Audi Urban Future Award: Building a vision - 2030

 'Cars and architecture are going to have to get to know one another rather better. Truly green mobility will depend on a massive supportive infrastructure in order to realise its full potential; charge points, specialist filling stations, more space efficient parking, intersection with public transport, congestion charging, etc. With all this in mind, Audi has taken the initiative and asked six international architects to conceive a city landscape for 2030 to examine how urban planning and architecture will change to embrace sustainable mobility.' - Wallpaper.com

Beijing architects 'Standardarchitecture' proposal sees the city divided into two, with controlled interior and exterior mobility. Outside electric cars will be the main source of travel, while inside electric cycles and 'Audi Bubbles' (a small personally adapted space that travels on and between the travel belts). 

Balloons Vs. Tunnels

Think of a balloon.  They expand when you put air into them.  Wouldn't it be fantastic to have a space that did the same, depending on the amount of people in them?  Mesmeric Sydney thinks so too.  Here is a little teaser of what you can expect come NYE.

Initial drawings and model

Owl Cave?

This is a design proposal from Choi + Shine for the Icelandic High Voltage Electrical Pylon Design Competition.  What a mouthful.  But don't these figures remind you of the painting in Owl Cave on Twin Peaks!? Yes!!

Skate Park

Bio Bug

Article from The Vine:

It's the car that brings a whole new meaning to the term "dunger" - a Volkswagen Beetle that runs on human excrement.



A British eco company, Geneco, has unveiled a "poo-powered" Beetle Cabriolet dubbed the Bio Bug, claiming the vehicle's bio-gas demonstrated a credible alternative fuel of the future.

The Bio Bug runs on methane gas generated from a UK sewage treatment plant owned by Geneco's parent company, Wessex Water.

Geneco says it uses a special process to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the biogas, claiming it not only reduces exhaust emissions significantly but also maintains vehicle performance and reliability.

"If you were to drive the car you wouldn't know it was powered by biogas as it performs just like any conventional car. It is probably the most sustainable car around," said Geneco's general manager, Mohammed Saddiq.

Wessex Water says waste flushed down the toilets of 70 houses would be enough to power the Bio Bug for about 16,000 kilometres - more than the average annual mileage in Australia.

The company also claims that if all the biogas produced at its sewage treatment plant was converted to run motor vehicles it would save 19,000 tonnes of CO2.

Geneco says it has already been producing biogas to generate electricity for both its plant and the UK's national grid.

By Jez Spinks

Customise Your Life

Everyone's favourite sneakers can now be customised by everyone's favourite crayons in the Vans X Crayola collaboration.  The Mesmeric team are really into creative customisations of existing products so you can certainly expect to see something on New Years Eve in the same vein  as this, although on a much larger scale!

Quirky LED Light Bulbs by Keita Ogawa

These quirky LED light bulbs make a visual statement about the unnecessary amount of energy being wasted daily. Each bulb looks like it's melting while you use it.

Vivid Sydney 2010

Vivid Sydney is an annual festival of light, music and ideas, from 27th May - 21st June. The festival includes illuminations of iconic Sydney buildings, including the Opera House.

Multiverse by Leo Villareal

 

Located in a 60m tunnel in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, this LED installation features 41,000 LEDs that animate and move on their own.

 Video found here:   http://vimeo.com/2776982

LED Light Show - Kunawa Japan

Light Show in Japan consisting of an LED light spectacle with an estimated 4.5 million light-emitting diodes. The LED technology enables a production of 64 billion colours. 

 

Two

Unlikely Inspiration

Comment Wall

Kinecity Llc. have designed a Comment Wall where people are able to write their thoughts and feelings on to the touch screen wall, where it will then be saved in an urban diary.

Zero Emission transportation concept of the future

Industrial designer Nadiya Paramayuda has come up with a vacuum pod concept that carries a glass tube and a glass pod through the city, using magnetic and gravitational force field technology to move the pod allowing for stagnant and steady placement for passengers.

Observation Decks

Glass orbs that carry 16 passengers and provide a 20 minute round trip up the Stockholm Globe Arena

Skydeck at Sears Tower in Chicago

Eureka Skydeck in Melbourne

i360 Tower at Brighton's West Pier in the United Kingdom

L.E.D Dance floor

The illuminated dance floor uses pressure sensitive LED technology, the panels are designed to interact with people's movements in the club. The lights can also be programmed to work with the music.

Future House London

Architect firm Marcin Panpuch have proposed a floating house/pod for the future in London. The house is designed with the Thames in mind, where the tidal river can be taken advantage of, making the house a mode of transport in itself with low energy consumption.

Floating Lantern (Toro Nagashi) Ceremony: Hawaii

Jason Bruges Studio: North-South Over East-West

During the London 'Switched On' Festival in 2008 the Jason Bruges Studio installed a temporary interactive light across London Bridge.

'On the pavement where people usually leave only footprints, for the duration of the festival they left coloured light ‘shadows’ as evidence of their passing. The intent was to reawaken commuters, encouraging them to be aware once more of the joys of crossing the Thames on their way to work.' - Jason Bruges Studio