Archinect - News

Schiphol Airport to turn its grass cuttings into structural panels

2021-05-17T15:34:00-04:00

The Netherlands’ Schiphol Airport is to send grass cut on its approximately one thousand hectares to panel maker Ecor to make ceiling panels, partition walls, furniture and flooring for use at the airport and elsewhere.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport estimates that its annual amount of grass clippings will be enough raw material for partnering manufacturer ECOR to produce 100,000 square meters (1.8 million square feet) of panels.

"Before starting large-scale production, the panels were extensively tested for practical use at the airport," the airport announced in a press statement. "They are certified, fire-resistant and have the same level of quality as the well-known MDF panels."

Repair of natural environment: Australia's creative team for 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale announced

2017-08-23T13:19:00-04:00

Australia's creative team for the 16th International Venice Architecture Biennale has been announced at events in Sydney and Melbourne. Baracco+Wright Architects will collaborate with artist Linda Tegg to cultivate and nurture thousands of temperate grassland species within the pavilion alongside large-scale architectural projections. Visitors will enter a physical dialogue between architecture and endangered plant community. Reminding us what is at stake when we occupy land.

Explicitly addressing the theme of Freespace, 'repair' responds by encouraging new ways of thinking and seeing the world, ‘of inventing solutions where architecture provides for the well-being and dignity of each citizen on this fragile planet’. 'Repair' will frame and reveal an architectural culture in Australia that is evolving through processes that integrate built and natural systems to effect repair of the environment, and in so doing, repair of other conditions such as social, economic and cultural ones.

...

Combating drought conditions, California issues stark landscaping restrictions

2015-07-21T18:09:00-04:00

The California Water Commission, responding to a fourth year of drought, approved sharp new limits on the amount of water that can be used on landscapes surrounding newly constructed buildings, such as houses, businesses and schools. The revised ordinance will limit grass to about 25% of a home's combined front, back and side yards in all new construction. [...] Additionally, grass will be all but banned in landscapes of new commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.

In Beirut, a grassroots push for more grass

2014-08-29T13:22:00-04:00

On a breezy summer afternoon here in the newly renovated Sanayeh Garden, children are climbing the monkey bars, pedaling on bikes and kicking a ball by the huge water fountain in the park’s center. [...] While this would be an ordinary scene in Paris, New York or Singapore, it’s practically a new invention for today’s residents of Beirut. Functional public parks have been virtually nonexistent here for decades.

A winning, post-9/11 design for President's Park South

2011-07-20T12:02:33-04:00

The winning design, by the New York architecture firm Rogers Marvel, aided by the landscape architects Quennell Rothschild & Partners, is a nimble combination of boldness and restraint. It was clearly the strongest and among the least traditional in the competition, which also featured teams led by landscape architects Van Valkenburgh and Walter Hood.

Related: Rogers Marvel is currently hiring.

How A Parisian Artist Created This Stunning Optical Illusion

2011-07-07T11:45:10-04:00

This work of art looks like a giant grass sphere, but it's actually flat. This land art is an anamorphosis which is a distorted projection that comes to life when viewed at the proper angle. Stand to the side and you will see angular grass and dirt. Stand at the correct angle and the 3D image jumps out at you.