mecca see:

Mecca signals a move away from Las Vegas-style Architecture

Saudi’s Mecca Is Becoming a Holy Sprawl

Luxury Architecture in Mecca: Has Hajj lost its Egalitarian Spirit?

The post New Mecca Mega-Scheme On The Way appeared first on Green Prophet.

We have a real soft spot for earth architecture, such as Nader Khalili’s gorgeous domes and arches fit for space, and these amazing Syrian beehive-shaped buildings that have lasted hundreds of years, but we also acknowledge the great strides that contemporary Israeli architects have taken to realize modern buildings more sustainable than their antecedents. In addition to the LEED Platinum-hopeful Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University, Netanya’s new City Hall is one of them. By giving this twisting tower a light frame with a mashrabiya-type screen, Yaniv Pardo has considerably reduced the required building materials and energy footprint. More pictures and sketches of this proposed structure below. 

The new Netanya City Hall aims to be an iconic structure that will put this relatively obscure Israeli city north of Tel Aviv firmly on the map. It is comprised of three prisms facing different directions, which gives it the sensation of “twisting.”

The tower is covered in greenery, which acts as a carbon sponge as well as providing the building with a little extra aesthetics. It is flooded with natural light but maintains energy efficiency thanks to Arab-styled mashrabiyas that provide shading and protection against solar gain.

The Netanya City Hall will get some of its power from geothermal sources and will provide a gathering space for the community in addition to its municipal services. This will be a mixed-use development complete with cultural, commerce, leisure and retail services.

Modeled after a weather vane, this striking building will be dynamic, efficient, and vibrant and hopefully transform this once unknown city along the Mediterranean Sea!

April 2, 2012 update: Karin Kloosterman from Green Prophet contacted the firm and they did not win the contract to develop the geothermal tower for the City Hall, but they say they will keep trying to develop green architecture in Israel.

::Yaniv Pardo Architects

More green architecture from Israel:
Construction of Israel’s First LEED Platinum Building by Geotectura Begins
Breathtaking Jaffa Flat by Pitsou Kedem
Shopping Malls go Green in Israel

The post Yaniv Pardo’s Twisting Tower for Netanya in Israel appeared first on Green Prophet.