Recently in Ecologist Lobbyist Category

Soliloquy - The Super-Green Superyacht

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Alastair Callender, of Callender Designs, has developed a radical 58m, rigid-wing superyacht concept, which will be powered from wind, solar and Hybrid Marine Power (HMP) technology from Solar Sailor Holdings Ltd.

Initially aimed at an owner of an eco-friendly stance, with a non-sailing background, Soliloquy shall push the boundaries of yacht design convention as we know it today, and points to the future of clean, luxury yachting.

This pioneering and highly efficient motor-sailor will offer numerous advantages, which will widen her appeal to more potential investors - not least thanks to being powered quietly by renewable and hybrid-electric energy. In turn this will bring zero-emission capabilities, and result in significant savings in fuel cost.

Soliloquy's rigid-wing rig, and architecturally dynamic form, will be a unique sight to all mariners.

A design brief was reached to ensure that renewable energies, along with eco-friendly materials and construction techniques, would confirm that this superyacht will become one of the Greenest of luxury yachts. This will comply with, and aims to excel in various industry requirements, including the new Green Star Plus certification from RINA in Italy.

The innovative overhead beam, sweeping forward to the bow, not only brings structural advantages, along with exciting and refreshing visual aesthetics, but has been specifically designed to house three automated and pivotally mounted, rigid-wing solarsails.

Efficient sailing propulsion is possible due to the patented technology and automation of Solar Sailor Holdings Ltd's solarsail pivot. This technology has received a development grant from the US Navy for unmanned ocean vehicles and is currently used on a series of ferries.

This will allow Soliloquy's three solarsails to independently rotate through 360 degrees, and be coupled with the optimized rigid-wing design to add propulsion efficiency.

The superstructure has been enhanced by its efficient Photovoltaic surfacing. Once all the adaptable blinds have evolved out of the overhead beam, a total of over 600 square metres of coverage will be revealed. Additionally each solarsail can be angled to the sun, to optimise solar collection when becalmed.


More Information: Solar Sailor & Callender Designs

SMERA by LUMENEO

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SMERA Concept: To drive trough the congestions, to park easily.

 

With its 2m50 of length and 86cm broad, Smera is in the right dimensions to cruise the city, well protected. The side shoulder brings a strong visual signature. Each surface of the body is at the same time beautiful and functional.

Smera is a muxury cocoon, with its fine leather, broad doors, its second place, its pratical trunk for daily carrying. Central LCD Displays all information, commands are easy, the cockpit offers a panoramic look around the city.

More information: LUMENEO



Our Home: Thank you Yann!

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In 200,000 years on Earth, humanity has upset the balance of the planet, established by nearly four billion years of evolution. The price to pay is high, as humankind has barely 10 years to reverse the trend, become aware of the full extent of the Earth's riches and change its patterns of consumption. Following in the tradition of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, Home sets out to shift people's perceptions, inspire action and lay a foundation for the edifice that must be rebuilt. The film will be broadcast in the world on June 5th in conjunction with World Environmental Day.


To Watch the Movie (Until June 14th, 2009)

Floating City for Climate Change Refugees

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There are very few urban design solutions that address housing the inevitable tide of displaced people that could arise as oceans swell under global warming. Certainly none are as spectacular as this one. The Lilypad, by Vincent Callebaut, is a concept for a completely self-sufficient floating city intended to provide shelter for future climate change refugees. The intent of the concept itself is laudable, but it is Callebaut's phenomenal design that has captured our imagination.

Lilypad 

Each of these floating cities are designed to hold approximately around 50,000 people. A mixed terrain man-made landscape, provided by an artificial lagoon and three ridges, create a diverse environment for the inhabitants. Each Lilypad is intended to be either near a coast, or floating around in the ocean, traveling from the equator to the northern seas, according to where the gulf stream takes it.

Lilypad


The project isn't even close to happening anytime soon, but there is value in future forward designs like the Lilypad. They inspire creative solutions, which at some point, may actually provide a real solution to the climate change problem.


More pictures on my Flickr

More information: LILYPAD

Architects: Vicent Callebaut


Enormous Farms in the heart of our cities

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Separating cities from the surrounding countryside, between urban and natural spaces, places of consumption, urban life, and production increasingly complicate land-use planning. 

farm2.JPG

The seductive idea of a denser city, as opposed to a natural landscape, is invariably accompanied today with the emergence of large areas devoted to essential production. These zones, located outside of the city, are neither part of the city, nor the countryside; they produce increasingly disparate landscapes, destroying the structure of the land by fostering urban sprawl and polluting the atmosphere with their increasingly important grid systems.

The concept of the "Eco Tower" aims to reuniting agricultural hydroponic production, city dwelling and activities in a single, vertical system. This "vertical farm" would make it possible to better use the space already occupied by the city, while allowing for a larger autonomy by adding reliance on the production coming from agricultural planes, reducing the need for transportation between urban and extra-urban territories. The yet unusual superimposition of these programs finally makes it possible to consider new practical relationships and energy exchanges between agricultural culture, activity spaces, housing and trade, inducing a very strong energy saving.

More information: Eco Tower

Architects: SOA

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About this Archive

This page is an archive of recent entries in the Ecologist Lobbyist category.

Design Connected is the previous category.

Explorer of the Future is the next category.

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