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A Melbourne school is creating great industry waves for its mix of stunning architecture and environmentally responsible principles. Acting as an incredible promotion of green thinking to both the young students attending and the wider community, is the junior building at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (PEGS). While the striking building, transformed by architectural firm McBride Charles Ryan is completely passive in its design, an absolute feat in its own right, it is its aesthetic that truly stands out. Oftentimes in green building projects a building's visual appeal is ignored in order to focus on the sustainable building aspects. While environmental responsibility may be more important than design greatness, it is incredibly positive to see such a prime example of a culmination of these ideas executed so elegantly.

In the construction and design industry, architecture is one of the most complex and multi-faceted sectors. As we have stated previously, it encompasses a whole range of broad and varying components, from mathematics to the currently trending biology. At its most basic root though, architecture deals with form. It is for this reason that architecturally designed buildings are able to become art forms as one of the industry's most artistically based facets. It only makes sense then, due to the crossover and widely varied field, that some buildings would share these sculpturally formed aspects more than others. One such building that is due for completion this year and is an example of the aforementioned form is architectural firm Zaha Hadid's Performing Arts Centre in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

We in the construction and design industry are currently going through a greenwash, a saturation of sustainability. In fact, we may be creating it. This public sense of exhaustion and lack of understanding in response to environmentally conscious mentalities and building processes, anything labeled 'green' to be precise, is causing an increased apathy in the entire sector and is impacting the communication of projects and concepts. Yet we are only adding fuel to the fire. We in this industry, and even those who are not, are confusing two key terms; that of Green Building and Sustainability, in turn creating confusion through misrepresented and easily misunderstood jargon. The thing is, it's universal. And ever so easy to accidently do.

Due to its incredible benefits, both physical and mental, the connection between interior and exterior architecture has increased in popularity. This is especially relevant in neutral climes, where temperatures tend not to be too extreme, especially in terms of the colder months. Here in Australia, the inside/outside design element is often essential, as our mostly warmer climate allows us to embrace the fact that open-air spaces work best. Landscape architecture plays into this reality, and is now really finding its relevance as we move further into outdoor spaces. One design located in Melbourne is showing the power of landscape architecture in creating community spaces without walls.

In the architectural and building sectors, we have explored, promoted and dissected the fact that we are currently battling greenwash so much, that we may in fact be greenwashing the aforementioned greenwash. Indeed the term is so readily bandied about, that it no longer makes sense and is therefore responded to as a null and void sentiment. As confusing as that may seem, it holds the key to the reason that we are stuck in a vicious industry cycle that is unfortunately blocking the promotion of some incredible, and highly sustainable, built projects. Due to a confusion and misrepresentation of certain green and sustainable buildings and features, a number of these incredible designs, and their built forms, are being lost in the jungle of false green advertisement. One incredible design that, more often than not, does not receive the deserved appreciation is that of the humble Earthship.

The architecture industry has been in recent times exploring the growing world of artificial organisms. We have continuously covered this increasing trend, with examples of man-made organics in China and Singapore, varying from artificial islands, to trees and most recently coral reefs. It is no surprise that through the heightened levels of toxins and rubbish now running into our oceans everyday that certain sections of incredibly valuable, and aesthetically stunning underwater environments are dying. This is caused by various reasons including: the everyday home owner chemical run offs, the larger oil spills and natural disasters, but the fact is, we are killing it faster than it is able to grow back.

but to read ... some convergence . Disengagement from the 'real world' is a common criticism of the discipline of architecture. With architects serving only 10-15% of the population and an even lower number in housing design, it is not difficult to understand the reasons for this critique. Conversely, architecture is also about imagination, creativity, play and fantasy-all activities promoted in architectural education, particularly design studio. Through this tutorial, we will try to understand whether architecture needs to touch base with the 'real world'. We will investigate what this mean for architecture and what is needed for imagination, fantasy and play to become tools in the search for a sustainable future.

where are the architects now ? only drawers and few concepts ?

Alejandro de la Vega Zulueta's work is a marriage of art and architecture and when he is faced with a creative clock, his 'Go-to Therapist' is his preoccupation with the evolution of forms!

