Historically, zoos have been both productive and problematic for the animals they house, in some cases advocating for and publicizing real issues faced by species but also criticized for locking them up in inadequate captive conditions.

Designers from dozens of countries submitted fresh ideas to the Coexist: Rethinking Zoos architecture competition, pitching non-intrusive paths, virtual exhibits and, above all, keeping the health and wellbeing of animals in mind as well as scientific learning and public education.

The winning proposal integrates its zoo into the fabric of the surrounding city rather than isolating it as a standalone institution. Instead of fencing animals in a park, it stretches out to form more natural and organic environments. It also rethinkings the kinds of interfaces and edge conditions that can and should exist between humans and various species.

In various entries, the basic relationship of observer and observed is challenged, giving visitors different windows into the lives of animals while also seeking to provide inhabitants with better places to live, play and interact. 

These strategies also recall an inverted zoo design proposed by BIG in which animals surround humans (rather than the other way around). And while there may not be a one-size-fits all solution to the problems posed by zoos, at least some designers are beginning to rethink the question of the role and function from the ground up.

Spanning 1,700 square feet of interior walls in a Washington, DC office building, this stunning digital display cycles through different settings and seasons, reacting to workers as they walk through the building.

Designed by ESI, the bright and dynamic lobby installation is also visible through expansive glass panels at the front of the building, making it visually accessible to the public as well.

The design shifts between three core programs: Color Play, Cityscape and Seasons. The scenes are constantly shifting, generated by algorithms that keep them fresh from one day to the next. Ambient sounds play in the background, adding a layer of effect to the visual experience.

The installation is 80 feet wide and 13 feet high, seamlessly integrated into the architectural surfaces. In Season mode, it displays DC’s famous cherry trees through periods of the year. In Color Play, bright patterns light up the walls. In Cityscape, iconic architecture, statues and transportation settings are shown.

“The different media create distinct rhythms to give terrell place a unique identity and strong street presence,” says Michael Schneider, Senior Creative Technology Designer at ESI design. “Each of the media scenes reflects the time of day and the movement of people through the lobby, acting almost as a large abstract data-visualization of the ebb and flow of Terrell Place.”

Two hundred species of edible greens occupy a quarter of this 215,000-square-foot office in Tokyo, Japan, sharing space with thousands of workers who in turn consume harvested fruits, vegetables and rice right in the building’s cafeteria, a direct farm-to-table connection.

Plants are expertly interspersed with other functions throughout the building, sustained via soil-based and hydroponic systems, including 1,000 square feet of rice paddies and extensive broccoli fields.

Kono Designs elaborates on the ways different food-bearing plants occupy any extra (and sometimes hidden) spaces throughout the structure: “Tomato vines are suspended above conference tables, lemon and passion fruit trees are used as partitions for meeting spaces, salad leaves are grown inside seminar rooms and bean sprouts are grown under benches.”

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Farm To Desk Vertical Urban Farm Shares Tokyo Office Space

The world’s tallest prefab building has just been constructed at a rate of 3 stories per day, showcasing the power of modular design and industrial prefabrication operating at scale. Located in Changsha, China, the record-breaking building is designed to be connected by sky bridges to a larger Sky City complex yet to be completed.

This first step in the grand scheme is this mixed-use structure featuring 800 apartments and office space for 4,000 workers with a total of over 2,000,000 square feet as well as 19 giant atrium spaces.

Producing many of the component parts in advance in factories, including entire truss systems, saves time and energy on site and also reduces pollution associated with busy construction sites and cast-on-site concrete. Its builders at BSB estimate a reduction in output of carbon dioxide by 12,000 tons thanks to these techniques as well as other environmental benefits, including a decrease in dust and particulates in the air around the building site.

Mini Sky City, as the tower is titled, is to be part of a larger Sky City series of interconnected skyscrapers that will include vertical farming spaces. One of the less-obvious byproducts of building at such speeds: China is able to effectively rapid-prototype urban design experiments at scale, testing novel strategies for vertical interaction and horizontal integration across structures.

The country recently saw the successful completion of the world’s first 3D-printed apartment complex as well as the rapid creation of 10 houses 3D-printed from scrap materials put together in just one day.

If you have ever driven past a skyscraper in progress day after day, you will know from experience just how fast this assembly really is compared to industry standards around the world – the precision of parts and management of contractors involved would be staggering in a situation with less-tight coordination as well.

Whether this will all become part of China’s ultimate bust in real estate, the technologies, techniques and principles on display here can and should be studied by architects from around the world.