Chetwoods unveil design for World Leader retreat
An extravagant globe-shaped refuge for World Leaders has been unveiled by British architects Chetwoods with Patterson Buxton.
The $300 million structure would be located in the Nevada desert where World Leaders would be encouraged to “reconnect with their unique purpose in life”. The design features a giant globe nesting on what resembles the Statue of Liberty crown. Smaller similar structures descend from the first into a dam where the globe’s only entrance, a labyrinth, will be situated. The architect responsible for the Universitas Leadership Sanctuary, Laurie Chetwood, said: “The emotional reasoning behind the labyrinthine approach to the globe is that worldly issues are to be left behind and free thinking encouraged.”
The dominating structure would be set in 65 acres of landscaped grounds just seventeen miles east of downtown Las Vegas overlooking the serene Las Vegas Lake. Chetwoods say the sphere would be visible for miles around creating a landmark during the day and a “glowing beacon of light” at night.
The globe itself is a six-storey high building with features designed to harness the power of natural energy. Flower-like structures around the globe will open to collect some of the intense heat generated in the desert during the day and close to keep the building warm at night. Hydro and wind power sources are to be harnessed as a natural resource.
Conference and speaking facilities will be available but with guidance to keep events informal to continue the focus on relaxation. The retreat’s commissioning founder and director, Donna Vassar, hopes that the facility will allow leaders to “emerge renewed, with clarity, and reflecting true transformation.”
Once work has commenced the project is set to take just thirty months to build.
The Humber Arboretum Centre for Urban Ecology teaching children about environmental design
The Humber Arboretum Centre for Urban Ecology is a visionary building that provides a space to teach children about the importance of environmental design. Emphasizing the sustainable interaction of a building and its human inhabitants, with nature and its biodiversity, The Humber Arboretum Centre promotes the advancement of technology in service of the preservation of the natural world, and was one of the first buildings in Toronto to receive a Gold LEED certification.
The architectural goal of the project was to create an assertive, modern, green building which would signal a change in values with respect to sustainable development and energy conservation. It uses materials and forms that would communicate architectural and engineering ideas for future institutional, commercial and residential designs to a wide range of visitors. It is, in essence, a living laboratory.
The mandate of the 5,000 sq ft building is to show a path to a much better future through unity of architecture and landscape – this is metaphorically implied in the journey to the building itself. You must reach the building by foot, with the parking lot situated some distance away. Walking up the pedestrian path, glimpses of the building and its high performance glass envelope, also allow for a view directly through to the landscape beyond.
We are nuts about Mark Harrison’s Husque homewares made from recycled macadamia nut shells. The inspired form of these fun pieces reflect the material’s origins, and take advantage of an often discarded resource. Harrison developed a special compound that combines the shells with injection molding to create colorful bowls inspired by nature and place. Using nuts, pods and other organic shapes as inspiration, each piece carries with it a natural history of Australia.
- 0 Comments
- Tags: Different, Husque, Mark Harrison, Materials, Renewable, Sustainable