China's twelfth 5-Year Plan (released in 2011) addresses the country's rapid urbanisation by including a target to deliver 36 million new social housing units by 2015. Shenzhen in southern China, located in the Pearl River Delta in the Guangdong Province, is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It has a large stake in this project and is aiming to deliver 240,000 new units which will house approximately 800,000 people. At the vanguard of China's economic reform, Shenzhen has grown 400 times its original size in the last 40 years, following high levels of investment by the government and through mass migration of workers from all over China. The city has a huge transient working population comprising mostly young people, in particular single women. Most residents come to the city from various parts of the country, leaving family, friends and other support networks. Shenzhen is rapidly running out of space, with only limited land available to house future population growth.

In architecture,  it is a rare occasion that an image of a built structure is as striking as the concept drawings. It is a sad truth, but often the structure has to be walked in and felt in order for its true aesthetic to shine through. In fact, often the more innovative and arresting the concept image, the less chance that the building will even be built. However, there are the rare few that actually outshine their concept images and intrigue us as to how they were ever constructed. World-renowned architects Daniel Libeskind have done just that with the completion of the incredibly 'Reflections at Keppel Bay' development.

Sustainable architecture and classrooms of the future have finally come together in an Australian green building concept that is out of this world. The latest renderings of what is arguably one of world's most impressive sustainable educational facilities have been released and already they are causing a stir in both architectural and green building fields. Created by architectural firm LAVA, the aptly named 'classroom of the future' is a design concept that sees the creation of a prefabricated, relocatable learning environment, which incorporates innovative and clever design features.

Helsinki's Vantaa airport is taking the saying 'making yourself at home' to heart with the interior design for their newest travellers' lounge. No matter how hard airport designers try to make these international, heavy trafficked areas romantic and luxurious, there is no doubting the dread that most of us feel on a 6 hour lay over or extended visit. While there can be no denying the luxuriousness of this interiorly designed space, what the designers have cleverly done is steer away from the clinical coolness of traditional airport lounges and thrown a knowing look back towards creature comforts. The aptly named 'Almost @ home' lounge features interior aspects that have been chosen to most correctly reflect a Finnish, or any, home.

Urban farming, vertical forests and sky garden design concepts are currently seeing a huge amount of global attention. The reason being is that they offer to answer a huge question for most living in city spaces: How can we live a greener lifestyle in the city? That question is answered through these incredible designs. Urban farming offers to cater to the food needs of cities in a way that is sustainable and doesn't involve high levels of carbon emissions through transport processes, vertical forests add extensive green spaces in areas that are space short and sky gardens add a sense of community and a greener lifestyle to otherwise 'brown', boring living spaces.

One major green belt that has seen the devastating results of deforestation is the Amazon jungle. From 1991 until 2001 the total area cleared jumped from 415,000 km2 to 587,000 km2, proving that this massive, unsustainable deforestation effort has not been just a thing of the past. In fact, it was only last year that deforestation figures slowed to their lowest numbers yet. For many in the green building industry, that is how they would like it to continue. Offering to lead this conservation effort is London-based architectural firm Marks Barfield. Who have impressed architecture and environmental communities worldwide with their £6.4m proposal for a research centre in the Amazon, which will include a central, tree-shaped observation tower and 6 miles of tree top canopy walkways. Due to the nature and function of this tower, in addition to the limitations that the rural, fragile Brazilian environment holds, a sustainable building ideology forms the foundation of the proposal.

here it is , the beginning of the global digitalisation of the real world ... of course...would you think it will be let on the border ? Now it is present, and by collaborative and far more rapid moedlising than ever. Participate with your own models...

here it is the very start of the global digitalisation of the real world ... as architects or modelers, let's play in !

We all spill food accidentally on the glass stove one day or the other in our lifetime. Well, it doesn't matter if you have done it unintentionally or not, the stain on the glass stove is everything we are worried about. Everybody nowadays is going for the glass top stove as it looks stylish and modern. One disadvantage of glass top stove is that a small spill of food or any other material will be easily noticeable on the glass top stove. Today, in this article we are going to discuss regarding how to clean glass top stove.